IMPORTANT: These pages on health are meant to be general guides, not hard and fast rules. They were not written by vets and are NO SUBSTITUTE for veterinary care. If you suspect something is wrong with your iguana, PLEASE see a qualified veterinarian!

Thermal Burns

Using a Hot Rock is the number one cause of thermal burns in iguanas. Burns can also come from over head heat sources. Again, this is where KNOWING your temperatures is very important as is the placement of thermometers.
They can come from your iguana climbing on the ceiling of their cage upside-down (burns on feet, stomach, face)

They can come from igs climbing on the heat source itself. This is why its so important to NEVER assume your ig wont touch an exposed heat or light source!! THEY WILL DO IT!
Burns can be deadly! They can be burned to the extent that it has actually burned their internal organs or to any degree before that.

With burns, in most cases, they will need to see a vet for emergency care. They will need to be put on an antibiotic to prevent external and internal infection. Even though the burn may not look infected on the outside, chances are there is an infection (systematic) going on in their bloodstream.

If your iguana is burned, that won't stop them from climbing on the item that burned them. Its up to you to prevent it from happening again.
Some minor burns can be treated without a vet....but its best to have ALL burns checked because its sometimes hard to tell just how deep the burn is.

More in-depth information on burns can be found at Melissa Kaplan's site.

Hot Rock Burn	Hot Rock Burn	Iguana with thermal burn on its back
Healing Burn
Click on thumbnail for larger picture.