Hi Gang!

Hoping someone here might be able to shed some light on an unusual situation we have here...

The first time Bailey and Mary mate each year, there is a disturbing amount of blood. We took pictures this year, but despite it happening last year and again this year, we can't tell which one of them is bleeding. Neither one shows any signs of distress and the bleeding does not continue past the first mating each year. Is Mary some sort of mutant perpetual virgin? Bailey received severe injuries at the base of his tail when he was very very small, and still has the scars... I wonder, though, if the bleeding isn't coming from him due, in some way, to his childhood injury. Any ideas?

--Roc

(edited to add: i didn't post the pictures here because of the blood - didn't want to offend the squemish... but I will post or email them upon request)

Hi roc-

I found this article on breeding Iguanas, hope it helps.

GIS:Breeding Igs

__________________
Regards,
Dominick
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"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

Dominick,

Wow, how did I miss that article all this time? Thank you *very* much for the link! Sadly, it didn't have info about the actual act of mating... but every bit of the information it did have was both entertaining and informative. Thank you again!

--Roc

Hi Roc-

I have a few other sites. Give me a few minutes.

__________________
Regards,
Dominick
_____________________________________________
"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

Hi Roc-

Here's a wonderful site from a Japanese e-friend who breeds her Igs. Has great info and pics. A bit hard to navigate, but keep at it and you'll find what you are looking for.

YIL: Iguana Breeding

From here, select: IGUANA> BREED

__________________
Regards,
Dominick
_____________________________________________
"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

I have an idea on what the bleeding might be caused by- especially if you can't find any obvious injuries on either iguana ...

Sometimes when lizards mate the females back claws hit the males hemipene and since the hemipene is swollen and engorged with blood it can end up bleeding quite a bit if it's raked with a claw. (I suppose it's not always the females fault! I guess the male could injure himself when the hemipene is exposed or by accidently hitting it on a rough object in the cage while attempting to mate.)

We actually observed our male dragon get injured in this manner several years ago ... all of a sudden there was blood on both dragons! Very alarming! After calling a vet we were told to apply steady pressure to the male dragons vent/base of tail area for 10 minutes to help the wound clot (just like you would do with a human injury of course) and to watch for blood when the male defecated. All was well after this accident.


We also had a similar problem with our box turtles! Our male eastern and female ornate were housed in the same cage and I don't know if it was caused by a mating attempt or if our female just happened to bite the exposed hemipene ... she is a bit nippy! I came home from work one day to find quite a large puddle of blood in the turtles substrate and no obvious injuries to either turtle. After a day or so we noticed that the males eyes were no longer red but actually almost colourless- white ... at that point we (and the vet) figured it was him that had lost the blood and quite a bit of blood at that. He was quiter than normal too. We housed him and the female seperately from that point on and he was put on antibiotics and carefully observed for about a month before his red eye colour started to return again. We were never able to see his injured area during that time period but it had to be an injured hemipene.

hope this info helps!

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Tricia