follow up question

Question
QUESTION: it seems like it filled with liquid and i don really know what to do with it, I'm not from USA so there isn't any reptile vet in my country, i think this is the second best way to help it, i am sure it isn't a burn because i don't have heating rock inside and the light is far enough from the igi... everything else it fine, i have a uvb, one part is 26 degree Celsius the other one is 30 and it has water inside, drinks every day, eats every day ... Also the skin it's really Crusty because it has problems with shedding, but I'm caring about it...

ANSWER: Dear Rilind,

It is great that you are noticing changes in your iguana and paying attention to them because often times iguanas do not show when they are ill or have a problem going on so a lot of people don't find out sometimes until it is too late. This being said, when you see physical abnormalities on an iguana, it is time to address your husbandry. Husbandry is the living conditions you provide for your iguana. A lot of times when skin becomes irritated, it may be as simple as removing wood chips or bark that you may have at the bottom of your cage and replacing it with something easier to clean like a towel or astroturf. If you are using wood chips or other particles for substrate, these tend to trap moisture, bacteria, etc. and become a breeding ground for skin infections. This being said, I want you to also consider the following possibilities:

Referencing anapsid.org, there are 2 reasons that I believe may be causing your iguana's skin to blacken or become dark and discolored...

(1) Vesicular Dermatitis-Vesicular dermatitis, sometimes called blister disease, scale rot, or necrotizing dermatitis, is commonly caused by housing reptiles in moist, dirty environments. As the animal is forced to lie on damp substrate saturated with rotting food or feces and urates, the skin becomes infected. Watery blisters are the first sign. The infection may pass into the body causing septicemia (infection of the blood) and passing to internal organs. In small reptiles, or reptiles already severely weakened from illness, environmental or psychological stresses, infection may be rapid, and rapidly fatal. The skin may rot away from the initial blister, leaving the body more susceptible to bacterial and fungal invasion and thermal burns.

(2) Blackening Skin Syndrome- "An all-over black and crusty skin may be found on iguanas who have been housed in filthy or otherwise inappropriate conditions (too cold, overcrowded, filthy). Once such an iguana is housed and fed properly, and soaked daily in warm povidone-iodine/water baths, the first shed can be startling, with the black scabby skin splitting apart to reveal the new, brilliant green skin below."

Since you cannot really get to a reptile vet consider applying antifungal ointment containing the ingredient tolnaftate and also if you pop the blister, use antibiotic cream. If you are using wood chips or any other type of particles for a substrate, these can become very unsanitary, so remove the particles and lay a towel down in there so you can pull it out and wash it frequently. A good thing to use to clean the tank is a bleach-water solution to kill any bacteria and fungi that may exist in the tank.

Please let me know if you have any other questions that I did not answer.

I appreciate you contacting me. Thank You.

Sara J Gwerder
President
Raptor Rescue Iguana Sanctuary
Shreveport, LA
www.RaptorRescue.org


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: i got it before 1 week the igi and i am still taking care of her, i am cleaning its skin with baby oil and after that i give her some baths and then i clean it with hot soaked towel, over this black spot there was some layers of skin, and i already removed them, but not implying force, it felled when i rubbed a bit with the towel, but still there is that black spot. there is not a lot of moisture in this terrarium but i don't know on what conditions it was before... please give me some other tips on what else should i do? thank you :)

Answer
Rilind,

I do not think the baby oil is necessary to use, just a bath should be fine and try using the  antifungal ointment containing the ingredient tolnaftate for a few days and see if it clears out. This may also be some blood that pooled underneath the skin and if so, it will just need to be cleared out naturally by the body. Keep an eye on it and if it gets bigger or begins to crust or ooze badly, then you may need to consider antibiotics, but if it is just a small area and the iguana appears to be eating normally, defecating regularly, and there are no changes in the iguana's behavior or weight, then it may just be a scar. Sometimes scars will be black and just never go away, I have an iguana with a lot of black spots and took him to my vet and she says they are just scars. Give it some time and see if you notice any improvement or if it gets worse and then you may want to take a different approach, but in my experience, most skin problems clear up on their own and if they are a fungus infection, the cream with the ingredient tolnaftate works well. If this does not clear up on its own in a couple of weeks, then it may be an internal infection presenting itself through the skin, but usually there would be more than just one spot and the iguana would appear sickly.