Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I heard they are very nasty so I was wondering can you really tame a spiny-tail iguana ( C. Similis ) if you have it as a juvenile?
And if anyone out there has tamed a male spiny-tail can you tell me if they get like green iguanas? Meaning when the tame male spiny-tail gets to adult size will it be aggressive & unpredictable like tame adult male green iguanas? Thanks.

I have two spinys you can kiss on the lips, I got one in Sept of 03 and the other in Jan of 04. Try rocking them at night and hand feeding. They just move faster than green igs. They aren't mean. One rescuer that posts here calls me the spiny whisper.
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Spinys are just children with scales and long tails.

I also have a baby I got a couple of weeks ago and a male that loves to go bye bye. I have 4 total
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Spinys are just children with scales and long tails.

DO YOU KNOW IF MALES GET AGGRESSIVE WHEN THEY BECOME ADULTS LIKE GREEN IGUANAS?

not all male Green igs are aggressive, some are only aggressive during breeding season, some not even then.

you should not make blanket statements about anything.

I have never seen an adult male spiny but my male who just went thru his first breeding season was no different than usual
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Spinys are just children with scales and long tails.

Spinney tails are aggressive by nature. The smaller you get them and the amount of proper handeling you give them may determine how tame it can get. All animals, like people, have thier individual personality/temperament. You may end up with a spinney that will never tame down or with one that is totally tame.
Of course, captive breeding will probably produce better tempered individuals. For example: I remember in the early 80s when I beleive that Rhino Iguanas were just begining to be bred in captivity, I worked for wholesalers that mentioned that Rhino Iguanas were the meanest/nastiest Iguanas around. That is not true today because of captive breeding.

I say go ahead and get one, grow it up, give it a lot of attention, and see what happens. After all what do you have to lose... a finger or two..Just kidding LOL.

The one pictured is a Wild Caught individual.

Manny

I guess mean much like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My three bigger spinys are on the docile side
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Spinys are just children with scales and long tails.

I bought my similis as a neglected adult. She was viscious. But now she is dog tame. I just kept handling her even though she nipped me pretty god several times, and in about 6 months, she tamed down. Maybe human blood activates their taming hormones LOL. IMO, and from other's posts, the similis is tameable, but you might have to keep at it until it is adult or subadult.

One Cten species I think may not be tamable is the C. palearis. Mine is continuously watchful and keeps her distance, even though for a long while I haven't insulted her independance. When I used to pick her up, she never gave up struggling and snapping, so for years now I've kept her as a display animal, housed with the similis. They get along fine.

Roger

roger