Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had a male Northern(I'm pretty sure, very unusual coloration/pattern, definitely not Irian Jaya)BTS for 4 years now named Bindi. I bought him as a juvenile, and up until about6-8 months ago, he was extremely docile, never tried to bite or threaten you. I used to be abble to carry him places, let him run around the room and explore, feed him little bits of food from my fingers, and even take him lots of places for hands-on educational presentations that I used to do quite often. About 6-8 months ago, though, he started to become really agressive about his food, rushing and snapping at you. Now, I cannot even put my hand in the tank without being very careful about where Bindi is, and what his body language says every second. He rushed at my hand, snapping and thrashing, attacks the food dish when I'm putting in into his tank. He regularly attacks anyone through the tank glass, just because you walk by.

This is nothing compared to yesterday, though. I was trying to remove the water dish, as usual, when Bindi flew up onto the top of the cage lid(he's never been able to get up there before, it is a huge tank!) and literally started attacking me. If you've seen the footage of Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter being charged by agressive crocodiles......that's what Bindi looked like! lol It was startling, he is a very large BTS. He was charging at me on top of the tank lid, mouth open and snapping, and all I had in my hand was a pair of feeding tweezers! He rushed at me, clamped on the tweezers and thrashed them out of the way, I tried to keep him from falling off the lid onto the carpet 5 or 6 times, and he would come right back at me again until I got my snake hook(a bit more sturdy!) and manipulated him back into the cage(no easy task). I closed the lid for a minute, because I have some agressive reptiles, but nothing compared to that display. I finished taking care of him, very carefully, so he didn't do it again.

It was truly impressive, he wasn't bluffing, he was seriously trying to bite me. On one hand, it's neat because I enjoy challenging animals, but on the other hand it's a bit sad because he was my best display animal who is now entirely unhandleable....and I don't use that label often at all. It falls into the category of hormonally-induced agression it seems, but have any of you experienced such a "fierce" display or attack? Is it somewhat normal for them to become sooooo agressive/territorial that they actually come after you, or is this an extreme example? I'd love to hear from some of you about this. I wish I had a video of the attack to put online, too! lol

cool! sounds like an infamous Tanny attack.

Could be anything:
1. association with food.
2. springtime...finds you as a rival
3. learned behavior:
example...if a bluey learns that peeing on his owner will make them put him down, then he will continue that habit. Personally, if you are trully scared for your fingers, wear some welding gloves but handle him even with his aggression. he needs to learn that that behavior will not make you back off.
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1 Eastern Blue Tongue Skink
2 Tarahumara Mountain Kingsnakes - Knoblochi
1 Thayer's Kingsnake - Thayeri
2 Golden Greek Tortoises
1 Pyxie Frog - 14 years old

Thanks for the response. Might I ask...what exactly is a Tanny attack? I think I missed the boat there, perhaps because I'm deliriously tired. lol With Bindi, I've been thinking it is a rival issue, because everything that enters my room right lately, he wants to kill. The vacuum cleaner is his biggest rival. :s The gloves will be necessary when handling him. Although he knows I will not back down from his challenge, my fingers are quite thin, so I will need some sort of protection from the bite. Bindi is quite large, so these attacks are very interesting to experience!

A Tanny??? ... is short for Tanimbar, a rare and fiesty blue tongue skink. Known for their silvery, and very smooth/glossy look. but even better known for their devilish personalities. snappy. hissy. pissy. and hissy again.

here's a friendly breeder's site. he has tanny babies available every year. And is where I got Boris(Eastern) from.

http://community-2.webtv.net/rgurgui/ThunderBayHerp/

and a pic from www.bluetongueskinks.net's tanny page.

Click here to go to Ray Gurgui"s "for sale" page.

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1 Eastern Blue Tongue Skink
2 Tarahumara Mountain Kingsnakes - Knoblochi
1 Thayer's Kingsnake - Thayeri
2 Golden Greek Tortoises
1 Pyxie Frog - 14 years old

Ah, thanks for the info! You know, Bindi was sold labeled "Northern Blue Tongued Skink".....but this was years ago at PetSmart, before I knew any better. lol Those Tanimbar pictures look a lot like him, he has always looked a bit different from the typical Aussie BTS pictures I've seen, and that would also explain the change in disposition. I will have to look into this further, thanks for the ideas!