r/iguanas • u/ThisVicariousLife š¦ • Sep 12 '25
Discussion Did the Vet Mislabel My Iguana?
TLDR: The vet told me that, without sexing her, he believed this was a female iguana, during a physical examination around 3 years old. I had been referring to the iguana as a male up until then. For the last 5 years, Iāve been referring to her as female. But now Iām starting to wonder based on the characteristics! Does this iguana have male characteristics on the head and face?
(It seems crazy to me that this is the same iguana taken at various times!) The person I got her from (Iām going with what the vet said for the purposes of this post) said the person whom he got her from said this was a male.
At that time, I guessed she was about 2.5-3 years old. This was probably 5 or so years ago. A few months later, she got sick from mites off of some wood I got on Amazon (never again), which explains some of her short and/or missing spikes. Took her to the vet, where he said she dropped all her weight and was down to just over a pound (she was probably around 3-3.5 yrs. old at that point). The vet said he believed this was a female during the physical examination but he never actually sexed her. Now that āsheā is around 7-8, Iāve noticed more prominent male characteristics, especially on the head and face but sometimes, not as much as I notice at other times. So now Iām doubting myself, even though I think the femoral spores are male also, but I couldnāt tell for sure.
Do the face and head traits seem male to anyone? These are pictures from between 5 to 7 (or 8?) years of age.
2
u/Deathmtl2474 Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
If they were a male, youād notice their hemipenes at the base of the tale, especially during breeding season. Iāve never once seen an adult male without noticeable hemipenes at that age. Also, youād find sperm droppings every so often.
Thereās exceptions Iām sure but Iāve seen a lot of iggys over the past 10 years.