Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What your saying isn't making sense. Your agreeing with me and disagreeing in the same paragraph.
I have had four male rhinos. Two from one breeder and two from another (names withheld). Both have been fed the same low protein diet (which is what should be fed in the first place. Baby cornuta do not need insects, pinkys, or meat of any kind. Mine have never ever been fed any kind of animal product since they were almost fresh out of the egg, and they all grew to be big hefty lizards that have produced healthy offspring), which is zoo med adult dry food. Both of the cornuta that came from one breeder are as sweet and nice as any lizard can be, but the other two, one that I eventually sold, and the other still in the possession, of someone I know, have been extremely aggressive towards thier keepers. A lizard doesn't adjust its personality just because it is in a loving home like a dog would, they are reptiles, not mammals, and are completely wired differently. A lizard becoming unafraid of its keeper (called being tame), is not the same as teaching your dog to not be aggressive. Plain and simple, it's genetics.

Sorry for the sarcasim. Genetics is without question, a factor in behavior, it is the magnatude of importance we are debating.

What your saying seems double standard. First dogs are used to support hereditary behavior, then dogs are discredited when I use an environmental example. If environment does not apply because dogs and iguanas are "wired differently", then could'nt one argue the same to discount hereditary behavior ? Obviously the brain of a dog is bigger than an iguana so the level of the relationship is going to be different, but to say, " A lizard doesn't adjust its pesonality just because it is in a loving home......" is nonsense. A "loving home" is an improved environment, which leads to changes in the way a lizard behaves(ie it's personality).

Iguanas react to instincts, not kind words or scatches on the back.
Your trying to humanize a lizard that only cares about eating, sleeping, breeding, and avoiding being eaten or killed. If your iguana is tame, that is only because it considers you a food source and not a threat. I hate to break the news to you, but you iguana doesn't like you. It also doesn't hate you (unless it percieves you as another iguana in its territory). It just considers you another non threatening creature within or outside its habitat. Although it is silly and useless, I sometimes talk to my iguanas. I don't do for them, I do it for me.

No disrespect intended here, Mark, but I have to disagree with you. Some iguanas, and I repeat SOME, can enjoy and seek out human companionship, whether you have food or not. My cornuta have all been raised as pets, part of the daily household. They are well fed, never hungry, and always treated with kindness and respect. Two young adults, and now a third one that is just over 2 years old, will purposely seek me out for attention. I don't believe this is a ploy for food because I don't feed them when they come to me. The older female just wants to be picked up and held for a while and sometimes can be a pest in her persistence. The other two relax to be held, petted and scratched for several minutes and then are happy to be on their way. All three of these animals come from different breeders. None of them have ever shown any aggression towards humans since getting over the baby "nervousness". I sincerely believe that environment plays a big part in the temperament of a cornuta.

Yes, I do kiss all 3 of these animals on the nose and the flat space between the horns and the cranial lobes seems to be made for kissing on! LOL I also talk to them alot and I don't believe it's just for my benefit. Call me crazy but I think that I have some pretty well adjusted, healthy, "dog tame" Rhinos.

On another note, I have had a couple of Green Iguanas here that were extremely aggressive toward me and that I could not tame. These two lizards tolerated other people and one was well behaved with male humans while it hated females. I also have a male here that was extremely aggressive with it's female owner to the point where it put her in danger to just do daily care. We took possession of this animal and he's been a charmer since he's been here. No aggressive tendencies at all!! I strongly believe that sometimes the "chemistry" between an animal and it's owner/caretaker just isn't right.

thats exactly the thing. bella was as tame as can be and used to seek out my attention. he would follow me around the room and when i sat down on the floor would crawl up my chest to my shoulders and just sit there for 15 minutes at a time while i pet him then crawl down and go on his merry way. now all he wants to do is eat me

Okay, I'll stop beating a dead horse. It was an interesting topic.

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that you believe an iguana cannot learn to like it's owner, yet did have one that disliked you. Is there not an opposite to dislike ?

Did you mean to say you have had four MALE rhinos ? Previous references were to 2 pairs(male/female) of rhinos, from separate breeders.

Zoo Med products have been found to have inconsistent protein levels in two independent studies -- Levels as high as 27% and as low as 12% protein. Do you consider 27% protien to be low ?

In a previous post, you said that the sold male rhino,"gets along fine with his new owner" Which is it ? "extremely aggressive towards their keepers" or "gets along fine with the new owner ?"

***Mabey I need to clarify to the Henry Lizard Lover Group (I appologize, that was mean of me, but kind of funny):
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Did you mean to say you have had four MALE rhinos ? Previous references were to 2 pairs(male/female) of rhinos, from separate breeders.

***In all the time I have kept cyclura cornuta, I have had six pairs. I currenty have two. One of my six pairs came from one breeder, another pair came from another breeder, the third pair came from yet another. My agressive male was not related to the female that he came with although propagated by the same person. The pairings of the other pairs were also unrelated. My aggresive male had a sibling male that went to someone I know. That sibling grew up to be aggressive towards his owner just like mine. Both these human agressive males were feed dry iguana food.
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Zoo Med products have been found to have inconsistent protein levels in two independent studies -- Levels as high as 27% and as low as 12% protein. Do you consider 27% protien to be low ?

***Yes, I do consider 27% low. That is to say, one mouth full may be 27%, and the next 12%, making an average of 19.5%. But, I think when people are refering to high protein diets, I would think that they would mean supplementing thier vegetarian diet with alot of animal matter.
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In a previous post, you said that the sold male rhino,"gets along fine with his new owner" Which is it ? "extremely aggressive towards their keepers" or "gets along fine with the new owner ?"

***That is a good question. I would still consider it aggressive, because what ever I did to set it off (It may have been my smell, but I do shower every day) could be repeated by the new owner and restart the cycle. I would be curious to see if his brother would behave the same under new ownership.
Lets put it this way, if you knew a rhino had an extremely aggresive history, but was fine with you now, would you kiss it on the nose?

"Funny" as it may seem, I am not a henry lizard lover advocate.