Is my iguana sick? What Should I Do?

Question

I just took in an iguana and he has some kind of yellow-ish orange growth or hard skin around his mouth..

Im not sure if hes sick or maybe he was abused.. hes about 3 and he had this when i got him... i would just like to know what it is and what i can do for him..

he doesnt seem to be bothered by it but it doesnt look normal to me

anyone know anything about this issue please let me know

thank you

Answer 1

It sounds like a form of bacteria.  Whenever there's something wrong with an animal  you should always take it to a vet. With iguanas, if you can help it, an exotics vet.

Answer 2

There is a very common condition with iguanas called Stomatitis, better known as Mouth Rot.  What you are describing with the yellowish junk around the mouth is a sign of an advanced case.  Mouth Rot is a secondary infection which means that the iguana also has a secondary infection or is extremely stressed.  

The best advice is to go to the vet and have him/her take care of this.  However, if you are unable to go to a vet, you can attempt to treat this condition yourself via the following steps:

- Flushing the mouth with a Betadine or Nolvasan solution.

- Removing pockets of pus and/or dead tissue with a cotton swab, tweezers, or other tool.

- Treatment with systemic antibiotics, depending upon what other infections are present. This step is especially important, because if other infections aren’t treated, the mouthrot will return.

You can read further on this here http://www.anapsid.org/stomatitis.html