Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Godzilla, my 7 years old male iguana is entering his 8 months of breeding season without signs of improvement.Do you think he will, one day, return to his normal personality or i should start thinking about giving him away to the local Zoo?

Im saying that because since January he is grounded in a covered cage without seeing anything or anybody. I did that because it was the only way to prevent him from hiting his snout against the walls! I dont think that this is a life for anybody mainly for an iguana!

Wow!!!! Eight months?!?!? I feel for you... Dexter was hard core for four months last year, and took another four to return to his sweet self (just in time for another round...). I was sure that he was never going to return. I'm glad I was wrong. I've heard of some iguanas taking up to a year, so there may be some hope yet. It's too bad that you've had to resort to solitary confinement. I can't imagine that is helping any... Good luck!

On a side note, Dexter's colors have changed, and he looks identical to the iguana in your photo! Kind of freaky. I'll have to get a photo of him while he's in bright orange mode...

>>Godzilla, my 7 years old male iguana is entering his 8 months of breeding season without signs of improvement.Do you think he will, one day, return to his normal personality or i should start thinking about giving him away to the local Zoo?
>>
>>Im saying that because since January he is grounded in a covered cage without seeing anything or anybody. I did that because it was the only way to prevent him from hiting his snout against the walls! I dont think that this is a life for anybody mainly for an iguana!
>>

Id love to see his photo!

I am in the exact same position as you!!!!!!! Hercules is 8 years old. He has been in breeding season for almost a year. He damaged his face so bad that he required plastic surgery. The scab just came off from surgery and it is still not great but better. He is still nasty as ever and I had to put a cone (from the vet) on his head. When I take it off I have my husband take care of him because he is less nasty with him.
I feel your pain. I can't handle him anymore. It has just gotten so bad. In fact, Jiffypop agreed to take him. She stated that he will be in a different type of cage which will be a thousand times better for him. She has other iguana's but he hopefully would not be housed with them. He is very aggressive towards other iguanas too.

Do you have other iguana besides him?One person from this FORUM told me that its not normal for an ig to be in the breeding season for so long unless i have another male ig in my house.In fact i have, but i wonder whether this is the reason or not.Do you have another male ig?

Godzilla injured his face badly too!Not as bad as yours but i needed to take him out from his cage to treat his snout.Do you know what happened? He bit me while i was treating his nose! Bit me badly and didnt want to let it go!I could never imagine that one day my sweet baby would do that to me! He was so tame before the breeding season he used to sleep in the same bed with my kids, sharing the same pilow! sniff...snif...

No, I have no other iguana's in this house.
When I first got him six years ago he was housed with two adult iguana's. The male beat him up really bad. That is when I took him and got him vet care, etc.
I am wondering if it is a 7-8 year thing? Or we just have abnormal iguana's!

Another member of this forum told me that sometimes the male iguana has a few mild breeding seasons before having a very bad one.Its like they need to prepare themselves for a very bad one and that can take years!So perhaps that is the only very bad breeding season our males will have and hopefully the last one!

You have answered your own question, indirectly. Iguanafriend mentioned that Hercules is less agressive with her husband. You are both female, and some male iguanas will be highly aggressive towards females of any species. This can and does turn on a dime, just as breeding season. Your mere scent can trigger it, and can cause them to stay in breeding season mode for years. Flavia, do you have an older male (human) around that might try working with your ig? I say older, because children or younger teens can prompt the same aggression. I'm sorry, I know it's not what you want to hear, but perhaps letting him stay in a male-only home for a time to see if it helps would be best.
I hope this is not the case, and he's just being stubborn.
On a related subject, read my post above.
Alli