Taming Help Desperately Needed

[bamf226]

I bought a young iguana about 10 days ago from a local pet store. He looked healthy and hungry. About 5 days after we bought him, I noticed a patch of skin that hadn't molted properly on one of his front legs. After clipping away some of the dead skin, I noticed a small cut in his skin and took him to the doctor the next day. (I promise I'm going somewhere relating to taming). He had an abscess from the bad molt and is now receiving oral antibiotics, application of ointment on his leg and 15 minute soaks every day.

Well, the treatments are going decently except for the fact that getting him out of the cage is a giant ordeal. Even unzipping the cage makes the iguana uneasy and ready to bolt. It takes a great deal of effort to grab him before he hurts himself.

The treatments should only last for another week at most; he sees the doctor again this weekend. My primary concern is how am I going to tame this little guy. He's already scared to death of me and my wife. I don't know what to do. I see no way to tame him after the traumatic beginnings. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to tame him and how long it could take? To me, it isn't worth having a pet if it is scared of you, but I've put so much money and time into building his habitat and caring for him during his injury. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[PythonWallace]

It's good to hear that you brought it to the vet. It sounds like you need to read up on iguanas, though. I take it you are keeping him in a nylon Reptarium being that his enclosure zips. Iguanas need higher humidity that you can't get with a Reptarium. This could cause health problems, including stuck sheds. You won't be able to tame him quickly, as he's probably very stressed from all the excitement of a new home and the vet trip, not to mention getting yanked out every day to give him antibiotics. To tame him you should let him adjust after he finishes his medicine, then start hand feeding him until he seems more comfortable with you. After a while start taking him out for short periods and hand feed him after you put him back in his cage. It will take some time, but if you work at it consistantly, he will calm down for you. I'm not experienced with iguanas, so I won't get into the whole spiel about iguanas and cage size and impulse purchases, but the first thing you should do is get a good iguana book and read some websites, then get him set up correctly so he doesn't continue having problems.

 

[bamf226]

The bad molt happened before we got him. I was concerned after a few days and when the clipping of the dead skin revealed a cut, I became very concerned.

You are correct though that I have a Reptarium. He seems very happy in it when he is left alone. He plays daily in his water and the whole cage gets misted in the mornings.

I've bought two books and my wife and I have researched countless hours on web sites for months before getting him. Even after we got him we were doing research on his reactions to everything to make sure everything was right for him.

I have yet to be able to hand feed him. I've tried several times between buying him and the first trip to the vet, but he wouldn't eat. He eats plenty if you leave him alone though.

Assuming I can get him to hand feed, how long do I give it before he calms down?

 

[PythonWallace]

I don't know how long it will take, but my chameleons usually took a couple of months of hand feeding before they would volunteerily climb on my hand to be taken out of the cage. I think the zippers on reptariums startle them, and probably delay the process of making them feel comfortable when you open the cage to take them out. I'd say give him some time to adjust after he's all done with his vet trips and medicine. After he has acclimated to the new environment and a new owner, start offering him food from tongs, then eventually your hand. Building a custom cage won't hurt, and will probably reduce the time it takes for him to become tame. Eventually start taking him out and let him walk around on your couch with you while you watch TV so he learns that there isn't any threat being out of his cage. It could take a few weeks, or it might take a few months. Just keep working with him.

 

[hhmoore]

First of all, forget timelines. NOBODY is going to be able to tell you how long it is going to take, or even if it will ever happen. You may get a handful of totally different responses, telling you how to tame him/her...and a good percentage of those will be from people that have never kept iguanas (no offense meant, Jake).

You are a monster. For all he knows, you are going to eat him. I adamantly disagree with the daily, forced, handling of any animal in the attempt to calm it. Think about it...if a giant were to reach into your world, chase you around your house, restrain you, and hold you far above the ground - just how long would it take for you not to be afraid of it? It takes time.
Spend time around the enclosure, but not messing with it. Occasionally, offer it a treat - starting on an outstretched palm on the floor of the enclosure, then progressing to holding it in your fingers. Hold him occasionally, while sitting on the sofa or a comfortable chair. Try not to restrain him too much, but you won't want him to get away (imagine trying to catch him as he races through your house). Unfortunately, there is no guaranteed effective generic plan, so you will have to pay a lot of attention to his responses. One day, months from now, you may notice that he is calming down...it may or may not last. As they get some size, though, they tend not to be as afraid, so it does get easier (even if they never seem to like handling)

 

[Tim Cole]

Taming an Iguana?

 

[Seamus Haley]

As they get some size, though, they tend not to be as afraid, so it does get easier (even if they never seem to like handling)

I'm not sure if the usual violent defensive responses of an adult are really an improvement over the skittishness though.

My advice to the original poster, simply and directly, would be to get rid of the iguana. They make piss poor pets for the overwhelming majority of people and, given the specific nature and tone of the questions you're asking... I'd wager you're completely and utterely unprepared to keep one.

Which books did you get? Which web resources did you find?

 

[Wilomn]

I've found a good method is to keep a bag of BBQ briquettes near the cage. Let the lizard become familiar with them, the smell, the shape, the colour.

Next, put him BY the BBQ itself if you can but DO NOT use the briquettes. Yet.

If he continues to remain untamable, let him see you grill a steak or two, better yet a whole fish as some seem to recognize fish as other creatures inhabiting the same forest niche.

If he still continues, well, fire up them briquettes and break out the beers, it's BBQ time.

Yum, chicken of the jungle.

 

[PythonWallace]

Exactly. If he doesn't catch on, at least he'll be delicious. Just give him some time, so he'll put some weight on and make a decent meal if he can't settle down.

 

[hhmoore]

OK, so I was trying not to state the obvious...after all, it should be obvious. Iguanas do not make great pets, as a rule. Most people are thoroughly unprepared to meet their needs for the duration of their natural life...so that life frequently ends early, or is spent with somebody else. A few, though, actually find people willing to devote the time, money, and space...and enjoy them for what they are. Some may even become fairly "tame". Be the exception, and maybe the iguana will be, too

 

[Tim Cole]

I'm glad

to see that I got this thread on the correct path! Iguanas are EVIL! Having kept them for many years when I was younger and naive, I now get them in as rescues and am using Wes's idea with the grill.

I have a scar from a "to the bone iguana bite" 25 years ago! I work with snakes everyday and have no scars from them. Lots of cool lizards out there that make good practical pets. Iguanas are absent from this list. About one out of 50 are manageable and that one will be a female.

 

[bamf226]

Thanks to the few of you that took this serious. I'm also happy that my raised stress level on making this little guy happy is to the enjoyment of the others. My wife and I spent about 3 hours perusing web sites and books to find the perfect blend of foods for his diet including which foods give which nutrients and what percentage of each food group he should have in his diet. We have spent just as much time on every aspect of this guys health and habitat. To say I am unprepared is highly offensive to me.

I can't tell you all of the web sites I have used. I know anapsid.org and greenigsociety.org have been a big help. For everything that I've looked at, I've tried to make sure that it was stated in several sources so as to make sure it wasn't some kook spouting off.

As for books, I have the following: The Iguana: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet and Caring For Green Iguanas: Breeding, Feeding & Selection. Amazon has both if you are curious what they are.

I'm glad that people jump to conclusions that this was an impulse buy and that I have no clue what I am doing. I have owned an iguana before and never had the problems that I am currently having. I'm very worried that this little guy is going to become so scarred mentally that he will be skittish all his life. I want to avoid this which is why I am desperately reaching out to others in the community.

Considering the time and money I've already dropped into this endeavor, I don't want to back out unless it is the last option for this guy living a happy life. I don't want to stress him out for the rest of his life (which will be shortened due to heightened stress).

 

[Tim Cole]

Sorry to burst your bubble...

Jason,
I applaud your efforts in researching the care and committing yourself to do the right thing. But if you want a friendly lizard it's not likely to be an Iguana. We do tend to assume a lot on these forums and for that I apologize for myself. In my experience (over 40 years), I tend to think of people that WANT to keep Iguanas are either inexperienced, a masochist, or a legitimate reptile rescue.

 

[Seamus Haley]

Jason,
I applaud your efforts in researching the care and committing yourself to do the right thing. But if you want a friendly lizard it's not likely to be an Iguana. We do tend to assume a lot on these forums and for that I apologize for myself. In my experience (over 40 years), I tend to think of people that WANT to keep Iguanas are either inexperienced, a masochist, or a legitimate reptile rescue.

I have met a few people who genuinely knew what they were doing and just liked the species too. They were few and far between though.

To say I am unprepared is highly offensive to me

Tough. Suck it up buttercup, the answers that actually address your issues aren't always going to be the answers you want to hear. You're keeping the animal in a reptarium, reading Melissa Kaplan, anthropomorphising and are apparantly inexperienced enough to not realize you have done all these things which are highly questionable.

There are people here who have tried to clue you in to the realities of the situation and open the door to a discussion which would leave you educated. If you get your panties in a bunch everytime someone says something that doesn't fit in with your entire two books and three hours of web browsing, they'll get sick of trying very very quickly.

Your iguana is a specific species of animal. It is not a toddler and it is not a dog. Do not treat it like one if you want it to be healthy. Do not think of it's behavior in human terms and do not create human problems where none exist.

On the whole, reptile behavior is instinctive. Instinctive does not mean simple, it just means that the responses and behaviors that are displayed have a genetic basis first and are slow to change based on repeated experiences. Being large, active diurnal territorial harem breeders, iguanas are actually towards the top end of reptiles when it comes to declarative thought and changing their behavior but this isn't saying a whole lot given that the next group over are ambush predators who sometimes won't move for days at a time.

Young iguanas are skittish. This prevents them from being eaten most the time.

Adult iguanas are physically defensive and even agressive. This prevents them from being eaten and makes the individual iguanas more successful when it comes to reproducing.

Unhealthy green iguanas are docile green iguanas. If you care about the animal's well being, you do not want a docile iguana because it indicates that there's something wrong. Something retarding it's natural instincts to be dominant and agressive.

 

[Wilomn]

It's commendable that you care so much for your next party flavor, er pet, but truly, they don't make good pets.

I've had hundreds over the years, I used to wholesale and retail, and long before I quit doing that I quit carrying iguanas at all because they so often do NOT make good pets.

There are exceptions, there always are.

Out of the hundreds I personally sold, maybe a dozen were friendly enough to be handled regularly. Of that dozen, I'd say at least 6 bit their owners at one time or other, all not only painful but serious, several requiring stitches. Women in particular are bitten badly when they menstruate.

My own brother has one that is puppydog tame, I've had two that were great WITH ME, not others.

I wish you luck, but really, I doubt you'll have it.

Get a bearded dragon or dwarf monitor, heck even a savanah monitor, they all have better attitudes than adult iguanas.

We may seem harsh but you are not the first or second or third or twelfth person to come here with the same questions and answers from the same sources.

Hang around a bit and you'll see.

There is more knowledge on this site than anywhere else on the web.

 

[Digby Rigby]

BIOLOGY, HUSBANDRY, AND MEDICINE OF THE GREEN IGUANA

If you are going to get books get ones that are useful here is one.

BIOLOGY, HUSBANDRY, AND MEDICINE OF THE GREEN IGUANA

by Jacobson Elliott R. (Ed.)

It is one iguana book I have heard only good things about.

Orig. Ed 2003


Digby Rigby [email protected]

 

[Traceymiller]

me and my partner have 2 iguanas, the first one we got was a baby and he was well happy to be handled from the beginning, tho still now when we go to get him from his cage he goes a bit mad but as soon as he is in our hands he is fine! our other iguana we got must have been around 2 years when we got him, on the first day he sat in the room and tailed whipped for the fun of it, you couldn't get nowhere near him. then slowly my boyfriend would sit closer to him and hand feed him and talk to him then eventually hold him. it took a long time,and a lot of scars,but now he is the calmest out of the 2 of them and is happy to be picked up, the only aggression he really shows is to the little iguana. So it just takes lots of time(we think from some of the ways Jake reacted he was abused it his last home)and lots of patience. we have had Jake for 9 months now and it probably took around 2 months to calm him a bit, where he would wander around the room whilst we were in it, but probably took about 3or4 month for him to be really happy to be handle! Hope that helped

 

[Valley Dragons]

I got lucky once...

I lucked into an amazingly tame, sweet baby iguana once. He was hand-fed on a daily basis and throughly spoiled. We hit a few bumps when he went through puberty - nothing a band-aid couldn't fix, lol. He was truly a great pet for about 4 years - until my ex-husband killed him, but that is another story.

So I decided after a while to get another iguana. After a few weeks I swore that the little beasty was defective, so I returned her to the pet store for another iguana. And that iguana proved to be possed by satan too. So that iguana went back and I gave up for a while. A couple of years later I tried again when I was contacted about a large adult iguana that needed a home. And THAT iguana proved to be evil too! Now I keep nice, friendly reptiles...like bearded dragons, and ball pythons, and boas...

My point is this. We are not trying to make you feel bad. It is just that we KNOW from experience that a "good" pet iguana is far and few between. I was lucky enough to get a great iguana - but it was pretty much a once in a lifetime kind of a thing. My advice is to give up the iguana if you are looking for a good pet.

Jamie

 

[Valley Dragons]

sorry...that is supposed to be "possessed", not possed.

 

[Seamus Haley]

My advice is to give up the iguana if you are looking for a good pet.

The thread is getting a little outdated and I'm not sure if the original poster is checking the site anymore or not but...

When it comes down to it, someone interested in purchasing an animal will have much better success if they first identify an animal that will usually meet what they want out of it, rather than selecting an animal and trying to change the way it behaves or the care it requires.

Active, interactive and discinclined to bite, whip or run away are traits that can be found in many species. It's easier to purchase one of them than it is to abuse an iguana into a semblance of what the owner was expecting.