Erect iguana faces penis trauma

Metro.co.uk ^ | Tuesday, January 23, 2007

[Slings and Arrows]

An iguana called Mozart, who has had a permanent erection since he mated a week ago, may have to have his penis cut off if his condition does not subside.

But, even if amputation is necessary, the future is not entirely bleak – the lizards have two penises.

Keepers at Aquatopia Zoo in Antwerp, Belgium, will make their decision tomorrow.

[WFTR]

I'm in the process of learning some reptile anatomy because I'm hoping to breed pythons within the next few years. As someone has already stated, most reptiles have two organs which are called hemipenes. They don't work together or consecutively as far as I know. I suspect that they have two for the reason that this article describes. In the wild, one likely becomes damaged occasionally, and a second allows the animal to continue breeding. Another interesting point with snakes is that the sperm travels in grooves on the outside of the hemipene. When the snakes aren't breeding, the hemipenes withdraw into a snake's body in an "inside-out" manner. When the snake is ready to breed, the male will evert one hemipene and insert it into the female. He'll secrete along the outside of the hemipene so that the sperm travels along the hemipene into the female. What might have happened to this iguana is that the muscle that pulls the hemipene back into his body has become damaged. I suspect that the writer of this article has taken quite a bit of poetic license with his description of this poor guy's problem.

Bill

[KoRn]

LOL! When I saw this title I was going to ping you to it only to find you posted it haha!

[Slings and Arrows]

With that title, how could I *not* post it?

[Delta 21]

I've always wanted a Hemi.

[Titan Magroyne]

Thanks for the info. All the same, it doesn't sound like fun for poor Iggie.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

So... when an iguana is not quite in the mood, do you say his hemi is a semi?
Then you show him Demi:



Would that make his hemi semi Demi quaver?

Sorry, it's very late...

[Feiny]

No Photos?
Wotta gyp!

[Slings and Arrows]

There are plenty of pix of a lizard with a permanent erection, but he left office in January 2001.

[SunkenCiv]

Galapagos the thing right off.

[Slings and Arrows]

Follow-ups on Mozart's misadventures:

Always-Erect Iguana Loses Penis

Happy End to Iguana Penis Saga

[trillabodilla]

The writer of the articles linked clearly had fun with the story! LOL

Oh, well, all's well that ends well!

[Slings and Arrows]

Any day you can put "iguana" and "penis" in the same headline is a good day.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Looks like they need to either cut down or increase the dosages of Viagra. (Not sure which)

[metmom]

Or wanting to gouge your eyes out...