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Post by joseph2 on Apr 15, 2004 4:03:11 GMT -8
Ole Zilla is perfectly healthy and normal except for one thing...I've never seen him head bob. I would love to get into a head-bobbing competition with him, but he won't do it. Is this normal for an iguana not to say 'hello' or 'what are you looking at' in that cool way they do? Just wondering.
Joe
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Post by mar on Apr 15, 2004 8:07:24 GMT -8
I have had Bob for nine years and within the last month has been the first he has tried to head bob at me. When he started I put a quick end to it to reassert that I am the dominant one of the room. With males this is mainly a territorial show if he starts bobbing at you it means that is his area and he will probably defend it against you.
I have been using one finger to push is nose down or two fingers on the back of his neck to push his whole head down when he tries that -- talk to him too tell him 'No head bobbing' or something like that. A male that does not think he is dominant is a lot easier to deal with and safer to be around.
Mark
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Post by dominick on Apr 17, 2004 11:35:07 GMT -8
Hi Joe-
Have you tried a mirror in front of him? Rex will attack anything that looks like an Iguana to him, even if it is his own reflection! LOL
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Post by joseph2 on Apr 23, 2004 6:24:26 GMT -8
Hey Dom. Yeah, I've tried the mirror thing, but to no avail. When I take Zilla to his daily poop bath, I usually put him in front of the mirror to see if I can get a reaction out of him. And as always, nothing. He just stares dumbly at his reflection, almost as if he knows that it's himself he's looking at. I'll even bob my head at him trying to provoke him to do the same. And the look I get back is,"What the heck are you doing fool?" Maybe someday.
Joe
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Post by dominick on Apr 23, 2004 12:48:42 GMT -8
LMAO Joe-
They are so good at making us look like fools!
I've read that the sequence: head-bob, pause, head-bob, head-bob is Iggy talk for "Hello". Rex and I perform this little ritual daily.
Rex is far from an aggressive male, he's very calm and well socialized to humans (more to do with his nature than my attempt to dominate him). He head bob's regularly. I could just stare at him and he bobs. I bob at him, he bob's back! LOL I'm not sure it's entirely tied to aggressive behavior. If that were the case, prolonged staring or head-bobbing or even an aggressive approach on my part would invoke a more aggressive reaction from him.
In his case I think it is purely a form of communication with me, or whoever is around him.
Just my HO.
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Post by Tesa on Apr 23, 2004 13:01:35 GMT -8
MK lists several diferent types and reasons for head bobbing in "Iguanas for Dummies".
It can mean lots of different things from "howdy" to "get the heck out of my space".
It's certainly nothing to worry about if they DON'T do it, and not necessarily a cause for concern if they do.
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Post by SurvivorSteph on Apr 25, 2004 17:13:14 GMT -8
Maybe he thinks he's human.
Seriously... so when he sees that Ig in the mirror, it's meaningless to him. Someday he'll just pop out and say, "Hey Joe! How's it going?"
;D
Since he's never done it, I really wouldn't worry about it. If it was a behavior change, then I'd worry.
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Post by mar on Apr 28, 2004 10:25:54 GMT -8
When he starts it will probably mean the start of a very aggressive season.
Bob never bobbed his head until a few weeks ago when I posted asking for tips on how to handle him. He is now, more or less, back to normal luckely but he still gets agressive as soon as I step back in the house after walking outside with him.
I agree that he may think he is human expecially if he has had little to no contact with other igs. Even at the acme of Bob's attitude problem he had no reaction to "the ig in the mirror" or pics of igs, he only reacted to me.
Mark
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Post by ig_daddy on Apr 30, 2004 13:56:15 GMT -8
Iggi has never head-bobbed us, just the neighbor's yards. All of them! LOL! She is "claiming" all the yards she can see, and "head-bob", as her domain.
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