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I have a question for you guys...Forest was adopted last February & from that day on has been such a doll to have around with him not getting on the furniture, stays on his chair/basket when put out to bask, goes potty outside, etc. He's just been a dream. Until this past week!

I posted last week about having put him out to bask & then finding him missing.

For almost 10 months, I come home from taking my son to school & then put Forest out on his chair/basket & then go about opening his blinds, turning on his UVB light, making my bed etc. He will lay there for literally hours sometimes (other times 15 minutes), go potty & then crawl into the FL room & scratch the glass doors to be let in. I take him out in the afternoon & he does the same thing. We have never had any problems. He never wanders except from his chair to the class doors.

Last week we were outside a lot painting the outside of our house so we put Forest out to bask in the front yard with us. I don't do this typically as the back patio is much quieter & I can keep an eye on him through the glass doors. Being out front with us, we let him wander the flower beds, lawn, wherever he wanted.

Since the first day of putting him out back again, he has decided the WHOLE yard is his space & gets down & takes off! The first day he did it, I swear I heard him crawl in the house (I was painting my kitchen) but when I later went to check on him he wasn't on his bed OR his chair out back. I freaked but finally found him ON TOP of the neighbors 4 foot high chain link fence. Grrrrr.

The fact that his fat hiney has NEVER climbed before is another issue!

But now, every time I take him out & walk away for 30 seconds, he bolts. I've found him wandering the patio, in the flower beds, Mike has watched him wander the neighbor's front & side yards, I've found him under the citrus trees, I followed him around our entire house yesterday!

He also never really wandered the house. He used to come in from basking, walk through the house, go to his bed & pillow & pretty much stay put for the most part. NOW, I find him in our bedroom, in my son's bedroom, computer room, kitchen, living room, tried to get in the garage today & he even went from his bed OUTSIDE to his chair/basket all by himself yesterday.

What is up with him? 10 months of this well behaved lizard & overnight a wandering fool! No more doors left open for him, no more hours on his chair to bask...I can't trust him to stay put.

I realize some igs are wanderers but Forest is older (8 years) & big (5 feet long) & lazy (LOL) & hasn't done this in the 10 months we've had him. My question is, what has gotten into the boy OVERNIGHT?

As posted earlier, this is where I found him after his first little walkabout...

Any ideas??? Overnight?

ugh sunny has been a royal terror for a week or so too. I think it is due to breeding season....she has finally started to calm down... but she has been igzilla prior to today. Poor ben had to dig her out of our closet ::shudder::....she usually basks quietly unless she has to, um, 'go', then she moves into the bathroom and goes, then returns to her basking spot. I am glad there are other people having the same problems....

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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
1.0 columbian boa- Brooklyn
1.0 red blood python-Hiss
1.0 peach phase thayeri-Sancho
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 partial stripe ghost corn- Raven
1.0 Sunglow motley corn-Ernie
1.1 hognose- Pricilla and Odd
0.0.1 smooth green snake- Raziel
0.1 russian tortoise- Manja
1.0 juvie red phase crested- Ichi
0.2 leos- Boji and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.0 BTS- Griffon
0.1 Iggy- Sunny
0.0.1 gray tree frog toadlet
4.3 bettas
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
2.3 ratties Rizzo, Bree, Blitzkreig, kaos, and Takashi

I love Sunny! She's sooooooo cute!

Forest was a TERROR last month. Tried to bite Mike's toes several times, tried to run away from me in house all the time & he did this "flea flicking" thing when I'd walk up to him...like he was smacking me away when he heard me coming.

Before I'd even get close! Which really sissed me off. Seeing him flea flick me when I'm still 10 feet away! Grrrrrrr. But...

He's been great for the past 2-3 weeks. Back to sucking up the lovings, leaning into pets & pats, big dulop lovings, etc, so I don't think it's breeding issues. Just wanderlust! And I'm at a loss.

Did I say I love Sunny? LOL. She's so cute! What a ham!

Ha ha ha!

I know the story. When I got my iguana he was so sweet all the time, never moved from where he was supposed to be! Guess what, it was because he was ill! I think the reason we adopters are so attached to our iguanas is because we get them when they're not in the best condition, and therefore have to depend on us for care. They seem so sweet and docile- because they're too sick to bite and whip!

Not that their true nature is being hell beasties, but I firmly believe that I bonded a lot with Bud because he was so helpless and affectionate. And I formed a lot of my suppositions about his nature based on this period when he was too weak to be a hell beatie.

It sounds like Forest is also getting better and experiencing a very late puberty! Life will have to change for you, maybe a lot. He's still your Forest, but now he needs something different from you- more structure, more containment for his safety. Maybe a small area of the garden walled off for him, and a leash.

Maybe it's mean spirited of me, but whenever the leash/containment issue comes up and people start posting things like, "Oh, we've never had to do that! You shouldn't have to if you raise your iguana correctly! We're very lucky!" I always 1) get very jealous! and 2) think, something is wrong with that iguana. Something prevents him from displaying his natural, healthy tendencies.

I know it will be more work for you, and perhaps you feel like you have lost your angel iggie, but it really shows what a good owner you are that he is so much better as to do all the things that healthy adult iguanas should: climb, run, and be aggressive during mating season. And you haven't lost him after all... he will still be your cuddle lizard for half the year.

By the way, the increased affectionateness is also a sign of impending mating season, alternating with the aggression that you've seen. It differs from iguana to iguana, but Bud gets very "needy" right before turning to bite threats and the puffed up dewlap. Kind of like a cat.

I hope everything is okay with Forest. I would be much more worried if he had become MORE docile, although I don't know if that was possible!

-Erin

Forest is getting a great diet now & I wondered if that was it exactly, that he is feeling better & sowing his wild oats now.

He has never been on a lead before. I haven't had to do it & his other owners never did. That said, at his age, 8, will be learn to tolerate it? I'm scared he'd try an alligator roll to get loose & wrap himself up in it.

As you can see, a fence would do NO good....

Also, he has began (the last 2 days) to poop on the floor! Grrrrr. He's being a pain right now!

Testing the waters?

Lizards!

> He has never been on a lead before. I haven't had to do it & his other owners never did. That said, at his age, 8, will be learn to tolerate it? I'm scared he'd try an alligator roll to get loose & wrap himself up in it.

I don't know if he will love it, but my iguana generally doesn't notice it until he gets to the end of the lead and thinks something is tugging on him. I try to not let that happen by walking along with him and keeping the line slack. I don't leave Bud alone when he's on the leash, specifically because I don't want him to strangle himself.

The one time I turned my back on him for one minute he went from peacefully sunning on a table on my balcony to jumping over the railing and dangling by his leash which was around his hips... That was a scary time. I was so glad he had the leash on. I have no idea what he was jumping after!

The leash I use is one I made myself. I can explain how to make it if you want, just e-mail me. It's easy to do, but complicated to explain. My leash goes around Bud's hips, and he doesn't show any discomfort. There's a section in Hatfield about acclimating the iguana to the leash, and that's what I did. I put it on him when we were just around the house, and gave him treats. Then we would take short trips outside. Soon we were walking around the neighborhood with him on my shoulder or in the crook of my arm with the leash on.

I think he definately prefers it to the cat carrier as a mode of transportation when it's warm out! I just slip it over his head and hold it open, and he generally walks through it (out of annoyance I'm sure) until it gets to his hips and then I tighten the barrel clasp. After that he seems not to know it's on. Until he takes a flying leap or tries to run, that is!

>As you can see, a fence would do NO good....

Maybe it's time for a large outdoor enclosure? Or some kind of fence he can't climb... picket fence with no gaps? I'm in urban Philly, so I don't have to deal with a yard... I'm sorry it's going to be harder now. I had wished you were just one of the lucky ones.

> Also, he has began (the last 2 days) to poop on the floor! >Grrrrr. He's being a pain right now! Testing the waters?

Oh, TOTALLY. Here's a perfect example, this morning I was a little late to give Bud his bath, which is usually where he does his business. I'm just a few minutes late, and as I walk in to get him, he is squatting over his water bowl, which is quite small, going to the bathroom. Smart lizard! He knows what he's supposed to do.

So I give him a bath anyway, to give him some drinking water, and put him back. I come back a few hours later, and he has poopy-painted the floor of his cage. He seems to poop and pee whenever he "mates" with his sock lizard. I don't know why. Maybe it is a dominance thing.

I hope you can figure out a way to keep your harmonious schedule with Forest, even though he's becoming a big man now! Whatever solutions you come up with, tell the rest of us. I wish I could let Bud just go outside and enjoy himself for the day.

I come back a few hours later, and he has poopy-painted the floor of his cage.

OK, I am LMAOOOOOOO!

These stories are hysterical.

I'll figure it out with Forest or make a belt out of him. LOL.

Thanks all!

The best thing to do is to build an outside enclosure for him with a sunny side and a shadey side...
That way you won't have to worry about him getting out of the yard and he won't feel the need to look for a mate all day

If memory serves, you've been feeding this iguana better than his original owners; maybe he's just *feeling good*?

Or maybe he thinks it's mating season, and is feeling his oats?

I wouldn't worry too much; just keep an eye on him.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.0.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde)
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