The newest addition: a soon to be scar

Some call me stupid, some call me brave, I call myself not careful enough. While trying to fix something in the iguana's house, he came running in order to chase me away. I did take a few steps back, but he jumped anyway, getting the ball of my hand. I'm not sure if he intended to, but given that he's in mating season, I'd say yes. He then charged me so I had to quickly hide in the bathroom, out of his sight. Probably a good choice, because I'd started bleeding all over the place and needed to stop the bleeding first. However, I pressed something to the wound and put the iguana back into his house.
Interestingly, he becomes rather wild when he has bitten me, as if he had a rush of adrenaline running through him. Moving things get him going, whether it's a towel, a bag or me. You run away, he'll chase. However, I don't recommend standing still; if an iguana charges, he'll attack. If you have something at hand to throw over his head (towel, blanket or jumper) do that. Or if you have something to block him, hold it in his way. A charging iguana is determined to get you and if you don't pay attention, he'll succeed. I was lucky, again, today; the wound is not deep, just cut through the first layer of my skin, which will heal nicely, but leave a scar.

Below are the pictures:

 <--two minutes after he bit me.

 Bleeding almost stopped, already a little swollen -->



Below: Bleeding stopped. You can see that he has literally torn the flesh in three areas.  It'll take probably a bit more than a week to heal.

                               

And a picture just taken (3rd day after bite) before I put on a new dressing:
It is still slightly swollen, because I don't rest it enough and it's in an awkward position with lots of fat and muscle underneath. But it's dry now. It'll leave a scar for sure, but it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. I think it'll take another week to heal properly, then will continue to be sensitive for a while.

This picture was taken on the fifth day after the attack --->
Still a bit swollen and slightly infected. I've taken off the bandage for the first time to let air on the wound, which was good. It's almost closed and dry now. I've carefully cleaned it with saline solution, as it's a gentle disinfectant and dries the wound in addition. It'll probably take until end of this week for the swelling to go down and another for the scab to come off. I was lucky he didn't get deeper.

<--This is exactly a week after. I will have to watch the very dark bit on the top, but it's healing nicely. The swelling has gone down and appears now only around the scab. I'll give it about another week to be healed completely. It's still sensitive when I press on it, but that's normal, given that it's still healing underneath.

13 days after the attack, finally without the scab: it's not completely healed yet. I have to find out if the remaining black bit is dead tissue or blood underneath the skin. My guess is the former. Will have to wait and see if it grows out eventually.
It's still rather sensitive and often painful to touch. It would have been better if I had stitches as it's a very difficult area and constantly in use. Another battle scar from the sharp teeth of an iguana.

Wish me luck!

I have no idea why, though it might be the fact that I moved house, but it seems Zorro has decided it's time for mating season. He's not full in it yet, but the early signs are already there:
Less relaxed
More aggression towards me
Eating less
Trying to bite into anything that moves
A lot of jumping to the glass when he sees his reflection (not so much snout banging. Yet!)
As usual, it came over night and I'm rather upset about it, because I wanted to avoid him going into mating season at all costs. Trying a hormone implant for the first time. That seems a little bit too late now. We had planned March/April as he normally went into season in May.
All I'm hoping for is, that he'll not get as mad as he was the past two years, so he'll not hurt himself.

On the other hand, as you can see from the picture above, he's in good health and a proper dinosaur. Big and beautiful, a little cheeky and definitely impressive.
I can still touch him and give his cheeks a good massage, but it'll be a matter of time when he turns into the lethal animal he becomes for the next few months. I can honestly say that I'm not looking forward to it and all I hope for is that he'll be fine and as calm as possible.

Wish me luck that I don't need to see the vet surgery this year. I'd be utterly happy if I don't.

I know I posted this before, but I will not tire of warning people off those animals:

Iguanas can become 25 if kept well and they become big, too. Zorro is 6.5 and almost 5 feet, 6kg
Males in particular can become very aggressive towards female owners. Even if you had them since a baby and they are tame. As soon as they reach maturity, they can turn. Zorro was tame before and turned from one day to another.
They need a good and healthy diet, it's not as easy as opening a tin for a cat. They are animals with special requirements. One should be certain they can commit to care for such a pet.
They have razor sharp teeth and a fully grown iguana can easily bite off your finger when attacking

BEFORE you decide to take on an iguana, do your research and think long and hard. No point getting one when you will give the animal away because it's getting too big or aggressive. If you are sure you can commit, think about rescuing one, there are plenty of abandoned adult iguanas in need of a loving home.

If you have questions or are uncertain, please contact me. You'll find my e-mail address under 'about me'.

Do not get an iguana because they are cool or cute! They are living animals and need an owner to have good knowledge and understanding of those fascinating creatures.