Re: Guapi's black lumps

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Posted by meagan on February 23, 1999 at 19:13:09:

In Reply to: Re: Guapi's black lumps posted by Laura on February 23, 1999 at 14:57:33:

well one thing you might want to try is letting him come out of his cgae on his own. just open it up and give him a way to get out. then you`ll have plenty of room to grab him. another thing is you shouldn`t try to grab him from the top of his body, when he is grabbed like that it is an automatic reflex to thrash around or bite becuase this is how a predator would grab him. so always try to scoop him up by putting your hand under his belly and lifting him. hope this helps,
meagan
: Iguanamomma- Thanks for your reply! Guapi does sometimes nip when I'm feeding him and I agree that it is probably my fault for getting my thumb in the way. The other time he nips at me though is when I am picking him up out of his enclosure. Once I get him out and settled down he is just fine and doesn't get agressive with me. I'm sure he just gets scared when my big, scary human hands are coming at him. I try to move slowly and let him smell me before I go to pick him up, but usually this is the exact time that the nipping takes place. I know that you are not supposed to "back off" when an ig is being hyper because that reinforces the negative behavior, right? I'm not scared of him because like I said, at this time he's small enough that it doesn't hurt. Since he only nips during the first few seconds of me getting him out of the enclosure, I'm sure he's just scared. Any suggestions on how I can get a hold of a scared, squirming Guapi with less stress for him? He settles down pretty fast once he is out and can see me and his surroundings; it's just those first few seconds when I'm trying to pick him up. Thanks again for your reply!...Laura & Guapi

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: well one thing you might want to try is letting him come out of his cgae on his own. just open it up and give him a way to get out. then you`ll have plenty of room to grab him. another thing is you shouldn`t try to grab him from the top of his body, when he is grabbed like that it is an automatic reflex to thrash around or bite becuase this is how a predator would grab him. so always try to scoop him up by putting your hand under his belly and lifting him. hope this helps, : meagan : : Iguanamomma- Thanks for your reply! Guapi does sometimes nip when I'm feeding him and I agree that it is probably my fault for getting my thumb in the way. The other time he nips at me though is when I am picking him up out of his enclosure. Once I get him out and settled down he is just fine and doesn't get agressive with me. I'm sure he just gets scared when my big, scary human hands are coming at him. I try to move slowly and let him smell me before I go to pick him up, but usually this is the exact time that the nipping takes place. I know that you are not supposed to "back off" when an ig is being hyper because that reinforces the negative behavior, right? I'm not scared of him because like I said, at this time he's small enough that it doesn't hurt. Since he only nips during the first few seconds of me getting him out of the enclosure, I'm sure he's just scared. Any suggestions on how I can get a hold of a scared, squirming Guapi with less stress for him? He settles down pretty fast once he is out and can see me and his surroundings; it's just those first few seconds when I'm trying to pick him up. Thanks again for your reply!...Laura & Guapi

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