Some help taming perhaps? Please.

Alright this is a special case for me so I came here to the specialists . I have some good experience caring for herps but I have never attempted to fully tame something.

Here is the backround.

My iguana is a typical sad rescue story. It originally was won by a child at a carnival, taken by his teacher and when she could no longer care for it it came to me...the guy with the reptiles. I took it a year ago when it was roughly 1 year old. It had a nice home built enclosure that it soon outgrew and therefore broke out of constantly. Eventually I gave it full run of my room as I know is common. Due to events I was not able to give her the attention she deserved over the last year though she is very healthy and I feed her well I have not had the chance to attempt taming. Plus it is a bit hard when she can go wherever she wants. And the fact that she is mean well OK she is scared.

Well I finally was able to afford a proper cage for her this weekend. I cant tell you how happy I am that this took place. Thank god for sales. Anyway I would like to attempt taming her down because she is such a great creature and I really do love her to death.

My problem is she is a bit old for taming (at least I think) she has a serious attitude, likes to whip the hell out of me which I really dont mind, and bites though this has only happened once.

My real question is: is she too old to tame? If not is there any advice you might have or websites that have information for me? I have read extensivly on the subject I just know that people on this site have a lot of experience and have helped me out with a number of troubles with my geckos and snakes.

Thank you for any help you can provide me.

I really don't know if there is ever an age where an iguana becomes to old to tame... It become progressively harder and more time consuming though.... Besides the fact that it is much harder to try to handle a larger iguana.
I have had older iguanas that I tamed down and I have had young iguanas that were pretty much hopeless. It pretty much depends on the iguana's background.
One isn't really that old for an iguana either... so you still have a good chance.

You just really have to give it alot of time. Taming and keeping a bond with an iguana is time consuming... but very worth it.
Good luck.

Take a minute or two each morning to hand feed her a few veggies. It is the easiest way to start building trust. On the other hand, this is something I would NEVER do with my monitor or tegu. Good luck!

i would have to agree with seth hand feeding would be a good start but still handle her everyday.

Do you remember the old saying "you cannot teach an old dog new tricks"? That is about as false to dogs as it is to iguanas. I have a rescue that is probably 10 years old, she was mean and not wanting to be in a new home. She is quite good at tail whipping and did not trust a single person.

When we first picked her up and brought her home it was a big change for her. She was abused, had some scars and missing toe nails, her color was just black. I spent a few weeks getting her to trust me that I would feed her regularly on a schedule, I started with food in a bowl, then food being place in front of her, by the end of the month she only wanted to eat out of my hand. If I did not stick around and hand her food, she would not eat right away and she would give me bad looks. She was a princess and wanted her attention.

So she started to trust me, but I was NOT allowed to touch her, this took some major work. I started by slowly placing my hand near her without touching, took a few tail whips, but I did not move my hand. Within a few weeks of doing this, I was able to touch her gently on her lobes and scratch her belly. Here we are a year later, I cannot hold her, BUT she will sit on my shoulders and allow me to steady her from falling. She still wants to eat out of my hand, I can still scratch her belly, and I can get as close to her as I want without getting a mouthful of tail.

Her nails are growing back, her scars are well healed, and she is a beautiful green.
Give the iguana time, soon enough she will come around to you and get excited when she sees you.

sounds like you have done a good job but still have lots of work a head good luck.

I agree Michael, good post!

Also, great pic, you got to love that face!!

There really isn't a point where you CAN'T tame them, it just gets a lot harder. They are bigger, stronger and have reacted to people a certain way for a good portion of their lives. You will just have to expect that it will take probably months to work with it. You can't give up either. You have to keep at it and do it every day. You should eventually se results. There may be times where it seems like they regress but you just have to keep at it. It takes a lot of patience and time but it should pay off in the end

Taming is often a mis-used term. Iguana personalities I liken to a cat, very independant with lots of attitude. Patience and consistancey is key. And you must know what you are training them. What I mean is how you approach them, feed them, and care for them are all subtle ways we train them.

It took me over a year to come to some middle ground with my ig, but once that bond was made it was able to do wonder things with him. Visit my site and you see an ultimate in what this bond can achieve. www.reptilerenegade.com

One my best training has come from time in the tub filled with warm water up to their shoulder. Let him soak for about 10 min on his own then spend time stoking his back and talking to him. Do this a few times a week at least. You should start to see some improvement in a few months.