Sometimes, you might face iguana eye problems – for example when your iguana won’t open its eyes. You might also wonder why your iguana closes its eyes when you are petting it. My iguana won’t open its eyes – the reasons and solutions, shutting eyes, swollen eyes, reasons for an iguana closing its eyes and more in this post.
Iguanas have beautiful eyes and also a very good vision – they can see objects from the distance and also see colors. Let’s discuss the reasons why your iguana won’t open his eyes.
Iguana eye problems:
- Eye infections
- Mechanical eye damage
- Damage in the structure of an eye – for example cornea
- Closing eyes due to very bright light
- Eye irritation due to the use of chemicals to clean or build the cage
- Hypovitaminosis A (deficiency of vitamin A)
- Medicine getting in the eyes when bathing or soaking
- Foreign objects in the eye
- An abscess
- Eye drooping
- Fungal skin infection
Reason #1: Use of chemicals to clean/build iguana’s cage
If you are using strong chemicals to clean iguana’s cage, its eyes will get irritated. Same goes if you have been building iguana’s cage and used paint or other chemicals for waterproofing the cage.
Any living organism, including iguanas, is very sensitive to chemical gases. If you clean or build the cage with strong chemicals, make sure to leave the cage to off-gas before you return your iguana in. Keep your iguana in another room while cleaning or building the cage.
It’s not recommended to use bleach or bleach containing products to clean iguana’s cage. You can only use diluted bleach (1:20) to clean the cage if there is any infection or mites.
A better idea is to use other cleaning supplies that are safe for reptiles, such as this Fluker’s reptile cage cleaning spray. You might also use other cleaning supplies that are safe for babies and reptiles, or dilute stronger chemicals in large quantities of water.
Reason #2: Mechanical eye damage
Your iguana’s eye might be damaged due to different reasons. These can include damage to the cornea of the eye, scratches and ulcers. Your iguana might scratch or damage its eyes when rubbing against various objects. This can also be the case if the cage is made out of the wire (iguana can scratch its eye).
If you suspect any of these issues, you will need to take your iguana to the vet. The vet will review the eyes and will look for any issues.
Reason #3: Iguana eye infection
Your iguana’s eye might be infected if the eye looks dull and discolored. With eye infections, you are not likely to see any swelling around the eye. Make sure to take your iguana to the vet in this case. You can also try using the reptile eye rinse with antimicrobial properties like this, if the infection does not seem serious.
Reason #4: Very bright light in the tank
Sometimes, if there is no other explanation, the cause of your iguana closing its eyes might be bright lighting. If the lighting is very bright, your iguana is likely to move to a darker spot. But sometimes, your iguana will not move to a different spot and will stay there with its eyes closed.
The light positioning is often the main reason why your iguana is closing its eyes. When setting up lights, make sure it’s not hung diagonally, but rather from from top.
If your iguana’s eyelids don’t protect the eyes from direct light, your iguana will be closing its eyes. In this case, you will need to hang the light in a different position. Make sure to use reptile lights and not household lights in the cage as they are unsuitable and might be too bright.
Reason #5: Medicine getting in the eyes when bathing or soaking
If you are soaking your iguana in the solution of Betadine, then your iguana might do under water and it can get in the eyes. As a result, iguana’s eyes will get slightly irritated and your iguana will be closing its eyes.
If that is the case, make sure to bathe your iguana in shallow water and wash its eyes with some water. It’s always a good idea to let your iguana soak for a while (it might drink the water or poop in there), and only then change the water and add the medicine. Irritation from Betadine soak should pass soon.
Reason #6: Foreign objects in the eye
There can be an issue when a foreign object gets in iguana’s eye or eyes and causes irritation. Foreign objects might include loose pieces of sand, dirt, pieces of shedding skin etc. If there is a foreign object in the eye, your iguana will be squinting or unable to open the eye at all.
You can examine your iguana’s eyes with some light, and flush it with saline or an antimicrobial reptile eye wash like this to remove any debris or foreign objects. And please never use loose substrate in iguana’s tank.
Reason #7: An abscess around the eye
Your iguana might develop an abscess on the side of its eye. An abscess develops when pus accumulates in one spot due to an infection.
Your iguana’s eye will be swollen and hurt when you touch it, if there’s an abscess. The abscess will be red and have pus inside of it – making tissues around the eye bulge.
If your iguana has an abscess, it might be hard for it to open its eye, depending on the size of the abscess. Please take your iguana to the vet, who will lance the abscess and remove all the pus from the inside.
After removing the pus, the wound must be flushed with an antibiotic solution. You must keep applying antibiotic ointment to prevent the infection from happening again. Make sure not to use alcohol to disinfect the wound or it will severely burn the skin.
You must always find out the reason for the abscess – it might be an ongoing infection in the mouth (teeth infection, stomatitis), infection after the wound around the eye, in the ears and others.
Abscesses can appear not only around the eye – it can also happen around the face and the body. Even tear duct problems can cause abscesses or cysts in the eye, which also needs immediate treatment.
Reason #8: Vitamin A deficiency
Vitamin A deficiency is getting rarer nowadays, because most responsible owners provide their iguana with various vegetables, greens, flowers and fruits. An iguana is more likely to develop vitamin A deficiency if it’s malnourished, been fed wrong foods and plus has never been supplemented.
Vitamin A deficiency can cause cornea damage, eye clouding, dry eyes, bad eyesight at night and even blindness.
Reason #9: Fungal infection of the skin
If your iguana suffers from a fungal skin infection, it can lead to skin crusting, blackening, scarring and enlargement. As a result, an eyelid around the eye might become thick and bulgy, preventing your iguana from opening its eyes fully. This will have to be treated with anti-fungal creams.
Sometimes, it can also be a bacterial skin infection, when you can notice dry and peeling spots on the skin. Bacterial skin infections are treated with antibiotics. The two types of infection look similar, so a swab is needed for testing to determine the causing agent.
Reason #10: Dehydration or calcium and other vitamin & mineral deficiency
If an iguana is dehydrated or malnourished, it will be weak. It’s very likely to lay with eyes closed and be lethargic, too.
In general, if iguana is kept in wrong conditions, it will develop health issues. Make sure to always have a bowl with fresh water for drinking (separate from a soaking dish with water).
If you sometimes feed your iguana dry commercial foods, make sure to offer your iguana some high water veggies as well or at least have a bowl with water available. Whenever you think that your iguana is dehydrated, place it in a both with some added electrolytes so that your iguana can soak them in.
Your iguana needs UVB lighting (5.0 or better 10.0) to produce vitamin D3 in the skin. You must change UVB lights every 5-6 months and dust iguana’s food with calcium and other supplements.
Read all about iguana lighting and heating in this useful post (opens in a new tab).
Summary on iguana eye problems:
- If your iguana’s eye is shut or swollen – there might be a lot of causes. Start with examining the eye and surrounding tissues.
- Are you sure that it’s not something temporary or due to external factors? Is the light too bright or set up diagonally, or did you soak your iguana in the bath with Betadine?
- Make sure there is no retained shed around the eye that causes crusting. If there is any stuck skin, remove it gently with a cotton bud.
- Look inside the eye if you can – are there any particles? Soak and wash the eye with some warm camomile tea (soak cotton pads).
- Is the iguana lethargic in general? This could be vitamin deficiency and malnutrition. Review the husbandry practices.
- Can you feel any swelling around or behind the eye? It could be an abscess.
- Is the eye red or has a scratch? This could be due to a mechanical damage that can also cause infection. You can start using antimicrobial reptile drops like this before you see the vet. If there any ulcers or corneal damage, it needs specialized treatment.
- Increase the temperature in the basking spot to 100 F (37.7 Celsius) for your iguana to fight off the infection that it might have.
Why do iguanas close one eye?
When you are petting your iguana, you might notice that is closes one eye. If your iguana is still new and was closing both eyes when you were petting it – it means that it wanted to shut off and not see you (for protection).
After your iguana bonds with you, closing one eye (closer to you) and keeping the other one open means that it trusts you.
With tame iguanas, you might notice that your iguana closes both eyes when you are petting it. If your tame iguana also tries to reach your hand when you are petting it, then it means that it’s tolerant of you petting it.
Young iguanas are especially prone to closing their eyes when you approach them. They might close both eyes or one eye (the are trying to protect themselves). This way, they are trying not to see you, because you are bigger than them = a threat.
Why is my iguana bulging its eyes?
Your iguana might bulge its eyes when it tries to help stuck shedding come off. If you can see some shedding skin around the eyes, that might be the reason. Another reason why your iguana might bulge its eyes is when they are swallowing and trying to balance the pressure in the throat (especially after swallowing food).
Either way, temporary eye bulging in iguanas is not a sign of sickness. If it doesn’t pass within few minutes after starting, then it might indicate other issues.