I got her as a rescue adoption from the local humane society; we think she was around 4 when I got her, and I've had her for five years now.

Iguanas, with proper care can live 20 years or more (the record, AFAIK, is 29 years); but she had obvoiusly horrible care before MCHS got her: the somewhat-healed burn scars on her tail showed that.

Laurel, like a lot of iguanas will bite defensively; sometimes, this will be a warning nip, sometimes it's a serious bite & tear sort of thing. Her bites don't hurt me because I wear a pair of welders' gloves when I handle her, and she can't bite through them. But she's gotten to the point where she does do the serious biting.

And iguana's tail is typically longer than the body, although it's less bulky. Neverthe less, there's a substantial amount of the mass of the animal in the tail-since she lost the majority of her tail, there will be some balance issues until she gets used to the lack of tail. She has been cruising around her enclosure the past couple of days, as she used to do-but I think the difficulty she's had climbing is due more to the fact that I clipped her claws for the vet visit, and she can't sink them into her climbing logs.

NSHP-(N)utritional (S)econdary (H)yper(p)arathroidism. Now you know why we abbreviate it. Basically, a condition wherein a reptile doesn't get enough calcium in the diet or enough exposure to sunlight to make vtiamin D. This is a complex issue: all vertebrates have the ability to make D3 from the action of sunlight on the skin. Vitamin D3 is used to process calcium from the diet, which is then used to not only make bone & egg material, but also for transference of nerve impulses. Iguanas, in particular, don't seem to use D3 they may get from their diet, so exposure to sunlight, or artificial light that has a significant output of UVB radiation is necessary. Too much phosphorus in the diet can also bind the calcium in the diet, making the calcium intake useless. What happens is eventually, the calcium that is needed for nerve function it taken from the bones, resulting in bone fractures, "rubber jaw", etc. Aside from her tail, Laruel shows none of these symptoms.

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