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listing to the right

21 15:02:11

Question
Our iguana is about 21 years old, 4 1/2 feet long, lives on a small 1" rise off the ground in our house and eats a regular "greens" with carrots diet with vitamin supplement. He has a ReptiGlo light and heating pad. He has been to the vet 3 or 4 times for broken toes, infections, etc. But all have cleared up well. We have had him since he was very small. He has started listing with his head to the right. His head bobbing has been very strenuous. About 6 months ago we took him to the vet for the same symptom. He said that Iggy was quite old and it could be some "mini strokes." He also had a slight infection when something came off (sorry, I can't remember if it was his tail tip or a finger nail cut too short.)They took blood, gave him a shot and some medicine. From what I can remember, nothing showed up in the blood, but a slight infection???? It started again yesterday. Today when my husband gave him a shower/bath, his head went to the right and placed his head under the water. This is very unusual behavior for our iguana. Please let us know if there is anything we should be doing, or is he just too old?  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Beth,
21 years is a ripe old age for an iguana.  There really isn't much more you can do other than make him comfortable.  Yes, igs can and do have strokes. I've heard of igs that are ill or old that have put their heads under the water....there are some of the opinion that they are doing this to try and drown their self but I know of no studies that have been done to confirm or disprove this theory. Also, many times, ill or old igs will try very hard to get outdoors...again, people have said they do this to go off and die..and again, I know of no studies that have been done to disprove or confirm this. When you bathe him, make sure you do not leave him unattended, even for a second.
I commend you on the fact that your iguana is 21 years old....I'm hoping to be that lucky with the 3 of mine.
If you are able, I would take him outdoors for some real sunshine as that, many times its the best medicine for them and I am sure the real sunshine would feel wonderful on his old bones.  Depending on the uvb output of your Repti glo, and the distance it is from your ig and the age and type of the bulb, he may not be receiving enough  uvb.