Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I have a 3 year old female Cuban that's in perfect health, but she's not as tame as I'd like. Admittedly, I could have put more time in the taming process. Should I attempt more intensive training to tame her down? Or should I see if I can trade her for a baby and start over? TIA.
D

training is all about patience. lots of time and patience. How much time do you spend in physical contact with your Ig a day? what are you doing to train her?
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

For the first couple years, though I spoiled her in terms of diet and space (free ranger) I rarely handled her. In the past year, I've cut my herp collection way back and have more quality time to spend with my herps (as opposed to just caring for them). So, for the past few months I've been trying to handle her as much as possible - taking her out and bathing her - but she doesn't seem to be taming down. I've been wondering if it'd be easier to start with a baby. Wouldn't some breeders be willing to trade for a healthy female? Any ideas?
D
BTW - I am not a herp newbie, having bred hundreds of lizards, turtles and snakes for the past 25 years. But, this is my first Cyclura.

Just remember babies are going to be flightier and not as mellow as adults. As long as she wasn't abused I don’t see a problem in keeping her. I would start with simple human contact. When she gets fed hold the bowl and let her eat while you hold it. As time progresses if she is not aggressive offer her food from your hand. when she basks, just touch her and let her feel your hand on her. Baby steps. Time and patience. as she gets used to you, try petting her or letting her crawl onto you. don't try and restrain her in the beginning try the slow method first. I have done this successfully with several Tegus as well as one of my Rhinos. You need to be spending 1/2 hour a day with her, every day.

Yes if you find a breeder in need of another female you may be able to trade but don't count on it. Someone who is already producing babies may not want the hassle of a new female that is unproven and has to be quarantined for 3 months.

Good luck
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

Is she caged now or still freeroaming? If she's caged I would suggest that you put her back as a freeroamer in a part of the house where there will be alot of contact. At 3 years of age she should be fairly calm and easily handleable. As stated already, patience is a virtue when it comes to taming these lizards.
I just recently brought my 2 year old Rhino male upstairs to freeroam my bedroom. Not only did he have to adjust to freeroaming but he also shares the space with several Green Iguanas, including a 4 year old male The transition went very well and he's calming nicely. Just last week he climbed right onto my shoulder as I was standing about 12 inches away from his basking spot.
I say keep her and work with her a little more. Just be a trustworthy presence and don't push....it's all about trust.

She is free roaming now, in the basement, which is not the most visited room, but I do go down several times a day. Bringing her (or any other herp) upstairs is not an option, as I am married (need I say more?). She spends much of her time basking on top of her cage, which is open (and has been every since she hit about 2). On a bad day, she will flee as soon as she sees me and hide in her box or in the rafters. On a good day, I can feed her by hand and entice her front legs onto my hand, but that's all. I do try to pick her up and bathe her in warm water, but she struggles. How are others using warm bathes to calm their Iggies down? Am I expecting too much? wanting her to be "dog-tame"? I guess I could spemd more time with her.
D

I hope you all have Pergo or Hardwood floors? Cycluras crap where they want, and if they are crappin on your carpets, you must have some smelly rooms. I know, because I had to temporarily keep my cyclura indoors in some temp. pens in my iguana room, and when they would crap, it would immediately stink the room to high heaven. If it sat there all day until I got back from work, it was worse. I couldn't wait to get these guys back outdoors primarily for that reason. Ctenosaura for some reason don't stink as much, and don't go as much.

I let mine freeroam only in certain areas. Yes, if I allowed them in the whole house there would be crap everywhere. One of mine that roams this room where the computer is is very consistant and goes on papers on the floor. I am hoping to keep making the area smaller so that we only have to put so many papers down. Also the carpet in here is very old anyway. So if he misses there is no hard feelings. I just use some carpet cleaner and get the spots but like I said, this room is no fashion plate. My other two are confined to the "reptile room" where there is another old red carpet on the floor that no one cares about. The rhino in there DOES poop anywhere she damn well pleases but we are working on that. She is new here. My male green iguana picks a new spot every 6 mo. to a year so he is easy and I put paper towels wherever that is and it makes clean up a snap.

Carole

PS, pergo sounds like a good idea for the future of my reptile room!

Mark, I think you are underestimating the intelligence of these animals. All of my Cyclura are pets, part of the daily household. It takes time and patience to train them but they CAN be trained, just as you would housebreak a dog. Some may train quickly, others take a little while longer. I find it easiest to train them to water...first the tub, then a cat litter pan with an inch or two of water in it. Sure, there are accidents, but it's well worth the little bit of time it takes to clean them up to have my lizards trust me enough to climb onto my lap for a little cuddle time.

There are alot of free roamers in the North East. It is the only way you can reasonably own them if you don't have the luxury of living in a Warm State. It is 5 times the work of having them outside, and I'll bet more than one Iguana fan has given-up the hobby for this reason.

Maybe your Ctenosaura are alot smaller in weight/appetite than the cyclura and that has something to do with the amount of feces and odor. For those that don't know, Any animal protien will also make the smell worse.

Some of my cyclura always use the same area, others are slobs -- just like people. I use formica, cardboard, rosin paper, newspaper, straw and alfapha hey to combat this issue. It is a challenge to keep them warm and humidified, without having the area smell.

Hi there, I had the same problem as you some years back with Tashmoo. She was not nearly as tame as I thought she would be. On mostly Jane (Jiffypop)'s advice I tried to be as patient as I could and also put her here in the room this computer is in.

If you continue to have her off to herself in the basement I dont think she will ever tame down the way you want her to. Constant benign contact with humans is what it takes. If you cant do that then Im not sure its going to work. BUT it also wont work the way you are doing it now with a baby. The same thing will happen if a baby is sequestered off in the basement.

You are married? So am I. I don't see what that has to do with it. Does your spouse hate the lizard?? I wonder if you have a spare room in the main part of your house you could experiment with. Or perhaps a room you frequent more than your spouse? I cannot tell you the good effect freeroaming a high traffic area will have on the iguana.

Carole

Nubila are usually pretty tame by age 3. One thing to avoid is using force when you pick her up. Scoop her up, and when she goes to jump, put out your other hand.
Good luck

I once inheirited a 4 year old male cuban that was semi tame. I put him on loan to a guy who owned a pet store. When I got the lizard back, 4 months later, he was a puppy dog. Unknown to me prior to the loan, the cuban had been allowed to free roam in the store.

Younger Cubans can have any number of personalities from the so-called "dog tame" to "meaner than hell". All of them (in my experience - even with wild ones) can be tamed to some degree. I've found the best way is a large walk-in enclosure. Soon they will become territorial and even rush you. With time, you can approach them, then pet them, then pick them up. We brought back a wild adult from Cuba 10 years ago who was absolutely psycho, now hw is an 8.5 kg puppy dog who meets and greets many people and has graced the cover of Reptiles magazine ("Gitmo". Give it time and spend the time, it will work out if you can get the cage space.

Thanks for all your replies –This forum is one of the better ones in terms of friendly, knowledgeable help. I will definitely spend some more time with my girl. I am thinking a large walk-in enclosure will help, at least until I can get her from fleeing.
CycluraCornuta, JiffyPop, and Bennet – thanks for all the great ideas and info! Great to hear the voice of experience.
Mark – What smell? As a former Monkeytail Skink owner, Cyclura poop is like perfume!
Carole – What I meant to imply was that my wife hates all my herps (unfortunately) – it’s why I am in the basement; a compromise of sorts. But you gave me an idea...maybe I can move my PC down there....
Jeff – Great to have someone famous comment!
Thanks, I’ll keep you posted on our progress!
D

Got a kitty harness for my Rhino so I can take him out for walks. I have a 25' retractable leash. we have been spending time in the yard just hanging out. After getting used to the leash, he seems to be more sociable now as if he is trying to get me to take him back outside.
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

If your back yard is fenced in, you will probably be able to let him free roam when he gets a little bigger and tamer. I have found that adult rhinos are very slow at climbing chain link fence. As long as there is no way under it, they can usually be pulled off it before they climb over it.

These ones are 4-5 years old. Check out the fence, it is only 3ft. high. I would not do this with Nubila, but since rhinos are heavier bodied, they are slow climbers.

yes its fenced but between my k-9's and local wildlife i wouldn't feel safe
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

Put the K9 in the garage. Hawks are a concern where I live, what are your wild life threats ?

garage is full of Beardies! K-9's are 2 wolf hybrids and a rottie, a dobbie and a 50 lbs mutt. I have not seen them, but we have kites and hawks as well as opossums and coons.

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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

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