Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I had my rhino for about 18 months now and I had him since he was 3 month old. I guess he is about close to 2 years old now. The thing is I take him out 4-5 per week for about 2-3 hours. I have being doing this for the last 6 month before that I only take him out once a week or once every two weeks, since everyone says babies are skittish so I don’t really take him, plus I didn’t want to stress him out too much. Well the problem is he is still as skittish as before. He will bite, poo poo, and tail whip every time I try to take him out and it don’t seem to get any better with time. I used to have green tree pythons and they became quite tame with time so I don’t know what is going on with this guy.

Thank you for your input.
Tony

Howdy!

Sometimes they take a little more work. From what I have been told, most rhinos prefer free roaming to living in a caged environment. I had the same issue with my male. He was free roaming and charged, attacked, projectile poo'd. I moved him into a cage and the change was fast. There are still times when he just has no use for me. They are a very different egg than a green and to me far more challenging. But that is also where their appeal lies with me. Patience will win out.

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Cindy
PHFaust

Email Cindy

Land of the Outcasts!

Thank you for your reply. That is an good looking boy you got there. I was wondering how old is he and also does he still run around in his wire cage when you go in. My runs around like crazy in his 6x6x2 vision. The thing with my is he is not improving over time.

Tony

>>Thank you for your reply. That is an good looking boy you got there. I was wondering how old is he and also does he still run around in his wire cage when you go in. My runs around like crazy in his 6x6x2 vision. The thing with my is he is not improving over time.
>>
>>Tony

I believe Kerry is 3 years old... He could be 4. Jiffypop will have to confirm this as I just plain cant remember. He never was a spazz in his cage. He is always calculating. In fact for the past 2 years his cage top has not had a screen. He has left the security of his cage once on his own. If he is in a good mood, he will greet me when I clean his cage and do daily stuff. If he isn't it becomes a game of charge. I have recently put screening back on his cage as I have a baby spiny tail iguana in a reptarium and would prefer to keep them separate and prevent any accidents. He does get daily free roam time in the bathroom.

In fact he doesn't even acknowledge the dogs when they come in to "help" unless they try to steal his food.

This photo is from when I first got him.

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Cindy
PHFaust

Email Cindy

Land of the Outcasts!

I've worked with Cuclura for over 30 years and have bred 4 species. Each lizard has a different personality and some just plain seem to like people more than others. Here's a pic of a 4 year old male in a huge 15 x 16 x 7' enclosure who seeks out the company of people. He literally will follow you around loose in the yard but I have others who will bite you. They were ALL raised the same way....TC...I thru in a couple of other pics as well....TC

ya i agree id like to note to that as they get a little bigger sometimes they calm down a little, my big male can be petted but if u pick him up longer than a few minutes WATCH OUT he will bit u and bite u hard..... but what can u do i still love him. plus my female is the exact oppsite u can pick her up and carry her all around. just give it time and lots of patience.

I have a female that is the same as yours. I gave up on attempting to tame her. She is one cranky little lady, but I love her just the same. My male rhino is much better you can pet him and pick him up for a short amout of time. His second personility can come out on a rare occasion to bite the crap out of me.

Keep working with your little one, and hopefully it works out for you.

Hi TC,
very nice that walk-in enclosure I guess!
What about the choice to let the greens and rhinos live together?
I've always thought a problematic thing.
Cheers

PS: that figginsi (?) really rocks

I had to do it when we were forced to pic up all the het iguanas before we were ready for them. The seller gave us one week. I expected to have big problems but found out they completely ignore each other. Cyclura apparently don't consider Iguana iguana to be a threat and vice versa. We just hatched our our 2nd clutch of Albino Green Iguanas today. They were bred and nested in that enclosure with the Cyclura. I was amazed but very happy. I would've guessed just like you did that it would be a problem. It really opens up our ability to breed more in the same space. Oh well the more I know the less I realize I know.....TC

herpsltd,

Thank you for your reply. I have a couple additional questions.
What sub species of Cyclura is that on your second photo? Plus, is there any difference in attitude with different Cycluras? Which one have the best chance of becoming a tame adult with time invested?

thanks

The one you refer to is C. c. figgensi. Secondly C. n. nubila and C. n. caymanensis seem to be the species that get the tamest more often. Any species may become very tame but those 2 are the most frequently seen very tame ones. Personaly I let my lizards be what they are,lizards. I don't go out of my way to work with any of them. I first bred Cyclura in the early 1970's and pioneered keeping them outside yearound in S. Fl. If you give all the support the lizard needs good things will follow. You should NEVER force yourself on the lizard. Then if they decide to make you a part of their lives you've done a great job. It is also easier if you understand Cyclura behaviours. I've studied them in nature and in captivity for many years and it seems I can tell what a lizard is going to do BEFORE they do it by their body language. Good luck......TC