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Today when I walked into the room I keep my Savannah enclosure in, I heard a loud hiss come from it. I tried to pick him up to see what was wrong and all he does is tail whip and bite me. He's never been like this before. Normally I can pick him up without a problem. It took me a half hour to change his water bowl today because he wouldnt let my hand in his cage to touch it. I dont know whats wrong and I'm worried. can someone tell me what might be bothering him?

Perhaps something startled him. My sav could hold a grudge for days! Give him some time to get over it. You probably haven't lost any progress you've made with him, but he probably will be a brat for the next couple of days before he gets back to his usual self. I wouldn't worry. Mine would do this every once in awhile, especially if I had picked him up and hauled him back to his cage after he had fallen asleep while wandering around the house. Sometimes I had no idea what set him off. If it continues more than a few days, however, or his eating habits, etc., change, you might want to get him to the vet for a check-up to make sure his bad mood isn't the result of a health problem.

Hello.
Sorry, but I am pretty skeptical about taking it to the vet just because of a 'bad mood'. Myself, I'd want some evidence of a physical problem, before I'd put my lizard through that kind of a scare. Think about how the lizard sees it; restrained and put in a carrier, vibrating, noisy car, strange brightly lit room with a strange large human poking and prodding and shining bright lights in its eyes. Think of the sharp smells and the barking of the dogs. And of his body temp. dropping to room temps, which means its helpless to defend itself. Also, of course, being held and restrained from struggling.
It's no big deal to US, as we know no harm will come to it, but how do you tell the animal that?

The baby that hisses and whips doesn't hate its owner, its just untrusting. And it feels alive and perky enough to defend itself. Be gentle with it, and give it time. Not just a month, expect longer. How long would it take to befriend a wild squirrel or bird? A while. Well, this is a wild animal too. It needs you to be patient.

If you are afraid of getting bitten while cage cleaning, etc. try holding a rubbermaid lid as a shield in front of the baby, then do whatever you want with the other hand. It should just whip the lid, then realize that was pointless, and just stand there.
If it runs around the edge to see what you're doing, you got a smart one! hahaha, JK.
D.

Most likely, the lizard is just being a lizard. Still, any mysterious change in an animal's behavior, especially one accompanied by other behaviorial changes (such as in feeding, energy level), warrants closer attention. If he was previously calm, and his personality and habits suddenly changed (and didn't change back), I would want a vet to take a look. As I said in my post, it's not at all abnormal behavior for a sav to suddenly get huffy for a few days. Most of the time there is nothing wrong with him, especially if he's still a baby. If getting huffy is the only symptom the sav is displaying, I wouldn't take him.

Like I said, mine occasionally turned into a little tail-whipping, hissing demon-child for several days at a time, and sometimes I had no idea what had set him off. Then again, mine died at the age of 4 of cancer that had gotten very advanced before we discovered it, as he didn't display any obvious changes until the last few weeks of his life when he became lethargic and stopped eating. It's possible that it was a health problem that set him off some of those times. (I have a Pit Bull that is so terrified of the vet that she has to be muzzled, and it takes four of us to hold her down for the examination. It's incredibly stressful for her [and us!], but when she's got to go, she's got to go, and if I'm not sure, I'd prefer to err on the side of caution.)

Hi there, yeah, I can relate. My baby is such a brat.
He`ll hiss, and puff up at me when I go near his cage. So I just keep approaching, because his bites wouldn`t hurt that bad, if not at all since he is a little thing. But like they are telling you, just give him time.