Re: need some advise on rescued Ig (kinda long)

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Posted by xta on August 19, 2001 at 13:13:14:

In Reply to: need some advise on rescued Ig (kinda long) posted by Sheri Shoemake on August 19, 2001 at 12:05:41:

It's really hard to say. I would certainly not give up on it yet. If you are lucky, he may just be in breeding season and will calm down some after that. Plus, you need to get used to each other, and assert your own dominance over him. However, there are some iguanas that will never be easy to deal with. Harry the Horrible on this forum is one of those iguanas-- his owners will never give up on him, but he turned from a nice boy to a mean machine one day and never came back around. They use welding gloves to handle him. For your sake, I hope this will not be the case. However, you do need to be able to get him out of the closet to clean him up and be able to get into his habitat. Perhaps if you sit with him where he can see you for several periods during the day (and put some of your worn clothing in his cage so he gets familiar with your scent) this will help.

My iguana has only charged and opened his mouth at me a couple times. Once I just left him alone for awhile and came back-- he was back to normal. The other time, I opened my mouth back at him and displayed back as much as I could (trying to assert dominance) This went on for a few minutes until he stopped. I left him alone for awhile and was able to handle him without any problems. I realize your situation is more severe and these tactics may not work, but I'm convinced that you do need to make your presence known-- he needs to accept you and know that you aren't going away so he better get used to you!

Good luck and keep us posted.

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: It's really hard to say. I would certainly not give up on it yet. If you are lucky, he may just be in breeding season and will calm down some after that. Plus, you need to get used to each other, and assert your own dominance over him. However, there are some iguanas that will never be easy to deal with. Harry the Horrible on this forum is one of those iguanas-- his owners will never give up on him, but he turned from a nice boy to a mean machine one day and never came back around. They use welding gloves to handle him. For your sake, I hope this will not be the case. However, you do need to be able to get him out of the closet to clean him up and be able to get into his habitat. Perhaps if you sit with him where he can see you for several periods during the day (and put some of your worn clothing in his cage so he gets familiar with your scent) this will help. : My iguana has only charged and opened his mouth at me a couple times. Once I just left him alone for awhile and came back-- he was back to normal. The other time, I opened my mouth back at him and displayed back as much as I could (trying to assert dominance) This went on for a few minutes until he stopped. I left him alone for awhile and was able to handle him without any problems. I realize your situation is more severe and these tactics may not work, but I'm convinced that you do need to make your presence known-- he needs to accept you and know that you aren't going away so he better get used to you! : Good luck and keep us posted.

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