Institut für Geflügelkrankheiten, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen.
In this report surgery on the urinary bladder of an iguana is documented. Clinical signs, palpation and radiography failed to reveal the cause of the illness. During surgery a distended urinary bladder which contained an urolith 3 x 2 cm in size was found and removed. The urinary bladder was closed with a double-layered, non-perforating suture. According to the results of infrared spectroscopy, the urolith consisted of 70% dehydrated uric acid and 30% ammonium hydrogen urate. After removal of the urolith the iguana recovered within two days.