Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Eve,

Just curious ... Chewalla and Grebster are both males (GORGEOUS guys, by the way), right ? I just looked at a pic from awhile back in which they were sitting side by side near a desert ig (I think). How did you teach the boys to tolerate each other so nicely? My guys want to rip each other's heads off and have to be separated all the time. Do your fellahs get along only because Grebster is still a juvie? Gotta know about this ... sure wish my chucks could all live together and play nice, but that ain't the case, so far. Chew and Greb surely are beautiful boys!

I was told by Aug or Sept. of last year, they would begin to fight like heck ! Has not happened YET !

Grebster will be 2 years old in July and Chewalla is 3 this year.
So they are not young !

Everyone here has agreed I have 2 males for sure !

**I don't know why other than I have told all my lizards to be nice to one another, if they want to come out and play

Really they run everyday in the reptile room and stay with each other, and lay on top of each other while sleeping !

I'm sure HOPIN it will continue, and they can remain buddies !

~ Chewalla and Grebster ~

Hello!

I was reading your post about Chewalla and Grebster,
and it got me thinking about an article I once read about Anacondas. Two people were in the process of selecting
the tamest, least likely to bite their owners, or
each other snakes they could find. When they thought they had a good pair, they bred them and resulted in
mostly tame children snakes. Perhaps this is a similar case?
Your fellas are just calm by nature, and perhaps don't think about threats from one another and such. Perhaps a real experiment would be in finding another male, and looking at their reaction. I don't know, I'm rambling, so sorry.
But, there is a thought. Thanks.

Herpetologically,
Phil Clevinger

I have handled Chewalla since hes been 8 weeks old.
And he is very tame (pesty almost, but funny) have to watch where I walk he follows my feet, makes me laugh !

And Grebster I got last year from Tom Greb, buddy that just posted, and Grebster is very tame also. So maybe it changes something, that would occur normally if they were not handled.

Who knows, just tossing it around with ya, hehehhe !

In any case CHUCKS ARE COOL !!!

Eve

Hey eve,

Thats a good point. I wonder why I didn't
think of that..... Oh well. I don't handle my guys,
so I have seen my share of aggression, (at least in the DI's)
and taming them when they're young is probably the trick to it.
It would be kinda cool to find out. Well, until next time.

yours,
Phil Clevinger

Don't know if I should horn in or not, but taming chucks doesn't seem to have much to do with aggression display, from my experience. My fiercest, craziest guy is also a very tame, friendly-to-me, long-term captive-raised male. Just a stray comment ...

the topic out ! I suppose some males just get along. I will watch as time goes on to see if they remain friendly to one another !

Eve

Hey there.

I didn't think of That either.
heh. I have heard of iguanas who are generally
tame individuals turn into Godzilla vs Rodan in
a flash. Good point. I guess Eve said it best though.
Maybe some males just get along. Heh. This was fun.
I'll talk to ya'll soon.

yours,
Phil

aggression. Caused by mood, seasonal,(breeding) or territorial.

I had my 2 uromastyx female egyptian, and male saharan living together for 2 1/2 years inseperatable.
Next season after sleeping, they woke very frisky with one another.

Nipping at each others necks and legs, but I figured due to size, she was huge, there would be no mating.

Next time I walked into the room, the egptian had the small male in her mouth tossing him in the air like a paper toy !

Scared the heck out of me. I grabbed him out and that was the end of their stay together. She makes a mad dash at him anytime she sees him and he is petrified of her.

Point being, breeding season started the aggressive behavior.

So ya always have to keep a close eye on them ALL !!!

Eve

Grebster's brother) used to try to kill one another through the glass. They where in cages set about 2-3 feet apart and they would try to get at one another charginging into the glass. Grebster was by far the more aggressive of the two but his bro would not back down. They used to be housed together until about 9 months old or so they became so aggressive toward one another I had to seperate them. I had bought 4 wild caught males years ago. 2 sub adults and 2 adults. The adults never acclimated and starve themselves to death but the juvies grew up and lived togther for several years with no aggression toward one another until I sold one of them. I tried to introduce other males in the enclosure with the remaining male and he would have none of that. He tried to kill any male I put in with him.

They are both often out running with the desert iggy and the collareds too !

NO problems, so far ! I'm so glad it makes it much nicer.

Yesterday it was bath day, I had the bearded dragon, both uromastyx, and the chucks in the tub, BUT never got a pic, hahahhaha , next time!

Eve

Wow! You're very lucky and I hope it continues! Unbelievable!

I have Clyde (12), Sim (4), and Thomas (age unknown but very big and mature). Clyde will bite ANYONE he can (except me; he's very nice to me). He's in a cage with a female, with whom he constantly tries to mate but she gives as good as she gets. His neck is as irritated as hers! Feisty lady! Sim lives free in the lizard room. Thomas lives in a cage where I work but comes home on weekends. Sim is relegated to a large mesh cage when Thomas is home 'cuz Thomas gets to run free at home since he's caged up all week.

I'm tempted to tape the proceedings when all 3 guys are around. There are constant push-ups and craziness as they try to impress and intimidate each other! I can't leave them in each other's uncaged company even for a second or I'd have shredded chuckies!

Your situation is very unusual ... please keep a close eye on the fellahs so nothing bad develops. When I first brought Thomas home several months ago, he was nothing but skin and bones. Very fragile. At that point, I could leave him and Sim together safely. Sim is captive raised and seems to be more civilized than some guy chucks. I don't know Thomas's background, but he's fat and healthy now and has morphed into the usual egocentric, territorial, aggressive male chuck. He's the problem boy, not Sim. Clyde is also captive raised but is the craziest guy in the bunch. When Clyde goes after one of the gal chuckies, she's literally thrown across the room when he first catches up with her, he plows into her so hard. He's nuts!

Anyhow, love all your cool pics. I have some too (got a digital camera for Christmas) but don't know how to post them on the forum yet. Gotta learn how.