Ok I'm a little heart broken from my baby ig's behaviour. I mean, maybe I'm expecting too much, because I hear a lot of horror stories of very aggressive igs from other members here, which I haven't experienced. She is relatively docile compared to other igs I've seen. But I think maybe she doesn't like me, and perhaps is scared or me or something instead of liking me.

I've been picking him up and petting him every day, a few times. Talking to him in a gentle voice. When he is bad, like wrangling around, lashing it's tail, clawing etc., I say "BAD!" a few times looking it in the eyes, and hold him tighter so he can't move much, to show him I'm "Boss". He has seemed to start learning that staying still will get him put back down, and struggling isn't useful, and a few days ago he started willingly eating from my hand. He still does struggle though but not as much. When I take him out of his enclosure, he rests peacefully beside me and I feed it some beans. Sometimes he even falls asleep on my bed.

But then, I'm getting more and more aggressive behaviour too. The other day, I took him out of it's enclosure and it stayed with me as normal for a while. Then, all of a sudden, it raised up, dewlap flared, and darted right off, ran behind boxes etc, whipping its tail around. Me and my girlfriend talked to it nicely and gradually I moved in and gently picked it up and it let me without a problem. It was the first time.

Then, today, I came home from work as normal, I went immediately to check on him, and he seemed to be stressed. Dewlap flared, glared at me with that cocked head look. I talked to it nicely and I reached over to pet it and for the first time, I saw a CALCULATED tail whip, aimed right at me. It has lashed it's tail before, but only as part of wriggling around in my hand trying to escape. This was the first time it was obviously aiming at me. It was sitting there, dewlap flared, glaring at me, then ONE single strike with its tail. I said BAD!! And then 2 seconds later, ANOTHER lash. So I kept telling it was bad and I held it down by it's torso as recommended by some websites, so he is immobilized, for a few seconds. It didn't fight back, but it was stressed. I gave it some food and he started eating and forgot about it. I don't know what was wrong. His stomach looked a little fuller than usual, but not much, and he is eating normally. Temperatures are correct according to my dials.

One more thing, I just get the feeling that he dislikes me, but perhaps is more docile at times because it is scared or me, not that she likes me. She gives me that glare, staring into my eyes. I know maybe I'm imaginging things, but it just seems like it is saying "you just wait till I'm big enough and I'll whoop your butt!" When I enter the room, and it is eating, it would glare at me through the enclosure, stop eating, for a few minutes, then slowly look back at its food and then start eating again.

Also, while he is willingly eating from my hand, it takes him a while of sitting on my lap before he is willing, whereas, my girlfriend, who comes over like 2 times a week or so, hasn't spent a single dime on her food, didn't spend days building her a huge enclosure etc., it readily eats loads from her hand right away, never attacked her except for a little struggling when held, and just seems to like her more. I admit it I feel a little jealous.

I want to make sure I tame it right while it is young. I don't want it to hate me. I don't see why. Perhaps I am the only one who tells her she is "Bad" when she is acting nasty? And my girlfriend doesn't? (When she holds it and she gets nasty I am the one who takes over to tell it she's bad etc. and hold her tight). Maybe it doesn't like being picked up and I am the one who picks him up to change the newspaper under it everyday? What could it be that I am doing wrong?

LOL! Replover,... RELAX! You are not going through anything that the rest of us haven't. It just takes time,...sometimes lots of time. It can take up to a year for an iguana to respond to you. Mine was 2 years old before she would do anything but tolerate handling. This is a reptile, and a wild animal, that you are dealing with. And, yes, it IS scared of you! To it, you are this big, ugly, giant, monster that keeps pestering it! Its still not sure of your intentions. Heck, my adult female will still occasionally flare up at me like she plans to get nasty. However, since she knows who is in charge, it never goes beyond that point. But I still keep an eye on her, just in case she decides to push it. These are and will always be wild animals and you can never trust them completely.
Its not unusual for an iguana to show favorites over one part of a couple. Its also possible that you have a male who sees your girlfriend as his and you are a potential rival. They get all sorts of weird things in their little green heads.
It sounds like the problem you are having, and it is very common, is you expect it to tame down like a mammal or a bird would. Its not going to happen. Animals that live in groups have instinctual habits that allow them to live in and participate in a group. Thats why you can see them laying together and grooming each other. The contact reinforces the bond between pack, flock, or herd, members. There is no such behavior among iguanas. In their minds if something is touching them its either going to fight them or eat them. You just have to persevere and show the iguana that you are not a threat and that you are a good thing. You are the one that brings food! Just keep doing what you are doing and don't ever let the iguana back you down.

If you have access to it, there is a book, Green Iguana The Ultimate Owners Manual by James Hatfield. It has some very good insight into the workings of the iguana's brain and methods of taming and socialization.

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

yea, most igs dont start calming down until 3 years. Thats when they step down from being the head honcho and realize your the boss.

Keep it up, your doin great.

__________________
-Adam

"Help Protect our Planet from Overcollection, Purchase Aquacultured Livestock and Captive Bred Herps"

LOL....Merlin and Geckoguy are right! It takes awhile for them to chill...I know for mine it did and to think he was already a huge 3 feet when I got him....his previous owners had ''released'' him into the ''wild'' the wild being their backyard...in VA in the middle of January...Just keep up the good work..eventually he will calm down LOL....good luck!

I know it takes time, I just wanted to make sure I'm doing the right thing so when say, 3 years is up, I don't discover I did the wrong thing and cant go back or wasted all that time.

Also I wonder what could have led him to be stressed out today. He was already like that before I went in the room this time. Perched up, dewlap flared, obviously tense. Temperatures were all normal. No idea what happened there today.

Also, I am a bit confused as to how to "Show it you're not a threat", but at the same time, do things like hold him down by shoulders and hips so he can't move to "show him who's boss". Seems contradictory to me. When he's acting aggressive, and I hold him down and immobilize him, doesn't that make me a threat all over again?

As long as you are firm but not rough with him, you are not a threat - simply showing your place as boss of the household. Whilst you are keeping hold of him, you should talk gently to him constantly calming him with your voice. whenever you are in the room with him - regardless of whether he is in or out of his cage, you should be talking in a calm voice. This helps him to recognise you from a distance and should help to form a bit more of a bond. You seem to be doing everything well and coping better than I did when I first got Godz - I was a quivering wreck worrying about all kinds!!

Keep up the good work and hang in there - eventually you will be humbled by his gentleness towards you

It seems strange though, this morning, even before I was within sight, it was perched up dewlap flared, just like yesterday. Something must be stressing it out. The temperatures are notmral.

One possibility is that he was stressed before from all the changes and reacted by being more docile--different iguanas react differently. Or he may now feel like that is his home and he needs to defend it.

__________________
Jan. 25, 1963 - Sept. 10, 2006 (R.I.P)

Godz used to raise his dewlap whenever he wanted a fuss as well as when he was being an angry head - talk about mixed signals. Will you ig allow you to approach him when he has his dewlap flared? A lot of the time an ig will puff up it's whole body to make itself appear larger if they are angry or scared. He may just be making a play for your attention????

He lets me approach him and pet him even with dewlap flared, except that time he tried to lash at me twice.

It's not just when I'm there that he is like that. These past 48 hours, he is constantly like that, already like that when I enter the room. Or when I peek through a slit in the door etc. Seems dewlap flared and puffed up all the time these past two days. He's still very docile but I worry he's feeling unconfortable.

Temps are right. I don't have a humidity meter but I have a humidifier and the veggies stay wet so it shoudl be ok. He is eating and pooping normally.