Hi All,

Apologies in advance that this is so long, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible.
I'm beginning to think I have an Iguana who will just never tame. He is not aggressive where he attacks or even bites, he just wants nothing to do with me. I got him as a 4 month old two years ago. He was very tame when I picked him up from the pet shop, probably because his temps were way too low in his habitat there. I came to find out these people knew nothing about Iguanas, as I had to call them a few days later to try to figure out why he had suddenly become aggressive with me, trying to bite and refusing to be held. They asked me my temps on the cage, I explained the temps I was using which were straight out of "The Ultimate Iguana Handbook" by James Hatfield III (high 80's to low 90's daytime, 70's at night. Full gradient range, he was about 8" snout to tail length in a 4' long tank). They proceeded to tell me that I was cooking him, and this was why he was acting like that, they thought his temps should always be in 70's.

So now I had an aggressive Ig who kept trying to bite me and didn't want to come out of his tank. It took a few months of handling him with my trusty electrician's gloves before he finally realized I wasn't scared and wouldn't bow down to his 'antics'. He was getting bigger, and now trying to get out of his cage all the time. I finally got to a point where he would let me hold him, although you could tell he always wanted to be free and was just tolerating me since he had no choice. After a few months of him being good like this, I started letting him roam a little in the room we had his cage in, which was our computer room that my husband and I were in all the time. So he got to roam every day to every other day usually, and would usually find his way on top of one of our computer monitors which are nice and warm, and would settle there to go to sleep. Sometimes he would come down and roam and he would roam right over me like I was part of the furniture, lol, so he was not terribly afraid of me, but still did not want me holding him or keeping him from being free, therefore when I went to get him to put him back in the cage he would always struggle and be unhappy.

Over the next year, we realized he was definitely a male as he matured. He outgrew his tank, but hubby and I were not in a position at the time to start making him a new one although it was a constant thought in our minds that we knew he needed it. He grew to about 18" snout to tail length, and his tank was only 4' wide, by 3.5' high, by 18" deep, with only a log from top corner to bottom opposite corner to lay on, (which he seemed to like just fine, but we knew he needed better spots and to be able to choose where to lay). He was also constantly wanting out of his tank now, rubbing his face on the glass and standing on his back legs using his front ones to push at the top. I tried to not take him out when he did this so as not to associate for him that this would get him out of the tank. However this did not lessen this behavior at all and I knew only a bigger cage would help.

We had to move 6 months ago, my husband and I had actually just gotten married and now were buying our first home. It was a huge adjustment as we moved 6 hours away to the country (we are in NY). During this huge move and getting settled afterward, we still had to put off building the new cage due to the expense of the cage we had planned to build. Since we now had more room in the new house, I tried to let him have his own bedroom since I wanted him to have enough space, but he seemed way to freaked out by it after 2 weeks of trying, so we put him back in the old tank.

When I go to take him out of his cage, first he tries to either get away higher in the cage, or tries to get out of the cage without my help. Once I grab him and take him out he is immediately trying to free himself so he can run free- clawing and tail whipping me, alligator rolling, the works. If he is not cooperating I then have to hold him immobile against myself or another surface until he stops struggling, while telling him No and Stop. You can see him acting like an angry toddler not getting their way when I do this- breathing heavy with the dewlap in and out. If I weren't so aggravated with him, it would be kind of cute, lol. Once he calms down I loosen my grip and hold him normal, talking to him in a kind voice to relax, and good boy and all that, continuing to where I was originally headed, usually to the couch to try to sit down and get him used to just sitting with me. Once we do so he refuses to sit with me, trying constantly to get away. He will sit for all of 3 seconds before trying to run off. I know his game too well and he doesn't usually get away, I pull him back and hold him to me till he relaxes, then we start again.

As I've been having all these issues I joined up with your site a month or so ago to look through your threads for advice. One thing I saw that rang true was about letting him run free in a room when he was not tame was bad due to him then thinking you were a predator chasing him down when trying to put him back- I had been going through this as well, as I wanted him to be able to enjoy running free, but when I let him do so if I tried to come near him he would run from me like I was trying to kill him! So I have stopped this and have just been trying to get him used to sitting with me, but, as always, all he wants is to run free.

Finally we were just able to build him a new cage- 5' by 5' by 2'. We just finished it 3 weeks ago, and he seems to love having more room, and being able to climb upward, as well as lay on the different shelves we put in there for him. He is now 30" snout to tail length and we know this cage will only last him another year or two, but it was all we could afford for now and it is a HUGE improvement over what he was in. He still goes around the cage trying to find a way out, but definitely not as often as he used to. I read somewhere recently that it would also help him to be above us, that he would feel more comfortable that way. It now appears he is *too* comfortable with this arrangement!

Now when I come near his cage, to feed him, clean, or take him out, he goes up to his top shelf which is over my head, and puffs himself out in position to tail whip me. Unfortunately it appears now that I have put him above me, he feels he can dominate me from that height. I am of course showing him this is not the case, I get on a stool and take him out when he does this, even if I had only gone in to give him food, so he doesn't think he can scare me away with the behavior. He still acts the same way as described above. His newest thing though is when I go into his cage and he acts up I have had to move him a few times in his cage to show him I am not afraid, and he starts holding his breath- I read about this in the Green Ig manual I have, but this is the first time I have seen him do it. I just ignore it and eventually he starts breathing again. He is obviously pretty frustrated with me, as I am with him.

Also from reading this site I have tried to use treats with him to no avail- he just doesn't seem to be interested. He's never really been thrilled about hand feeding. He gets plenty of collards and good greens and doesn't seem to care about 'extra' food like treats. I tried the wet bread and he had no interest in it. I then tried apples which he had never had before. He did not take them as a treat, but when I put them in with his food, he ate only the apple and ignored everything else, so he definitely likes them, but just doesn't want them from me. I swear he just doesn't like me

I am very upset about this as I feel like he will never tame, that it will always just be a battle of wills between us. I had an Ig years ago that was so great, so tame, loved to fall asleep on my chest, and would never have acted this way. That Ig was a female, and this one is a male and I really wish I had gotten another female but since I got him as a baby there was of course no way to know. I am so jealous when I read of those of you who have really tame Igs, and so upset when I read where some say that some Igs will just not be tame. This is what I feel I am stuck with, and I know it sounds horrible, but I feel like if that is the case I will need to find him a new home because I can't see putting all this time and energy in taking care of him correctly only to have him never tame and basically just be a decoration. Of course then I don't know what to do either as I would want him to have a good home with someone who would understand his behavior and be ok with him like this, not stick him with someone who would wind up in my same situation. He would need to go to a home who was very experienced with Igs, and probably one with multiple Igs so the new owner wouldn't mind his different personality, if that's what it is.

So, I'm so sorry this was so long, but wanted to give all the details so people could best advise on our situation. What do you guys think, can he be tamed, or am I asking too much of an Ig that just isn't interested in a relationship with humans? I know some of his behaviors are my fault, that as described above I didn't always do things right in his 'training', but can they be corrected at this point? Please Help!!

Sorry about your frustrations. I'm sure one of our many ig owners will chime in.

All my herps are decorations and they take a TON of time and energy, but I still love them.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Unfortunately, some iguanas are aggressive all their lives. They each have their own personalities, and some, male or female (my friend had an absolutely terrifying female), just never do tame.

I noticed a couple of things, though. The iguana is higher than you. Right now, that's a bad thing. He feels that he is the dominant being. He needs the room to move around, but you might want to move his tallest shelf down so that he can be no higher than eye level. That may help to establish your dominance, and he will then be a little less aggressive.

He also won't understand "No" necessarily. But if you are firm and consistent, and show that you aren't afraid of him, he may begin to settle down. Right now he's training you to give him his way.

It takes a lot of patience and consistency, unfortunately.

__________________
"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.

Definitely lower his highest shelf... he does, indeed, see himself as dominant and "alpha."

When you tried moving him into an entire bedroom and he freaked out, it was probably because the house was new territory and he was uncomfortable. Igs don't take well to change, and moving really stresses them out. A "better" course of action would have been to move the small cage into the room and let him settle there for about a month, then transition him into having full reign of the room. BUT, what's done is done, and we can make forward strides from here.

One trick you may want to try regarding taming/socializing him is to take him out of his enclosure about an hour after lights-out and sit in a dark room with him. He will be aware of what's going on, but too tired to put up much of a fight. I wouldn't do it every night, but two or three times a week would be OK.

Don't give up... socializing an ig takes lots of time.

__________________
~~Steph

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

Thanks guys.
To Steph: I had tried that, as I had seen it mentioned here before- he totally freaked out! He was very unhappy and aggressive about it, so I decided not to try it again.
To All: I will go ahead and lower the shelf- that certainly seems like it's working against me right now.
What would you guys do if you had a situation where your Ig would just not tame? Would you still keep him? Would you get another one? I'm just so frustrated and don't feel like he will ever tame, and if that is the case he is not the Ig for me, but I wouldn't know how to go about finding him a good understanding home.

This is a difficult question, but I think it really boils down to what you can handle. Ultimately if you're really unhappy, it will affect your care of the animal. So, basically, if you're not happy, your pet won't be either. In that case, it's better and kinder to the iguana to find him a home where the person understands the situation and is happy to have the iguana, even if he never tames.

However, if you can reconcile that your iguana will never be passive and cuddly, you can have a fine pet. Once you really understand him and his place in your life, you may really like it. You may have to make him a hands off pet, and get a different type of animal as a cuddly companion.

If you do decide to find another home for him, I wouldn't try another iguana right away. Instead, try something that is generally more "friendly" like a bearded dragon or leopard gecko. A water dragon has similar care to an iguana, but seem to be much more even tempered. Mine certainly was, anyway.

Just don't make any decision hastily. Think about it carefully, and then make the right decision for you. There's nothing wrong with admitting that you and an animal are not compatible. Not everyone can handle everything.

As for finding him a good home, you may want to contact your local rescue and let them know that you have an iguana that you need to find a home for. They may be willing to work with you and refer people who are interested in adopting a "challenge." You can also put ads in your local newspaper, or even put feelers out for other local people interested in reptiles. Just make sure you have a list of questions to ask them so you know that they know how to take care of an iguana. Nicole could probably help you if you don't know what to ask. She rescues iguanas and has her own placement test.

__________________
"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.

Sometimes certain iguanas will not tame the way we would like them to be. Here is something that you can try, it sounds a little crazy but it has worked for me in the past. Do this daily and slowly, drape a dark colored towel, preferably green, brown, or blue over your hand and arms and coax him to climb on it like a limb. just let him climb on, don't grab at him. if he wants to get back off, let him. Build up his trust for you. Some igs don't like fingers and a arm coming at them all at once. Both of my igs are trained to climb on towels, it just makes it easier to handle them.

I had a female ig that was doing the same thing that you are going through. It didn't like any cage that I had it in, it didn't like to be held or fussed over. I let her free roam and she picked a place that she stayed in, so I kept the food and water near there. She would via for my attention once in a while and I would pick her up and hold her but it would only last for a few minutes. So long as she free roamed she was happy. I left it at that.

Here is something else to try, some igs like to hide or crawl into a dark space, try making him a place to hide in his cage. I used a used a 6" diameter macrome ring and a sleeve off a large sweat shirt. I sewed the ring into the large side of the sleeve. The ring will keep the sleeve open. Then on each end make a loop so you can hang it in his cage. Here are some examples. I have used towels that way as well.





Here is something else to consider, bright colored clothing that you might wear may set him off as well when you try to work with him. Bright reds, oranges, neon colors are sometimes percieved as another big lizard.

Your moods can have an effect on his behavior. Here is another thing that will set a male ig off. When your monthly hormones are raging that can drive a male ig nuts. In that time period you have to be extra careful, they will mount you and they are not gentle about it either. If you don't have that happen, they will just be cranky for a week and tough to handle.

Just be patient with him, do things slowly around him. Sometimes they grow out of it and other times they don't. Don't be ashamed that you have not had a good relationship with him. He is still special to you even if he is a pain in the tail. Don't rush into your decisions, think about it, look at what you can do to make it better for both of you.

Good Luck.

It does sound like you have your hands full and are getting a bit exasperated. Maybe its time to just back off for a couple of weeks and let yourself get collected.
You have to remember that iguanas are wild animals. Granted a few do become more "tame and cuddly", but that is more the exception than the rule.
Most of them do little more than tolerate us and OUR quirks!

My Zok is 7 years old, a female, and while I can do pretty much anything I want with her she still has that "Oh just go away and leave me alone!" attitude!
I can let her wander the house at will, but she will still hatchet up at me when I go to pick her up. She doesn't try to bite or whip me but you can tell she just wants to go about HER business and is hugely put out that I won't bow to HER demands!
She will come to me if she thinks that I have something that she would like to eat but thats about the extent of it.

It just takes a LOT of patience. You have to establish yourself as the boss.

I would agree on lowering the shelf to your eye level or below.
So in this case the iguana won and got his way! Step back and take a realistic look at some of the other things you are doing and see if this also applies. You cannot let them win! Otherwise you are training them that this behavior gets them what they want.

The problem you are going to have if you do decide that this is more than you can handle is that there are a lot of larger iguanas in shelters looking for homes. Many of them are so full that they cannot take anymore.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Thank you all. Those are some great answers, and a lot to think about. I really appreciate all the advice. I will have to see what things you've mentioned I can try and put into action here. But I feel like just leaving him alone is only going to make it worse. I really thought the key was to work with him almost every day, even if just for a short time, so that is what I have been trying to do. Let me know if that is incorrect in this situation?

Unfortunately, like I had said before, I did have an Ig who was 'friendly' and almost cuddly, and this is what I was expecting when I got this one. Now that this does not seem to be the case, it does not seem like he is the right one for me. I know there are plenty friendlier ones out there. But I feel like I'm failing him if I just give him away-but at the same time if I can find him a home where he is respected for what he is and not being forced to do what he doesn't want to, he will probably be much happier. It is certainly a worry though on how to find that home. So I want to do absolutely everything I can to work with him to make sure that's really my (and his) best option.

Unfortunately I can not let him just free roam, the biggest reason being I have cats (who he is used to, and they don't bother each other as they were used to my last one too, but you never know so I won't chance it) and the second reason is that I have an old house and there are a ton of nooks and crannies he could probably get in trouble in.

What about the advice I had read in one of the threads that said not to let them out to roam if you can't easily pick them back up again? Did I misread that, or is it only in certain circumstances? As when I do let him out if I have to get near him he runs and scrambles away like crazy as if I'm after him to cook him for dinner! Obviously this stresses him out, but at the same time I know he would like a little more 'freedom'. What would you do in this situation, keep him in cage and make him sit on your lap while out, which he absolutely hates, or do you think he would benefit from a little extra freedom?

Thanks again for all the good advice, sorry to be such a bother, but like I said I want to make sure I try everything before just giving up.

Can you do freedom in even a smaller room? Like a bathroom? He could get a good soak at the same time.

I'm not one to give an animal away because the personality they grew wasn't up to my expectations. I have a cat who's name is Abby. She is the shyest little thing in the whole world. I NEVER get to pick her up, love her, hug her, squish her, no head buts, and no rubbing my leg while I get dinner together. Sometimes I can pet her or once in a great moon rub her belly, but always at an arms length. If she has to go to the vet, I have to plan it during her nap time, so I can grab her in her sleep.

Is this what I wanted in a cat? Nope. But I love her just the same and have learned to live with just having her around and excepting that his is her personality. I would die if anything happened to her.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.