Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been dealing with aggression problems for several months now. I have tried EVERYTHING. I am about ready to give up and try to find him another home. If I do so, I would want the primary caregiver to be male as he does not seem to attack at my husband quite as much as he does towards me. I can't possibly see how this aggression could still be breeding season related. I may wait another 2-3 months to see if things get better, but if not, I cannot do this anymore. He needs to be in a larger cage. I would only let him go to a responsible, EXPERIENCED iguana home. Anyone interested, please let me know in case I must resort to finding a new home. I want the best for him and right now I don't feel I am providing the best he can have. I don't know what else to do about his aggression. He is approximately 4 ft. and 5 lbs. He is approximately 3 years old. He has NEVER shown this type of aggression in the past. He was a very docile animal up until about 4 months ago.
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Iguana (Irwin)
4 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, & Tiki)
3 Red-Eared Sliders (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted (Milo)
2 male rats (Bud & Guiness)
Check out my website with most of my pets!

...for my Godzilla to calm down and stop trying to bite me.He got me twice and it hurted a lot.So before he bit one of my kids i decided to adopt him out.But in Godzilla's case the problem was not the breeding season but jealousy and male territoriality (?).
He started to become orange and wild when the 2 others male iguanas i brought home reachead sexual maturity and started to defy him.Are you sure your ig's wildness is not caused by another factor different from breeding season?Jealousy and territorial disputes can turn sweet male iguanas into carrot's monsters!

Gosh, I wish I could think of something that would cause his aggressiveness....nothing has happened that could cause jealousy or territorial behavior...everything has remained unchanged. The only thing that has happened to him is that I had that growth removed from his tongue about a month ago or so. His environment hasn't changed at all....I do not want to give up on him, but its just so frustrating. He was so calm and now he is a terror! I will wait longer...I just want him to be happy in addition to me feeling safe around him...right now I could NEVER trust him out of his cage. I hope he begins to pull out of this aweful behavior. He is such a beautiful lizard.
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Iguana (Irwin)
4 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, & Tiki)
3 Red-Eared Sliders (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted (Milo)
2 male rats (Bud & Guiness)
Check out my website with most of my pets!

Did he suffer? Has it been in a hospital?Perhaps thats the reason of his wildness.Perhaps he thinks you betrayed him (making him suffer).Dont get rid of him.If you do that he will feel he has been betrayed twice and can become depressed.In such cases an iguana can stop eating and die.

He had an abcess/tumor removed from the back of his tongue on (I think) Feb.17th. I posted about it earlier...look thru the past posts. I got him to a vet as soon as I noticed the abcess. I hope he didn't suffer. He had the surgery in one day and went home that same day. Removal only required one stitch as the abess's point of attachment was very small.

He was then on antibiotics and I cleaned his cuts (on his face)everyday with betadine and neosporin. His cuts were from ramming into the cage trying to attack me.

His aggressive behavior started before taking him to the vet and before I noticed the lump on his tongue. I will not get rid of him now. I want to be sure that I do everything within my power to not have to get rid of him. He was a great ig before all of this started.
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Iguana (Irwin)
4 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, & Tiki)
3 Red-Eared Sliders (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted (Milo)
2 male rats (Bud & Guiness)
Check out my website with most of my pets!

I feel very guilty because i adopted my Godzilla out.He was a great ig, the best ig someone can have.I think that if i hadnt bought more two male igs he would still be with us, sleeping in my daughter's bed and free roaming in the house.Now i dont have any sweet ig because the 2 i have now must be caged 24 hours a day because if i release them they will kill each other. I learned the lesson and now i believe when people say to never have more than one ig at home.Below you can see Godzilla's photo before he became a carrot monster.

are they tame when it comes to you? have you tried letting them out at different times? being caged up 24 7 cant be a very happy life. when mine are fighting i just take turns. ill leave the ones that get along out for a few hours and then let the one out that always trys to fight out for a few hours. i know it is hard to have more then one iguana i have 5 and my whole life revolves around them and my other animals.
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brandy

They were babies when they arrived home.A few months only.The petshop salesman told me they were a couple and i believed it.Nope both were males.On the beggining when they were kids and juvies everything was ok.When they grow up they started fighting like crazy.

Both love their cages.Its a very huge one (2x2x2meters)and they love to be and to stay there.My garden is full of birds, crows, squireels that make loud noises and both my iguanas prefer to stay indoors on the highest platform of their cages.

During the sunny summer days i want them to go out but its a fight to take them out from their cages.After i put them in the garden they will stay there for half an hour under the sun but as soon as i turn my back they run indoors and if the door was left open they will climb their cages walls and go back to ther prefered platforms.

A few moths ago i put TREX outdoors in a outdoors cage.Although it was a huge cage and a confortable one also he was so much afraid of the birds and squireels (perhaps he saw an eagle flying over his head) he lost 5 or 6 nails trying to escape from his cage and ALMOST died of uncontroled haemorrhage.Now i dont force them anymore to stay outdoors if they dont want to.They feel confortable, safe and secure in their cages.

Besides that when they enter the house they break everything.I think they feel nervous because of the presence of the other and their excitment make them be impossible to control. My Godzilla was not like that.He was my only ig (until i bought the 2 others) and this made him confident and calm.He used to live in my house, in my daughters bedroom and never broke anything.He liked to sleep under the curtains on the floor and each time i entered my daughters i could see him or his tail in my daughters bed or under her room's curtains.

I do miss him!

Flavia

im so sorry you had to give up your iguana. its hard to have to do that. i once had to give up my rabbit because i knew he would be more happy with this other person because he would have plenty of time to run around in her house where she had it all set up for rabbits. at my home he was stuck in a cage most of the time because of the dogs and cats. i miss him but know he has a better life. pet stores always lie about iguanas either that or they really think they know what they are talking about.
i use to work at a pet store but quit because i could not convince them to change their ways.
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brandy

Thats very sad too. I think it must be very difficult for animal lovers to work with people that dont like animals and only want to make a profit selling them!

Flavia

Hi Heather,
Just a note of hope...it can get better...*smiles*.
Joey went through his first real aggressive breeding season this year at the age of 5. Before this he was a relatively tame iguana that I could allow out of his cage to watch TV with me etc.
He started hurting himself on his cage by hitting his nose, so we gave him his own bedroom so he could have more space. Then he started scratching and head butting on the door of the room. If I tried to hold him or even approach him he would gape and try to bite me. It got to the point where only my boyfriend could feed, clean etc. This went on for approximately 4 months where he would attack everyone and everything...including his previous best pal...the cat. We were all intimidated.
Finally, when he stopped being so outwardly aggressive I found that I had to reacquaint myself with him. He was no longer used to me since I hadn't been interacting with him. If I tried to hold him he would race quickly away (they can be fast if they want to).
Now he is shedding and growing and is much friendlier with me...he's getting back to his old self.
Yesterday I noticed he was a little orange looking...ack!...I sure hope he isn't starting a new breeding season already...*laughs*...cross your fingers for me.
Kayla & Joey

Sounds similar to what Irwin is doing...except I would have lost a few fingers, toes, arms, legs, etc...if he were loose in a room and I tried to come in. He is truly scary right now. I love him and hate to see him like this...I hate being scared of my own animal...

By scared, I mean that I do not try to handle him at all unless it is to put some medicine on his cuts or to check up on his cuts. And when I do that I have to wear welding gloves. So I am not afraid to grab him if I absolutely have to...but as for trusting him outside of the cage..........I could NOT do that now. I really hope he settles down...its so frustrating to see an animal like that. All I want is to give him the best, but it is hard with him like that.
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Iguana (Irwin)
4 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, & Tiki)
3 Red-Eared Sliders (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted (Milo)
2 male rats (Bud & Guiness)
Check out my website with most of my pets!

Did something tramatic happen 4 months ago, besides the health issues?? The vet might be able to prescribe something to calm him down a little.
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~*Chibi*~
Sir Iggy ( 1.0.0 El Salvador Blue Iguana), Ryo-ohki, Orion, Bud, & Finnegan (3.1.0 crazy kitties), Rosebud (0.1.0 cockerspaniel), Trixie and Kayko (0.1.1 leopard gecko)

Nothing traumatic has happened besides him getting that growth removed from his tongue about a month ago. He started acting aggressively before that though. I thought once it was removed that he would settle down...he has a little bit but not much. The vet said to wait it out...but its hard not to wonder..."for how long??" I love him dearly, and I do not take pet care and respopnsibility lightly so I will hang in there...but as I said before I want the best for him and maybe that might mean going to a male caretaker....I just don't know right now....I hope things work out.
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~Heather~
3 German Shepherd Dogs (Tasha, Austin, & Kaiya)
1 Iguana (Irwin)
4 Firebelly Toads (Kirby, Gus, Pico, & Tiki)
3 Red-Eared Sliders (Otis, Jasper, & Jade)
1 Southern Painted (Milo)
2 male rats (Bud & Guiness)
Check out my website with most of my pets!