Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Iguana won't let me touch him anymore. The first few days were fine. But yesterday and today everytime I have tried to go in to pet him or put him on his leash he beats me with his tail or runs around the cage. I would have expected these things in the first couple days but I have had him now for a week. Why the suddon change?

This is normal behavior for a baby iguana. It takes time to tame him.

Go to www.greenigsociety.org They have an article on taming.

Cindy

Iguanas have very moody personailtys there moody .. like a cat or dog . with sharp nails a tail that wips and sharp teeth..

i would have to say hes not trained at all and you should look up taming information .

or buy the book iguana for dummies .. its helpful for me .

good luck with your young green iguana .

christina

I hope you are in it for the long haul! It took me just
over 2 years to be able to reach in and pick Digit up
whenever I wanted. You were experiencing what I like to
call "the honeymoon period" with the baby. It really gets
fun when he get to 2' long and doesn't want to be touched.
Hopefully he won't bite or tail whip but most of them
do.

Thanks that actually makes me feel better. I just want a healthy iguana for my daughter. I understand that she is too young for the whole resposibility but I am making her help since technically it is hers. But it is definetly harder than Lucious my python. I am still tring to pet Izzy everyday. But it is time to clean out his cage and I can't seem to catch him.

How old is your iguana? a baby? I purchased my lizzy ( who is 4 yrs old now, almost 5 ft.) when he was about 5-6 mnths old. the store owner told me to just reach right in there and grab him, this is how he will come to know me... I thought boy isn't that the dumbest thing you had ever heard????
If I were an iguana, or any small animal and saw this big hand thing coming at me, I would be scared. he does know what you are going to do, be nice to him, hurt him, eat him.... He's an iguana, not an animal usually around many humans to be able to determine our behavior.... so this is how I handled it
I put my hand in the cage, stayed there and sang a song , after about 5 minutes I then inched in a little closer, kept singing a gentle song, and every couple of minutes I inched my hand up closer to him. after about 45 minutes of inching closer i was finally right next to him, I did NOT pet or reach at him instantly, just on the last inch up my hand was now next to his belly just gently and barely touching his skin. kept singing leaving my hand next to him for another 10 minutes. and then I left the cage. I always sing and talk in a gentle tone to my iguana... all day long. they like alot of attention, and if you like them to grow older and be tame enough to handle and enjoy you need to give them that attention.
the next day i did this sing, inch theme again, every day for 4 days, then i began to pet him. now he knew that my hand, my scent was safe.
He is now 4 yrs. old, a very nice, calm lizzy. i hold him like a baby, take him for rides in the car, my 6 yr old son can hug him, and pet him anytime. he has never been mean or aggressive in any way to anyone! I love him more than any animal i have ever owned!
I own a really great book, I do hope that you purchase it, I have found it to be the best iguana book, i take care of my lizzy strictly by this book, and he is a very healthy and nice iguana@!

The Ultimate Owners Guide
by:James W. Hatfield

all the best of luck to you and you new lizzy!
Nicole

They can be dicks. I've had my iguana 2 years and cannot touch him. Some just are not trusting animals. Mine has a huge cages by design cage and he's still young and we have a truce, but he's not friendly or handleable