My brother adopted an iguana about a year and a half ago, and he's passed it on to me since he's going to college. I love the little guy, but I can only talk to him, not hold him or pet him. In the year and a half that my brother had him, he was only taken out of his cage about five times except for cleaning the cage out. I can't touch him because every time I do, he windmills his legs and shreds my arms (about 1/2 inch claws).
He's probably about five years old, and is about four feet long from nose to the tip of his tail. He's very placid; the few occasions where I have gotten him out he's never tried to bite or whip his tail, he just windmills his legs. We've tried clipping his claws, but apparently he has a secret weapon in the form of a poop shooter (yuck!).
Should I take him to the vet for a claw trimming or just continue to talk to him through his cage?
2007-01-14 04:17:43 · 8 answers · asked by Leafy 6 in Pets ➔ Reptiles
Okie dokie. First off, i would like to say that 4 feet at 5 years old is a little undersized. Im not judging your parenting or anything, but check your temps and make sure your UVB bulb is newer than 8 months old. I'm not going to go over the basics of iguana care, because you only asked for taming :) but, check out www.greenigsociety.org for everything you could possibly want to know about iggies.
We rescue reptiles, so I have had to tame. We currently have a male that was quite 'out of control'. Your best bet is to take it slow. Make sure you have the time and patience to tame this ig before starting the taming process because it is quite long. It takes lots of time to tame an ig. Start by just petting him in his habitat. Before he trusts you enough to let you hold and carry him, you need to let him know that your hand is not there to harm him. If you reach in the cage, and he runs, follow him and try to touch him. if he keeps running and whiping, leave him alone. Take it a day at a time, and he will learn that you don't want to eat him.
when he finally lets you pet him from inside the enclosure (this step could take months), then you can try to take him out to hold him. If he struggles, hold him tighter; let him know that biting, whipping and scratching isnt going to get him far. If you put him back when he whips or scratches, then he will know that all he has to do is scratch, and you will leave him alone, you don't want him to get into that habit. Show him that you are boss, just like training a dog or a child, you don't want them to think they can do whatever they want. You can wear a long sleeve shirt when holding him to cut down on the scratching; but avoid rubber gloves, iggies don't like them, and for some reason, i don't know if it is the texture or smell of rubber, they get stressed with rubber gloves.
As for the nail clippings, you can take it to the vet if you wish. But if you have a mesh cage, wait until he is climbing the side of his cage, and clip them from the outside. I do that with our male sometimes when he is being a butthead.
www.greenigsociety.org has a message board, the people are very knowledgable, they have owned iggies for years, your best bet might be to post there with your iggy quesions, because people here are rude and give you BS answers.
or, feel free to write to me. we have 3 iguanas, so we have been through it all! lol.
2007-01-14 14:34:21 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, an iguana that size can become an itchy and scratchy affair.
Green iguanas use their claws to climb. It is the way they avoid predators and gain a tasty meal in the foliage of the rain forests and jungles of their habitat.
An iguana without claws is a gonner. He can't climb or bolt when in danger.
The 6 footer i had taught me many lessons. First, it seems iguanas in the home tend to stay in one place. In other words, my iggy was like a carrier pigeon that will forage and wander, but will always return to the nest.
I had to install a 2x4 next to his cage so he could climb up and down at his leisure. The lizard would never take a dump in his own tank. He would jump @ 3' to the floor, then make his way upstairs and poop behind my toilet in the bathroom on the second floor. Then he would go down the stairs, and before i installed the 2x4 for his return to the roost, try to climb back up to his 50 gallon tank.
Iggy tore the house up. To deal with him I had to put on canvas
work gloves and a Carhart jacket to protect myself from his claws.
A very feisty reptile indeed. I found that they are creatures of habbit. New experiences are deffinately new to them.
It seems that your lizard may need a little more contact and of course talking. Believe me, the talking helps. Of course your iggy sounds like a big boyee, so teaching him new ways to assimilate may be challanging.
If you need to clip the claws, use a toenail clipper and be sure to clip the claw below the end of the blood vessel. That could be a tricky under taking.
As far as the poop, make sure you wash properly. Iggy doo could carry salmonilla.
2007-01-15 10:48:07 · answer #2 · answered by icd1765 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Keep in mind the temperature of its enclosure...if its ideal, he should "poop" almost daily. I currently own one and have owned several. My current one is also unhandleable. Tail whips and scratching are normal. Some just have a bad temper. If the nails are trimmed on a regular basis , scratches aren't as severe. Temperature of the enclosure is directly connected to food digestion. Mine has a heat lamp w/ uv bulb that heats a flat piece of slate which replaces the need for a hot rock. So when I DO try to handle it, "pooping" is done and over with. I deally , you need a temperature range of 70 to 100 degrees with the availability for the iguana to move about and leave the "basking" area. They can get TOO warm and sometimes like to seek out shade or a cooler temperature. Feel free to email me ...flyingfishsj@yahoo
2007-01-14 14:19:48 · answer #3 · answered by flyingfishsj 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had an iguana, did not like it. I would defiantly take it to the vet for a nail trim. If the iguana does not feel secure it will scratch. Put the head between you 2 first fingers and the rest of the body lays across your forarm and hold it next to your side or belly so it feels secure. If he gets to out of hand, put him above your head with both hands, they like to be up high, always were long sleeves to prevent scratches
2007-01-14 18:51:06 · answer #4 · answered by troxie79 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the only way to get the iguana to be handelable, is to handel it. i sugjest a jean jacket. as for its claws, i'd get it to a vet. you could do it but, from the sounds of things it is a rather large iguana. you can do it but you will end up needing stitches. trust me i speek from expierance on that one. i work with the Iguana relocation network. i took in a 5.5 foot iguana last year that had not been handled, or had his claws trimmed in a long time. I, having had many(37 sofar) iguanas that i have worked with and found homes for, though i could do it. to make a long story short i ended up with 11 stitches.
2007-01-14 12:33:19 · answer #5 · answered by Patrick M 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Take him to a vet who is qualified in reptile medicine...not too many of those around but you can try.
You might have better luck letting him out if you got a humane grasper to do it with. Talk to the RSPCA.
BTW it is illegal in some places to own exotic reptiles. (For example, it's legal in Colorado, illegal in Michigan). Check with your local SPCA or animal control office.
2007-01-14 12:23:03 · answer #6 · answered by anna 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
do what is right for this guy, animals get mistreated by humans to much, if he is to hard to handle find him agood home or someone who can give him good care
2007-01-14 12:28:22 · answer #7 · answered by elizabeth_davis28 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i think u shud let go of the reptile
2007-01-14 12:45:12 · answer #8 · answered by pinkangel_232 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋