Why has my iguana gone blind and is there anything I can do?

Question

He is at least 5 years old but we don't know how long his last owner had him so he could be older. He keeps eyes closed and when he opens them they look puffy and teary, and today he won't even open them at all.

Answer 1

I would recommend taking your iguana to a herp/reptile vet that knows about iguanas to verify if it is blind or if there is something else going on w/ his eyes.

There are some UVB bulbs out that do cause blindness in reptiles:

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapypho...

Since he was previously owned you may not know what type of UVB tubes/bulbs the owner used. Powersun's high wattage are very bright and could be doing something also.

May try a warm damp wash cloth and put over the eyes. I would not recommend using anything to put on or in the eyes w/out knowing if there is something else going on. Mainly because well I'm not a vet, and that would be going against Yahoo! "rules". The iguana eyes just like in humans are fascinating to learn about.

Herp/Reptile vet listings:

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/

http://www.arav.org/Directory.htm

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/#vetlist

Sites for you to read:

http://www.greenigsociety.org/ - http://www.iguanaden.org/ - http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/index.html

A great book to read and have on hand:

Iguanas for Dummies by Melissa Kaplan

Answer 2

It could be several things. Most commonly, it is a vitamin A deficiency. Get some babyfood carrots and mix that with calcium and multivitamin powder and feed it to him (may have to by syringe or dropper-don't feed the whole jar at once- continue to feed regular diet). Most pet stores sell eye drops for turtles. Get some of that and put it in his eyes (may have to clean out goop with a wet q-tip first). If you don't see improvement in a day or two, take it to the vet.

Most herp illnesses are due to poor diet/care. Do research to make sure your feeding it properly.

If there are other symptoms like listed below, I agree, take it to the vet ASAP

Answer 3

Sounds like your iguana has a respiratory infection. A "cold" in reptiles usually looks like.. runny, puffy, watery eyes and/or nose, sneezing, sometimes the reptile places itself in unusual positions..sitting in the corner of the cage and standing on her hind legs with the front legs usually off of the floor. It makes it easier to breathe. You may also notice your iguana holding his mouth open. I would take your iguana to the vet as soon as possible to get medication. Or it will turn into pneumonia and he will die in a short time. I would say you caught it early, so it wouldn't be as bad or as expensive if you bring him to the vet right away. Good luck!

However I totally disagree with the post above me. I don't know how he could have so much experience yet tell you to syringe feed an iguana. That could stress him out, reptiles don't do well with force feeding. That is just careless. And I wouldn't wait 1 or 2 days, I say nip it in the butt. And I had my beautiful Steve until 2 days ago when he passed away.