Metabolic Bone Disease in Iguanas

Video Transcript

"On behalf of Expert Village, I'm Nicole, and I'm here to tell you about iguanas. One of the worst case scenarios of your iguana getting ill would have to be metabolic bone disease. Now this is something that affects iguanas prominently, so you want to make sure you prevent it by providing lots of supplements. Metabolic bone disease is actually a problem which is caused by lack of vitamin, or of calcium. This can be caused because lack of vitamin d 3, which allows the iguana to absorb the calcium into its bones. Now either that, or it's going to be a lack of calcium altogether. This can be prevented by giving your iguana supplements of vitamin d 3, and of calcium. I purchased this book at the local pet store. And I looked up what metabolic bone disorder is, or bone disease. And in here it says, well obviously it's a lack of calcium in the bloodstream. And right here it says calcium is important for muscle contractions, nerve impulses, metabolic enzyme reactions and blood clotting. And now the body has to retain a certain level of calcium in its bloodstream to allow all these things to function properly. And when it doesn't, when you don't have enough calcium in the bloodstream, there's a gland, let's see. The parathyroid gland in the iguana will stimulate, and it will release a hormone which tells the bone to begin to literally eat itself from the inside out, to reduce the need for the amount of calcium the iguana needs. Now this is how their bones become very brittle, very, very thin. The iguanas will become, their limbs can become very swollen, and they appear to be more muscular, much more muscular than they really are. And if you have a small iguana with really big legs, for example, there's probably a problem there. This swelling usually will indicate metabolic bone disease. To correct metabolic bone disease, you need to evaluate the iguana's diet. Make sure there's plenty of calcium available in his diet, and you also need to supplement with vitamin d 3 and calcium. And that way, the iguana will have plenty of calcium and the ability to absorb it into his bones to prevent this disorder. Now in extreme cases, where you can't correct it with supplements and diet, the iguana will most likely need to be hospitalized, and treated at the hospital."