Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what do the different kinds of head bobbing mean. ive seen my iguana head bob in a circular kind of twitching motion at another iguana before attacking it but also the same motion at my girlfriend but in a slightly different way. also recently he headbobs stright up and down at me, sometimes i do the same thing back to him and then he returns the gesture. hes really friendly and never tried to attack either of us im just wondering what it means

there are lots of different head bobs for an iguana... my ig. head bobs at me all the time, in a very non aggressive way... I will tell you what my book says, (the ultimate iguana owners manual... by: james hatfield) this is an excellent book to own!
"In real life, an iguana head bobbing is not a joke but a physical way to let other iguanas in the area know things such as:
* "I am in control of this territory"
* " This is my food/ heat/ branch/ female iguana.find your own"
* "Here I am, so don't think I don't see you"
* " the iguana equivalent of "me tarzan, you jane"
*( "I'm in a bad mood today. keep your distance"
* " I am about to rip your head off if you don't leave now"

If the head bobbing is a relaxed up and down motion, he is prob. saying hello.
then the rotary head bob, like you said is aggressive.

so usually you can tell what your iguana is saying once you've owned him for awhile...
a gentle head bob usually is his way of saying hey, i know you, whats going on... and a more aggressive head bob, is usually get away from me...

hope this helps you some!
nicole
here is a pic of my lizzy! 3 yrs. old! big boy already!