Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my baby boy Phillup for about 5 years now. He has always been a bit of a handful but the past few months have been unbearable. His season started and the usual increase in aggression came with it, however it has been almost 5 months now (longer than in the past) and he has been MUCH more aggressive and violent than ever before. His orangeness has been fading but the aggression and violence are still extremely high.
He has never gotten this bad before and has become nearly impossible to take care of -- even feeding him has become dangerous. Lots of big mouth charging, leaping and lunging head bobbing, sideways circling etc. This also seems to have been the first year that he thought I was a mate for him.
So my question is what to do? Is there a way to regain control of this situation? He is obviously not getting as much "out" or play time because of this, although he has been finding many new ways of escaping. Please help.....I miss my baby!

Your lizard is doing nothing bad just being what he is. They are NOT and never will be dogs or cats. It sounds like it is a very happy contented lizard that wants to breed. It means your keeping it under good conditions. Its your expectations that are wrong....TC

I'm not quite sure how my expectations are wrong. My only expectation was receive advice about my iguana on an iguana forum. I realize that Iguanas are not like cats or dogs and I never said that my ig was doing something bad.....but in my opinion drastic behavior changes are something to look into. He has never acted this way in season or not so I thought maybe someone would have advice on how to deal with him safely, seeing as how he is attacking when you try to feed him (leaping from basking shelf without warning) etc. I don't expect him to play fetch, but I do not live alone and I also need to create a safe environment. Furthermore, his "season" has never lasted this long, so I thought someone would have some insight.

Sorry I usually don't post on this forum but this question struck my interest LOL! I work with rescued and surrendered iguanas so I see a lot of their behavior and tempermental issues along with the MANY that get surrendered due to seasonal aggression.

I don't think many of us expect our iguanas to be a cat or dog and it is not wrong to "hope" that they will be well-behaved you don't have to think they are a cuddly furry friend to want a relationship with them without being bitten or whipped.

Male iguanas can vary greatly on their breeding season. Through experience I have seen iguanas that will one year have a month long season with aggression, one year have a three month long season and the next year seemingly not have any "out of season" time before then settling back into a shorter season the following year. I have questioned our exotic animal vet who works with our iguanas and consulted veterinary manuals on this subject. Basically all we have been able to come up with is that some male iguanas not all will have an overabundance of hormones at one point (or possibly more) in their lifetime. We are guessing that this may be at a time when if in the wild they would make a bid for territory against other male iguanas. Since in the wild they tend to steer clear of areas that clearly "belong" to another male unless they are ready to fight for the territory against the other male. This is much like many wild species of animals that fight for territory. They will still go in to season in other years and still mate with females if given the chance but will usually stay in hiding away from larger males. When they come into full season (with some this could be the six month long or year long season) it seems to be at a time that they feel healthy enough and old enough to try for a larger territory.

Now that I have rambled on it basically amounts to the fact that you have a very healthy well-cared for iguana that is at his all time hormonal prime and will once he calms down this year (I know could be a long wait) more than likely go back to having normal breeding seasons. Some will go through the longer season for a few years (not all year long but longer than usual) before going back to the normal shorter season.

It does not mean anything is wrong with your iguana and there is no real way to correct it. You just basically have to wait it out and be patient until it passes making sure that you are still around your iguana whenever possible so that when the season is finally over he will still be acclimated to your presence.

Good Luck!

Basically you said what I said but with a bit more eloquence with your wording. It seems to me after studying and breeding many species of Iguanids that it is behaving in a normal fashion. When spermatogenesis occurs in male lizards it can last a short or a fairly long time. What I meant by expectations is you have to expect the unexpected because they are wild animals. You can't accurrately predict or for that matter change behaviours. If you took offence I'm sorry but what I said was TRUE......TC

By the way how does a "well behaved lizard" act? The behaviour that was described seemed terribly normal to me. Again I think many folks expect an iguana to act more like a domestic animal. The lizard should be appreciated for being what it is, an iguana. The person who made the inquiry has been keeping the lizard under good conditions or it wouldn't be exhibiting these behaviours at all. I think it's behaving well now.....TC