I know Ctenosaura Similis are generally regarded as the meanest iguana, or even lizard, in existence, and when I got mine, I was ready for that. However, I am surprised that it is by FAR the nicest, tamest creature I have ever had, including lizards, snakes, mammals and even my tortoises. NEVER have I had any pet that was not only this docile, but also seeked my attention. I'm talking about all the pets I have had since I was born. Not my pets not my girlfriends, nothing has ever been this docile and attention seeking. Well I had some fish that never did anything but that's kind of hard to judge.

I know someone (like Dominick ) will say "Wait till he's a 3 foot monster!", but its not exactly like I haven't raised lizards from baby status to adult before. Remember how I was going nuts over how my green iguana wanted to whip, claw and eat me alive when it was a baby? He's almost 6 feet now. And my tegu, still had a green head when I got it, is now almost 4 feet. They were both not particularly aggressive as babies but somewhat aggressive. The Ctenosaura is downright CUDDLY.

He gets scared when I open the cage door and runs in his hide. But that's it. I take the hide off him and he CRAWLS onto my hand that I put next to him (nudging his belly with my fingers). He lets me put him on my hand, my stomach or chest or shoulders and he doesn't leave. When I hold him he stays still. I drop water onto my fingers and he will lap it up (although not food). He lets me check his toes and spines for retained shed without moving, and when I put him down in front of me, he looks me straight in the eyes while sitting there. Seriously, I thought he couldn't have been looking me in the eyes but I moved my head left and right and his head follows. When I move my hand, he doesn't follow. And when I pick him up again, he lets me without running. It's not like he's not active. He darts around lighting fast in his enclosure.

Again, I don't want to be a smartar$3 that thinks that he is an expert because he has one ctenosaur and kept it alive for a week. But I'm here to say that not ALL ctenosauras are mean buggers.

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1.0.0 Green Iguana - Tyler
0.0.1 Sulcata Tortoise - Mantow
0.0.1 Ball Python - Se se
0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake - un-named (Suggestions welcome)
1.0.0 Blizzard Cornsnake het Anery A - Xiao Xiao
1.1.0 Normal Corn snake het Anery A het Amel 66% poss. het stripe - un-named
1.0.0 Red Chain Snake - un-named
0.0.1 Twin spotted rat snake - un-named
1.0.0 Grey Chinchilla - Gee Gee

I do not think that all animals are mean, we just have to be careful and remember that these are wild animals with wild animal instincts. The minute you forget that is the minute you end up in the hospital with stitches, lol.
I have a almost 6 foot male that is very tame almost always and one evening I had him out and he was walking up to me to climb on me like he always does as I was sitting on the floor, he got up to the very top of my thighs and out of nowhere bit the inner part of my upper thigh and started, well how to put it politely............. showed me he was definately a male and apparently knew I was female! Ouch it hurt like @#$# and I had to get over 25 stiches in my thigh and it bled like a stuck pig, and I had to take antibiotics for 2 weeks as a precaution for infection. The scar is still very obvious!
I usually dont tell people this because it was my own fault for trusting him all the time and not paying attention! Moral to the story is even the tamest of tame are still WILD Animals with natural instincts that they can and will act upon!
But on the other hand congrats on it being so tame, just always be cautious

Not all animals are mean. Like my iguana only loves me and will whip everyone else around. Sonetimes you get a lucky one. Congrats

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Destroying shoes with parkour one month at a time.

They are always exceptions to the rule. Just like in reverse. I had a Bearded Dragon that was the worst pet I've ever had. Wasn't even close to being tame. I've had a Giant Frog-eye(keyserlingii) which are supposed to be timid and skittish but mine would walk onto my arm when I opened his door.(i still regret selling him)

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Please dont get me wrong I was not saying all animals are mean, and I agree that there are exceptions to every rule as I have quite a few like that. My achilles is the same way always good, never whips, bites, etc. So I let my guard down with him (my own fault) and did not respect the fact that he is still a wild animal with wild animal instincts and he bit the crap out of me, funny now, hurt like a .........then. He has had no problems since then with me, but hates my hubby I have just learned that no matter what always respect and be aware of what they are capable of He now has a stuffed little toy that he can take his manly aggressions out on its quite disgusting, LOL

Nicole, thanks for your reply. I don't really understand. He bit you on your inner thigh, that's it, right???... I am sorry that happened, but why is that indicative of all the "showed me he was definately a male and apparently knew I was female and he hates your hubby" stuff? I was reading your reply and I started off quite disturbed when you said "to put it politely...", I didn't really understand at that point but I was thinking that he perhaps tried to mate with you somehow, not unheard of, but it seldom actually happens. But then you started to say "Ouch it hurt like $@%$^%" and I was really starting to feel REALLY disturbed. I was sort of both concerned and in a sick sort of way relieved when you said that he had bitten you instead of something related to mating. Then I feel kinda sick that I would feel relieved by you being bitten. I thank you for your advice but I just feel goosebumps after reading that and I am still unsure if all you meant was that he bit you. PLEASE say that's all that happened as this is really bothering me.

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1.0.0 Green Iguana - Tyler
0.0.1 Sulcata Tortoise - Mantow
0.0.1 Ball Python - Se se
0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake - un-named (Suggestions welcome)
1.0.0 Blizzard Cornsnake het Anery A - Xiao Xiao
1.1.0 Normal Corn snake het Anery A het Amel 66% poss. het stripe - un-named
1.0.0 Red Chain Snake - un-named
0.0.1 Twin spotted rat snake - un-named
1.0.0 Grey Chinchilla - Gee Gee

Good for you Anthony. Glad it's so tame for you. As I stated in a previous post, my Cteno was a full grown adult with a less than perfect past. A baby is something entirely different.

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Regards,
Dominick
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"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

Hello Anthony,
Ok I did not mean to freak you out, which is the reason I hardly ever share this story because most people will assume it will happen all the time, which it absolutely does not. The whole incident was my fault for not paying any attention to the kind of mood he was in, or really what he was doing at the moment he was walking up to me. I was watching t.V. on the floor and sitting indian style, which was why he got me on the inner thigh. I do believe that he was trying to mate with me as he would not let go and it took my hubby to get the alcohol to get him to let go and stop doing other things.

The only other time I have had that happen was when Grizzly bit my sweatshirt and started the whole process, I simply just removed my sweatshirt, put him and the shirt on the floor and let him finish his business.

Both times could have been avoided if I was paying attention to exactly what they were doing. That was my whole point to this, no matter how tame always just be aware. But you also have to remember that these are both Green Iguanas that I am talking about and they are both rescue and Achilles was NOT tame when I got him, he is a full grown male that took a lot of work to even get him social, and I gave him more credit than I should have, LOL

Iguanas can try to mate with you, but for the most part is is not that often, like I said twice in many many years of them for me. And I cannot even say that it was me they smelled or one of the females who I could have smelled like, I just do not know. I now just remember to respect what they are and where they have come from at all times, lol

Now here is where I am confused with your last reply, Why are you concerned that I have been bitten by iguanas, it kind of goes with the territory with the ones that come in here, I have also been bitten by snakes (gotta love the infamous cleopatra, LOL) But remember they are all rescues with very shaky pasts. And the majority could have been prevented if I had not let my guard down, I cannot stress that enough, I let my guard down.

I hope that clears it up a little for you

It is important to remember that biting is part of mating for iguanas... the male will bite the back of the female's neck to hold her down. Another important point is that human excrete pheremones just like animals do. If Nicole was emitting the "right" set of pheremones, her male ig would very definitely pick up on that and, like most males, take advantage of the opportunity to reproduce.

During Gil's first season, he bit me numerous times in an attempt to mate with me. Many of the staff here know the gory details of the story, but suffice it to say that a male in season is VERY strong. He is capable of piercing fingernails and pinning an arm or hand between his rear leg and tail... TRUST ME ON THIS!!

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~~Steph

"This I believe: That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." John Steinbeck

I love it! Emitting the right set of pheromones, at the time I was probably emitting a huge amount of pheromones as I was having a lot of female issues that ended up with a hysterectomy, my poor male igs at the time, LOL. My estogen levels were off the chart among other things, and I was a total psycho hormonal woman, my poor hubby (now laughing hysterically).

I was not going to mention the pheromone thing as I think I unintentionally scared him, which I did not mean too, Sorry Anthony!

I am just now way more cautious of their own body language before I enter enclosures, lOl.