iguanna

Question
My iguanna is in a cage alone and i went to feed her and saw a big white egg shape thing under her ive had her since she was a baby she is now almost 2yrs old. what could this be?

Answer
Rachel,

The egg shaped object is probably an egg. Believe it or not, female iguanas can and do produce eggs in the absence of male iguanas and even if they have never mated. It is interesting that she laid the egg because most often females need to dig before they lay because the digging sparks a hormone which allows them to lay. Often, females will lay clutches of eggs with multiple eggs and if she is gravid (meaning she has eggs to lay) and she doesn't lay all of her eggs, they can decay in her body and become a threat to her health. Sometimes, they will reabsorb the remaining eggs which is not a health concern, but be watchful if she seems like she isn't feeling well.

Here is a helpful insert from a very knowledgeable iguana rescuer and rehabber named Kathy that discusses egg-laying:

"sometimes a female can surprise you, but most of the time there are pretty distinct signs of being gravid. First, she will eat like crazy. She is building up fat stores. Iguanas don't have a diaphragm,so her belly cavity will fill up with eggs. A lot of times her personality will change to almost the opposite of what it usually is. If she is cuddly, she will become aloof, and visa versa. The first two three times she might just lay about two dozen eggs. As she gets bigger, she will form more. My Honey Bunch laid 56 eggs! As her belly fills up with eggs, they crowd out her organs. She will not be able to eat as much and this is where the fat stores come in handy. When her belly is big, but her thighs, hips and the base of her tail are getting thin, I will switch her diet to mostly greens, collard, turnip and mustard. They are easy to digest and she is still getting nutrition. Extra baths at this time will help her feel better and keep her a little bit hydrated. That is the main concern, since she will go off feed. Spraying water into her face so she will lap it up will help too. If she is tame enough, you can syringe feed her (without needle) with baby food diluted with Pedialyte. when she gets closer to laying, she will start to "dig". This is your cue to give her a nest box. I use a kitty litter box with a hood. This is the only time I will use sand. It has to be children's play sand the kind that goes into sandboxes. Fill the litter box with the sand and add water to make the sand clump. Not too watery though. Or maybe she won't make digging motions, but will be very restless. She is looking for a place to lay her eggs. This is a critical time. She needs a place to lay them or if she holds on to the eggs too long, they will rot and cause an infection. Place the nest box in her cage and introduce her to it. Inevitably, she will want to take a taste of it. Distract her from that and see if she starts digging in it. when she is ready, she will start to dig in it. That is very fascinating to watch. Don't worry if she digs all the way to the bottom, she will just keep on a diggin' hahaha! She really puts her nose to it! The digging actually stimulates a hormone that signals the body to release the eggs. She should be laying her eggs about 2-3 weeks after she starts digging. This is what happened to Igor. She would dig and dig, then all of a sudden she stopped digging. I thought she would resorb her eggs. They will do that sometimes, too. The body will just use up the egg material and not fully form them and lay them. I think by the time they are digging, though, they will for sure lay. But Igor's body did not produce the hormone to push the eggs out. And she did not resorb, as she didn't get her appetite back and her belly was still too big and her fat stores all used up. I took her in to the vet and x-rays showed way too many eggs and they were too big by that time. Emergency spay. Our vet said that those on the right side were already rotten, and the ones on the left were starting to rot. In the seven years I have been keeping iguanas, and fostering them, Igor was the second female who had to have an emergency spay. My girls resorb their eggs every year. Ralph is spayed. After she lays her eggs, she will look like a wet rat. She will be skin and bones. And very hungry! Give her a bath, but do not leave her alone! She will be very tired and I have heard of a guy who's female drowned after she laid. She must have been extremely exhausted. Or wait a day or two, it's not so important to do it right after. But offer a dish of water she can lap up, I bet she will be very thirsty. The eggs will be infertile. They lay eggs (unless they resorb) every year regardless if they have mated or not. she will not be interested in the nest box once she has laid, so take it out, clean it up, and put it away for next year. Also, she might dig and dig in the nest box, but decide to lay elsewhere. that has happened a few times. But the digging is necessary, and it's important that she have access to the nest box 24/7 until she lays. Once she starts digging, I am a nervous wreck until she lays! It seems to take forever, but should only be about 2-3 weeks of digging. After that, be on the lookout for signs of stress, lethargy, etc. She should be alert and watchful. she won't poop as much either until she lays."

Here is another insert from Kathy regarding re absorption:

"Resorbing is ok. It's the body absorbing the egg material back into the bloodstream. I don't know how they do it, it's one of those mysteries to me. I think, though, they can resorb up to the time the eggs become calcified. There is an amazing interplay of hormones at work, and I don't fully understand it all.

Egg binding happens at the very end when she is trying to lay her eggs and she can't. she is either too weak from illness or disease, the eggs are misshapen or too large, or in Igor's case, she didn't produce the right hormone to cause the contractions that push the eggs out. The eggs are bound up in the body and for whatever reason can't come out. This happens after all the other signs of gravidness are evident. Her belly is way bigger than normal and sometimes you can see the outline of the eggs, her legs, hips and tail are skinny, and most importantly, she has been digging in her nest for at least two weeks. If after all that, she suddenly becomes lethargic or stops trying to lay or dig, then a trip to the vet is in order. Igor didn't get lethargic, but she all of a sudden stopped digging and I thought maybe, just maybe she had started resorbing. I didn't think that was possible, so I watched her very closely. It was when she didn't get her normal appetite back and, well, it's a gut feeling, I could see that she still had a huge belly after about three weeks after she stopped digging and no eggs. I brought her to the vet and x-rays told the story. By that time the eggs were enormous and Dr. Baillie said, she needed to be spayed. She stayed there and had surgery the next day. He said that the eggs on the right side were already decaying and the ones on the left side were well on their way to decay. He said she didn't produce the oxytocin hormone that starts the contractions. Digging stimulates the body to produce that hormone. At least that is how I understand it. And she was digging solid, every day for at least two weeks."


Please don't hesitate to respond back with any further questions or concerns, but it sounds like your girl has laid.