Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All, My name is Jay, and I have recently joined the iguana owners club. I have come to own a 3 foot 8 inch iguana name izabella. Now my question is this, I am trying to tame her but when I am petting her, the mouth is open, which is supposed to be a sign of aggression. But her flap is down. Is she going to bite me any chance she gets or does it look like she is happy. It's so hard to tell. She's already bit me once.

Not an expert on iguana behavior but mouth opening without any hissing or turning towards you (all the better to bite etc.) may be contentment or she may just be warm and thermoregulating by 'gaping' which is opening the mouth to allow heat to escape, much like a dog panting.

It could also be she doesn't particularly like the place you are petting to be touched, maybe try moving elsewhere to pet. I think they like scratching around their dewlap, but I am not sure here. Unfortunately, as I already mentioned, not the expert on where iguanas like to be touched or their more subtle body language. I do know a few regular chatters that come to the kingsnake reptile chats friday, sunday (9pm-11pm est) and tuesday (8pm-9pm est) who have owned green iguanas for years so if I see them tonight or after the long weekend, I will see if they have other ideals about what your iguana is trying to tell you.

You are ofcourse, most welcome to join us for the chat. The more Canadians there the better.

I made some inquires tonight with some people who have alot of experience with iguanas and it's hard to say if she will bite you when she opens her mouth or not. Is she reacting in any other way when she opens her mouth? Such as moving her body away from your hand or turning to face your hand etc? If not, she may just be a bit nervous but since you are not hurting her yet, she may stop with the mouth opening altogether in time.

It's weird, because she leans into my hand when I'm petting her, almost like she likes it, if i switch sides she leans over to which ever side i pet her on. But then somtimes if i take my hand away and go to put it back she opens her mouth towards my hand. Another weird thing about her, is she refuses to eat on her own, I have to feed her with a LONG fork for her to eat anything, will she get over this or am I in for the long haul.

I think she is starting to warm up to me tho. Thank you for you help in this matter, it is muchly appreciated.

Jay

actually jay, that is quite normal. What your ig is trying to do is trying to frighten you by pretending to bite and then gives up when you wont go away while petting. Mine do it all the time when they are in heat. When you pet them while they are basking is when they will do it the most because they dont like to be disturbed when soaking up some sun. THey will usually close their eyes and have their mouths open, while you pet them, having their eyes close means that they are pretending youre not even there. Where is it that you are petting her? Some like different areas to be touched. My female trogdor, loves being petted right behind the fat pockets behind the head where the head is connected to the neck. My male, rex, loves being petted under the chin near the subtymphatic scale. Botn usually just close their eyes and lick your hand while you pet them. But when they are in season, my igs have their aggressive attitudes going and just keep persisting and they will give up.
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1.1 Green Iguanas
1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0.2 Pictus Geckos
1.0 Flying Geckos
1.0 Emperor Scorpion (R.i.P)
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
0.1 Costa Rica Zebra Tarantula
1.0 Cornsnake
0.1 Ball Python
0.0.1 Cuban Treefrog
0.0.1 White Dumpys Treefrog
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0.1 Cobalt Blue Tarantula
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