taming iggy

[lcoreo5]

Hi, i have a 42" iguana, nose to tail. i have a few questions about her. i have had her for over a year. in the beginning i held her as much as possible and she was taming pretty well. she started to climb up on my hand and would relax on my arm or my head. recently my schedule at work is pretty much opposite hers. i come home and she is sleeping. i dont want to wake her when i come home to handle her because she is usually crabby, who wouldnt be. now she hisses, puffs up, tries to whip, and worst part is she is trying to bite. the other day she broke out of her cage and i had to get her a new one. she is in a large dog crate covered in chicken wire. in order to catch her and put her in her new cage i had to wrap her in a shirt to prevent any scratches or bites. is that a good way to take her out to get her used to being handled again? I really want her to be friendly and i almost gave her away so any advice would greatly be appreciated!

[prismwolf]

Welcome to the forum!

First things first:

What do you use for a UVB source?
How old is it?
What do you use for heat?
What are the temps?
What do you feed her?
Do you use vitamin/calcium supplements?
Has she been to a vet?

Next - she needs a bigger enclosure. At her size the dog crate (even the largest one) is too small. Not only length-wise...but she needs height. Iguanas get stressed if only allowed to be at ground level. The dimensions for her cage now should be 6'T x 6'W x 3'D. This could be part of her aggression. She has no room to move around and climb.

Last - for now...get rid of the chicken wire...or at least...don't use it on the new enclosure. This can - and does - remove toes and cause serious nose damage. Use something like hardware cloth which can be found in the garden dept. of home improvement stores...or better yet...plexiglas to help hold in heat and humidity.

Answer the question above and let's see if there might be anything else that could be causing excessive female aggression.

[captbob]

"and let's see if there might be anything else that could be causing excessive female aggression."

I'm new here, so I'll let this one pass...


*sigh*

[lcoreo5]

uvb source is a combination of reptiglo 5.0 and 2.0

age- she is older than a year, february made a year that i had her, but the woman i got her from wasnt sure of her age

heat- a 100 watt basking bulb in a ceramic fixture

tempurature is roughly 85-90 degrees basking and 75 over all, as for humidity, i spray down her and her cage daily.

diet consists of dandilion greens,kale, collard greens, chicory, melons, and mango usually a mixture of two greens and some fruit

i do not give a calcium supplement because i read that collard greens and chicory have the best phosporous to calcium ratio and that you dont need to give extra calcium, sourse could have been wrong...

and lastly no, she has not been to a vet.

do you have any tips on a cheap and effective cage? and the chicken wire i got is coated, all sharp edges are pointing out, causing only damage to me... haha... until i can get something to file it down with.

[prismwolf]

Your care looks good, although you do need a temp bump in the basking area of another 5 degrees hotter. You should have between 92-96 degrees.

Here's some diets to look at:

**Diet Variation #1:
Collard greens
mustard greens
turnip greens
parsnips (grated)
dandelion greens (when available)
cilantro
green beans (chopped)
yellow bell pepper (chopped)
acorn squash (grated w/peel left on)
Bag of Dole Mediterranean Blend
grapes (seedless)
blueberries

**Diet variation #2
Collard greens
turnip greens
mustard greens
parsnips
arugula
watercress
yellow wax beans (chopped small)
red bell pepper
jalepeno pepper (seeds and flesh removed)
spaghetti squash (grated w/peel)
butternut squash (grated w/peel)
raspberry

There are literally dozens of variations. Make sure you take out the main stem from the greens leaves. You can discard them, feed them to a dog, rabbits or guinea you may have. Even parrots will benefit from these...or if you have a food processor you can chop them very small like the green beans and add them into the main salad. You can also add them to the compost pile.

Calcium and vitamins are only not needed if you have a well balanced diet and a varied diet. You don't offer enough in the way of other items to not offer vitamins and calcium. They should be added with a low variety diet. Easy fix..just do one or the other...offer more foods...or add supplements...;-)

[lcoreo5]

sounds good. i will mix up some more food for her. thanks for the advice. so, any tips on how to tame her again? without me losing any fingers?

[prismwolf]

It's very possible to gain some socialization skills from an unsocial adult ig. It takes time and patience. It can take months...and it's not unheard of for it to take a year. Keep doing what you're doing. Holding for at least 20 mins a day will help. She's a big girl and that's always a concern. Big ig mean serious injury if they get a hold of you. Use bribery if needed. Find a favorite food and just set it in the cage where she can see you setting it. She will learn to associate you with good things. Sing to her.... Every girl likes to be serenaded! Seriously though...they do recognize voices and this would help her learn yours...as well as talking to her often such as when you walk by her enclosure. Welding gloves are a little heavy. They definitely keep you from getting mauled if she should get a hold of you, but they also make it hard to tell just how hard you are applying pressure when holding her. I don't use gloves often...even with the aggressive ones. I do use an arm gaurd from www.iggear.com . I suggest the double layer...especially when socializing large igs. It leaves my fingers free and still allows my hand and forearm complete protection. Ask for some for Christmas!!

When you take her to the vet...you will be her saving grace. You will need to handle the ig so she doesn't get bitten. Most everything you will be able to do while holding her...except for her weight. Get her in a "football hold". This way her tail is between your arm and body. Head is out front but away from your body.



Use your fingers as a harness in the front. With a firm grip...the ig stays put with your other hand on top when needed. The bottom picture shows how to hold a large ig that decides it wants to croc roll and any number of other things. I have several aggressive igs now and every one of them settle down once they find they can't get away. They're still not happy...but they relax some. I only release them once they have calmed down. Reward bad behavior by putting her down when acting up. Wait until she's done having her fit...

[starmanp]

nice igi i cant wait untill mine gets big enough to hold like that..all mine does is try to run away every time i try to grab him... the little one i just bought a week ago still trys to run out the cage and i have to have my girlfriend hold my dog cause he's fast... road runner runs so fast over me when i try to grab him and runs on the floor and scared the crap out of me when i have to hold my dog .... its hard to grab him when he's not even 7 in long and fast as hell LOL

[lcoreo5]

beautiful ig! mine isnt that big yet. she def tries to alligator roll on me. thank you for the advice. she isnt shy to take food from me. yesterday when i was putting her food in the cage, she came right over and was eating as i was adding some melon. so shes not scared of me, she just doesnt want me to hold her...

[prismwolf]

Well the more you hold her - the more she will get used to you. You just have to keep at it...:-)

[lcoreo5]

whats your opinion on this, i was reading an article on taming igs and they were saying to take it extremely slow and went through everything from watching, then moving in, getting ig comfortable with hands in cage, petting, holding in cage, holding outta cage, etc. very long process. then they also mentioned strong holding the ig to show them who is boss. thy said both methods can work, and some people like one mothod over the next. which would you recommend? during the first method they mentioned that if your ig looks mad, whips, bites, etc. to put him back and try again later. wouldnt that teach them that its ok to be mean? im very confused because the two methods are so contradicting...

[prismwolf]

There are a dozen ways to socialize an ig. Some also wait until after "lights out" when the ig is ready for sleep. They sit on the couch with them and just quietly watch tv.

It's what sounds good to you...what will work best for your situation. I usually go for broke and do the handling as soon as the ig is eating good. That's taking in rescue animals that I hope to get adopted out soon and it's a little faster method than the moving in slowly.

For the waiting and coming back later...this can work two ways. Either, like you mentioned, allows them to think they can have their way OR allows a trust level knowing you will allow some space and it will be more inclined to behave knowing it can trust you.