Iggy does this 1x a year. She is at that time again, right now, as we "speak".

So the digging and scratching, she stops eating, she gets heavy. She is very active. Walks around (free roaming) non-stop. In the same day, she flops for 30 minutes in a hide-away spot she never uses in a normal heartbeat/day.

You think eggs? I believe eggs. Then I get her X-rayed, no eggs.

But I go through the motions.. build her up with calcium prior the "saeson" (through food etc). Give her water through a needle-less syringe (at the moment between 20 -30ml a day); at times mixed with rehydrating salts. Lots of cuddles and provision of the dark spots (which she gravitates to only sometimes; most times prefering to bask in the sun, but not in her cage; hence the scratching to get out; when this passes, she enjoys the time in her cage).

So she starts this worry season by pooping 3-4 times a day (instead of the usual 2x - once in the morning and once in the evening showers; she loves to shower, and splash around in the shower). Then she stops pooping, and only pees milky white urates (1x or 2x a day).


Last year, she pooped out a white clump, and then all was well.

So my questions:
Is she reabsorbing her "phantom" eggs? Is she just going through a false gravid thing and the whole gambit associated to carying eggs? Has anyone had a similar experience?

Btw/We live in Malaysia, where the vets know next to nothing about lizards.

I would have to say that she is probably reabsorbing her eggs. My females do it every year. Only had 2 clutches of eggs actually laid in 11 yrs of iguana keeping. Just keep an eye and be sure she isnt straining at all in case she is eggbound...then surgery is necessary to remove the eggs ....good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

my crestie just did it...

Thanks a ton Lyn I have been on the track that IggySingh is reabsorbing her eggs. I have had some folk write to me over the years to say they either lay or do not, no such thing as reabsorbing, which I do not buy at all (plus doesn't go with what I have been reading up on).

I am keeping careful watch over her. Problem is that there are no vets here in Malaysia that can really do this surgery. No herp vets. No lizard familar vets. All into dogs, cats and fur, and use this sort of an opportunity (should one take an ig in) to learn as they go.

I have found this vet - Dr. Vijay - that Iggy really likes and is comfortable with. I totally trust him as he goes all out to learn up and read, and call the lizard experts in national zoos across the border (down south in Singapore), and even he will only operate should Iggy's insides come out (as he did once with another ig)... as dramatically bad as that is when he will operate... as he honestly does not know enough and is totally up-front about it.

Who ever told you that iguanas don't absorb their eggs doesn't know what they are talking about!
My female will lay sometimes and absorb sometimes. And there is no rhyme or reason as to when she is going to do what.
The behavior you are describing definately sounds like gravid to me. Possibly the reason no eggs showed up on the Xray is because they hadn't formed yet.
Do you provide an egg laying box?

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!