Neo's Blog

Oh, guess what?!? Neo finally laid eggs, after all that!!!!! There was a bit of a problem initially though - I discovered one egg in Neo's digging-box, the same day I had to leave to travel up to Yorkshire... Plans had already been made, and I was expected to be there!! I reluctantly had to leave my parents with instructions, my friend (and herp expert) Rhys on standby, and vet's details written down just incase the worst should happen... I was surprised to see just one egg, and was worried that she didn't seem to be trying to lay anymore. I read that it isn't good if iguanas don't finish laying their eggs over a period of about 48 hours, as sometimes infertile, mis-shapen ones can become stuck and in a worst case scenario will require immediate veterinary attention to remove them or the iguana can die as a result Usually, the eggs would be taken out, and to prevent further problems from occurring, the womb and ovaries are taken out too. It's quite important that the ovaries are not left in, as I have heard horror stories where 'spayed' female iguanas have gone on to produce eggs because their ovaries were still left intact, and have died as a result of the eggs having nowhere to go once they had been produced

I left poor Neo in a constant orange colour, probably due to her discomfort and stress, but also wandering about, digging at her vivarium, which was a good sign. She hadn't given up yet! I had given her a nice, gentle warm bath earlier to try and help her along, and she appeared to appreciate the warm water swirling about her belly I quickly made an 'iguana-smoothie' - blended together a mixture of water, butternut squash, watercress and rocket with a bit of calcium and vitamin powder, and then pipetted drops of it into her mouth. She lapped at it quite happily. When she'd obviously had enough of that for her liking, I popped her back into her vivarium and left her to it, knowing that she should have enough fluid and nutrients in her to help her through for the time that I was away...

I received a text message from my mum the following evening to say that Neo had gone and laid 19 eggs!! What a relief. For Neo and myself!!!

Needless to say I returned home as quickly as possible, feeling extremely guilty that I had now infact missed both years Neo had laid! Apparently she chose a time when everyone was out of the house anyway, so I'm glad she had some time to herself if that is what she wanted. I find it strange that, both years, she laid very soon after I started to force-feed her liquids after noticing that she was beginning to look dehydrated and that her stools (or what little she was producing of them) were much drier than normal. I don't know if that is just coincidental timing, that she even stops drinking and then lays, or that the final influx of water and nutrients is what she needs to give her an extra boost to lay. Anyway, I found that quite interesting...

I had a quick feel of her abdomen this evening, and I can't feel any eggs left inside at all, which is excellent news She immediately wolfed down loads of food, and had seconds of her favourite green leaves, which is also very pleasing to see after over a month of strange eating habits!! I also found one more egg as I was clearing out all the soil that she had dug everywhere, so that was 21 eggs that she'd laid in total... that's 4 more than last year! She is looking awfully thin, but that is normal for an iguana that has just laid. As my mum put it in that text she sent me, she 'looks like a deflated balloon!' Poor Neo. I'll put a picture on here of her soon, but she won't thank me for it! Perhaps in a couple of days. She greeted me by tring to bite me again earlier, and she raises her back up if she thinks you are going to touch her. I think she still must be a bit sore! Obviously... and tired as well. I gave her a snack this evening incase she wanted it, she started eating it so I left her to it. I walked past her vivarium a bit later, glanced in and the poor girl was fast asleep... with her face in her food bowl!!! I felt incredibly sorry for her so picked her up out of it, cleaned the food off her upper jaw and front right foot (which was also in the bowl, and she thankfully seemed too tired to attempt to bite me!) and replaced the dish with a nice soft towel for her She adjusted herself onto it and fell back to sleep Awww...