Hurt iguana

[Scooter]

So my iguana broke his back leg. He is doing fine so far. I was told to keep him in a smaller confined space so he does not try to use the leg to much. Well the problem is when I put him in a smaller cage he freaks out and will not stay still and tries to constantly get out. So my question is how do I confine him yet get him to stay calm and unstressed so he doesn't mess up his splint and hurt his leg more? His normal enclosure is about 5'x10' and about 12' high. He is about a foot from nose to vent.

 

[Tom]

I would use a glass tank so he can't grip the sides with that back leg. I'd put down some substrate and lots and lots of plastic plants to hide in, but nothing to climb on. Maybe a flat rock to lay on for basking in an open spot. A 100 gallon one would be about right.

For a cage of that size, it must be outside, yes? The only time I've seen them break legs is when they are housed indoors with insufficient UV. Is your cage outside? Is he getting UV and the right foods? Of course, I've never housed one in a 12' tall cage! That's an enormous cage. He must be buck wild in there. Can you catch him? I would think that a cage that big, out in the sun would make for one wild a** green iguana. Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying you are doing anything wrong, quite the contrary. I used to keep them in heavily decorated Sierra Aviaries at that size and they were buck wild in that. I can't imagine how they must be in something so huge. I'd love to see pics.

 

[Scooter]

Yes he is outside so he is getting plenty of UV is diet consist of squash mixed greens, weeds, hibiscus and some other plants I have in his enclosure that I can't think of the name of right this second and I have starting some veggies and greens from seeds for him that are in the enclosure and he loves to munch on them as they come up. We can go out a pick him up he usually doesn't mind it. The reason its so big is its actually a small screened in porch that we layed mulch and dirt down on and put in a bunch of plants and some long walking stick/branches for him to climb along with a shelf and a vine. We have a small bench in there that we will sit on and hold him witch probably helps him to not be so wild. I am working on redoing the enclosure so I think that is how the break happened. I was watering the plants in there and everything was rearranged and I started watering the plants and I think he might have tried to run and with everything rearrange somehow got caught on something. At least this is all I can figure. He was fine the day I was watering went out the next morning and he was just sitting there like usual and I reached over and petted him. When he moved he wasn't using the back leg and it was slightly swollen.

I am just worried the stress from the smaller enclosure could make him worse.

Oh and its actually probably only about 9'-10' tall I over estimated.

 

[Tom]

Sounds like a great enclosure. Half of what I do all day is try to prevent animals from injuring themselves. I'm sure he'll heal up and be fine. These things just happen sometimes.

If you do move him into something smaller, I wouldn't worry too much about it. They are very adaptable, and he'll settle down pretty quickly.

 

[Scooter]

I am having to redo the enclosure because we of the harsh winter we had we lost a lot of the plants. Once I get it all redone and Nart (the iguana) is all healed up I will get some pictures to post.