Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Flavia,

I have a few questions on igs that I would like to ask you.

My current hatchling who is about 9 months old still doesn't seem to trust me. He's still skittish and squirm around and whips his tail at me when I hold him.

This is my second ig, my first ig who unfortunately died early this year tamed down in less than a month, no more open mouth threat, no more whipping his tail and no more presenting body sideways.

I handle my ig everyday, this one, he even sleeps next to me on the bed. He turns into an adorable baby when he sleeps but the next morning he turns into a satan...!

Since you have so many igs at home, did you have any problems taming any of them? What was the longest time you ever took to tame down an ig? Do you have any tips you can share with me? I have Melissa Kaplan's book and I've tried all the tips but didn't work.

I'm getting frustrated with my ig, I feel like he's never ever gonna be comfortable with me. Please help, thanks.

Linda

Hi Linda.

Well there are MANY factors that can make an ig wild.Sooo many that it is difficult to determine why your ig is like that.
You said your first ig tamed very fast but you also said he died.I wonder whether those 2 facts are related.I had an iglet that tamed very easily too, he became silly tame, so tame i could take him to MacDonalds.He stayed on the table without moving waiting for me to finish my burger!
This ig died when he was 13 months.He died without any apparent reason! One day he woke up, ate a lot as usual and i put him on his basking place.The day before i had bought a bearded dragon.And i put the bearded dragon in his cage.When he saw the bearded dragon inside HIS cage my iglet started to become brown( sign of distress), then yellow and died!
Talking with iguana experts they told me that any iguana dies of jealousy, that my iguana should have a heart problem or something like that what explains why he was so quiet and docile.
Well, taming iguanas takes time.Sometimes years depending on the iguana.To build confidence is not easy.What i can tell you is that you have to make your ig trust you.Never scare him, never treat him badly, put him in a good cage with good food and adequate temperature.Make him trust you because you treat him well.Iguanas have VERY good memories and if you dont treat him well he will remember that.
After i lost that iguana i dont give soo much importance in having a tame iguana.Id rather have a healthy one.If you treat your iguana right he will be tame one day.Some become tame at 2 years old.Others at 3.But dont worry, he will become tame , very tame soon.Give him time.
I read Melissa Kaplan book, i dont agree when she said you have to show to your male iguana that you are the Alpha Male.In my opinion if you do that your iguana will try to fight you because he wants to be the Alpha male.I think you have to show to your iguana that you are his friend, not a competitor.

Thanks for your reply.

My first ig's story was rather a sad one. When I bought him, I sent him for checkup. He had no Salmonella, no mites, and was in good shape. He ate a good diet, I bathed him every morning in warm water, and he was toilet-trained in a short time. He was pooping just fine everyday and as you may have known, because I'm in Malaysia, this ig received his natural sunlight every morning.

I kept him at the correct temperatures, and besides bathing him, I misted/sprayed him daily so that he's well hydrated.

However, when it reached the second month he's with me, he suddenly lost his appetite and became skinny. I went to a couple of different vets and Dr. Vellayan was the last one, all all told me it's a case of dehydration.

As per Dr. Vellayan's advice, I gave him water orally, little by little throughout the day, every single day. However, his condition didn't improve, and he lost his battle on the third month.

I cried a bucket of tears, I didn't know where did I go wrong. I have emailed Sandy Kiraly, the owner of Igniche website for her advice and according to her, it was likely a case of genetic defects (That's what Dr. Vellayan told me also the night I went to his house to send the ig for postmortem). Apparently, for any animal who produce a large amount of offsprings tend to have some babies born with genetic defects. If they're not killed as prey, they'd live long enough for the disease to kill them.

The postmortem revealed that he had died of impaction, even though impaction is the result of having not enough water. This ig was bathed and given water orally everyday.

This first ig who died never came into contact with another ig, I only bought the second one after the first had died.

What do you think may be the culprit?

Linda

Tell me something, what did you use as substrate?Wood shavings can cause impactation, and the death of an iguana mainly a small one.Impactation is not lack of water but the blockage of the intestine.The poop can not go out and the body become infected with the poop bacteria.Small stones, wood shavings, marbles, buttons lots of things can cause impactation so i dont like to let my igs free roam without close supervision.

Flavia,

Of course I used newspaper as the substrate in the enclosure. I wasn't an expert, but I knew what's good and bad.

Even now, I'm still using it for the substrate in the enclosures of my current 2 igs, and in my Ball Python's vivarium.