Re: 30 day breeding season?!?!?? I don't think so....

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Posted by sideman7 on January 06, 2003 at 23:48:30:

In Reply to: Re: 30 day breeding season?!?!?? I don't think so.... posted by Annaka on January 06, 2003 at 21:31:57:

You make some good points (thanks). The "battle" I'm dealing with now is something I've never seen before from him. He has become extremely territorial of his enclosure. I don't really get the chance to "challenge" him. Opening the door is enough to set him off. And like you said, once he has been set off, it takes a while for him to cool back down. So far, the only thing I have forced him to do is removing him from his enclosure so can feed him and clean up. Once he is out, he is a bit more calm, but even today he tried to bite my arm (and he always tries when I am not paying attention). I have found that collard green offerings can usually distract him from even his wildest episodes, but I am not sure that is such a good idea... With it being winter and all, its too cool for him to be outside, and he doesn't get as much time out of his enclosure because its not really warm enough for him (and being a wretch doesn't get him any bonus time either...). I wonder if that is making him a bit more nuts too...

He will be three in May, so this has been his first full season (he was 18 months at this time last year, so he was reaching maturity as the season was hitting). I really hope this is just breeding agression. I would like to see him return to normal...

I have gotten very used to the "eye".... You can see it in the photo that I posted at the beginning of this thread.

Thanks for your insight...

-Adam

:I notice the key word here is "battle". My Kaaz goes nuts if he thinks he is being challenged, and fighting with him does not establish dominance, it only makes him madder. It takes him a couple of days to calm down after being enraged. Needless to say, HE is the top ig here. He is very nice to be with, if I do not provoke him - I learned not to stare, hiss(sigh), yawn, or get up suddenly around him. Fine with me, I can let him roam around and he will climb on a piece of furniture and watch me. He goes outside to bask, and comes back in on his own. If he is an absolute jerk and I have to handle him, I either put him outside to chill untill he is handleable (only works after dark)(I'm in So Cal), or lock him up in my room with lights off. After he cools, he tolerates being handled, for the warmth.
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:He only gets food from me. I know it can be a bad habit, but in his case, this is a good thing that happens only when I am around. Same with going outdoors, I am the one that knows how to work the door handle. Same with going back in, same with bathtub soaks, etc, etc. If he is a jerk and wants to do battle with me, I leave and whatever he wants does not happen. On the other hand, I do not FORCE him to do anything unless it is absolutely nessesary. I've had him for three years now. He's really not that bad - I've had maybe 5 confrontations, and one bad bite which really wasn't meant for me - I moved to separate him and my other male when they got to eachother, to prevent the bigger Guy from ripping up Kaaz, and my hand was the nearest thing he could grab.

:When he is in breeding mode, he stalks around and follows me around the house with "that look" in his eye. He was raised exclusively around people, so that's the species he knows... He has grabbed me three times, all when I was distracted, but these were not what I consider real bites. He grabs, I freeze, he holds my fingers with a really odd look on his face untill the mood passes, and he lets go. He has no clue what to do after he grabs me, I'm not an iguana after all. The worst I've gotten from these grabs is maybe 5 tooth punctures. Little ones.

:P.S. - Previous owners got rid of him because he was uncontrollably aggressive. Go figure.

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