Posted by:
jiffypop
at Wed Nov 16 23:53:29 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by jiffypop ]
LOL, once you have a Cyclura you will be hooked!! They are attractive, hardy, long-lived, and very intelligent. If raised with lots of attention they can become wonderful companion animals.
I will give you my opinion as a keeper of 3 different species. I have Rhinos, Cubans, and Cayman hybrids. I'm fairly new to Cyclura compared to some of the folks here. I've been keeping them for about 6 years now. I also keep Green Iguanas, Spinytail Iguanas, a few species of monitors, and a bunch of other stuff.
Rhinos will always be my all time favorite. I love their appearance and the demeanor and temperament of mine is outstanding. They are my most dependable, tolerant educational animals and will behave while on display for an entire 3 day weekend without a problem. My older Rhinos actually seem to enjoy human interaction at times...I can't say that about any of my other lizards.
Cubans would probably be my second choice. The adult female that I owned was a fabulous animal...very calm, easy going, quite tractible. My two younger ones have not had as much handling or attention as most of my other Cyclura but are turning into wonderful animals. They are beautiful lizards but don't have the majesty of a nice hybrid or the prehistoric quality of the Rhinos. I have seen some pretty impressive males, though.
My male hybrid is the most unpredictable and moody of all of my Cyclura. He's beautiful, but a brat!! He doesn't play well with other lizards (my Rhinos coexist nicely with the Green Iguanas and the other large lizards) and is not fond of humans that are strangers. I have to watch his body language closely and his personality can change from minute to minute. Even so, I can't imagine not having him here. My female was a love. The only time she ever acted any way other than sweet was when she was gravid and looking for a nesting spot.
One final observation: I received 2 young adult male Rhinos as rescues when the Long Island Reptile Museum was closed a year ago. I estimate these animals to be somewhere between 4 and 6 years old. They had not been handled much or given much of any kind of attention. When they arrived they were wild and very willing to bite. It was more than a little bit intimidating. After just 6 months of kindness, patience, good food and regular handling, they have become trusting animals that will gently take food from my fingers. Neither of them ever offer to bite anymore.
Ultimately the choice is yours. Talk to more owners, do some more research. Whatever the choice, I'm sure that you won't be disappointed. There is nothing quite like living with Cyclura.
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Tough choice... - jiffypop, Wed Nov 16 23:53:29 2005 