Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys,

yesterday my male rhino has an exploring day i guess you could call it that , he and his mate roam my pool deck temp. till i finsh there cage and yesterday he wanted to go in the house , so i kept putting him back out side and time after time he came back in the house , so i put up a two foot pice of wood and he climbed over it an then i tried a 3 foot piece and he finally jumped and pulled himself over into the house, so i put him out again, he was darn determined to stay in the house, so when i put him out i stayed out with him for a few mins. and then he looked at me and came towards me and them climbed up my leg and wrapped his arms around my leg and did the same with his head like he was gonna bite me(the rhino hug) and stayed like that for about a mins.

now is this like mating behavior should i be worried about him doing that ? and why would he want to go in my house, he's been in every room before, and he always tends to end up where i used to keep a younger rhino in my room? could this be why ? and he often will go to sleep in that area where i kept the younger rhino if he gets in undetected?!

i dont mind him in the house but he just poops in every room he goes in, an after the first quart of liquid in one room gets kinda gross when you find it in another room ...and another and the cats licking it ..lol

Mike

what time of day did he want to get into the house. He could have just wanted out of the sun. cyclura usually go in during the heat of the day. They also can be pretty headstrong to get their way. It sounds to me like it is simple territorial behavior. He treats you like another rhino and you are in his space. I get it all the time with mine. he was giving you his subtle signals before he has to get physical. As far as the rooms, he is purely marking territory so all the rhinos around know your house is his. There might be scent or markings from the other rhino that he is detecting and for whatever reason feels he needs to be there. Maybe he just likes it there. For what its worth that is my take on it, I have seen similar behavior with mine. I wouldnt worry, its fun to try and figure them out...minus the clean up

so when he does this , it is then a good time to just let him get his way huh ? ever had a rhino get physcal with you ?

thanks for your imput very helpful jf

get away with it? I guess, so what else do you do. you can't discipline him like a dog. He needs to get used to the fact that you are there and part of "his" environment. Some get it some dont.
Yes mine has bit me, once out side when he is heated up and once when I woke him up and once when I went in his cage while he was bobbing to another male and quite pi$$ed off. He bit my foot every time. I just stick it in his face as he is coming at me. never a dull moment with him.