Taming question

[Dudley]

Ok, as some of you know, I am feeling that I'm stressing Dudley out too much, which is what I feel is the reason he's trying to drop his tail.

My question is, when I'm in the taming process should I be passive and less dominant around him? I've read that being the dominant one from the beginning is best, but to me that seems to show the ig that you are being aggressive towards him. Which in my case is a 220 lb 6'0" male coming after an 8 0z little lizard. What would you do if you were him??? I know what I would do. When I open the door he doesn't seem to mind anymore, and he doesn't seem to mind me misting the cage down or doing maintenance as much as he used to, but if he sees my hand coming anywhere near him, he's out like a bullet. I have been chasing him around the cage to catch him, but was thinking through what I've been doing to him, and I was wondering if it wouldn't just be best to show him that I respect that he's scared of me and just leave him alone after he displays his fear. By showing persistance throughout the day he should figure out that I just want to hold him and not eat him right???

Confused and exasperated,
Clint

[Tesa]

You've got the right idea Clint.
"Domination" can be defined in many different ways. I think the dominance issue comes into play more when we are handling older igs that haven't been "tamed" yet.
Try going to him sometimes when there's no real "maintenance" needed and just sit talking softly to him. Bring a collard leaf or something as treat/friendship offering. I wouldn't chase him around at all while his tail is still injured.
Sometimes it helps to handle them at night (or first thing in the morning) when they are sleeeeeeepy.

[Merlin]

I agree with Tesa. Try coaxing him to come to you using a favorite food. Also when you approach him try coming in from the side and underneath him. They seem to view this as less of a threat than the "swoop down from above like a hawk" method. You can also try just sitting and talking to him with your hand in the cage but not close enough to ellicit a flight response. little by little you can move your hand closer to the ig. If you watch you can see when it starts to become alarmed and back off a bit. each time you should be able to get a bit closer. As Tessa stated, with the tail situation i would cause him to bounce around too much.

[SurvivorSteph]

I totally agree with Tesa. Definitely try holding him after he's been asleep for a little while. He'll be too sleepy to fight; they you can just stroke him and talk softly to him for a while.

That's what made a big difference with Gil.

[dominick]

Hi Clint-

I'm a little concerned that you equate dominance with aggression here.

It's never advised to be "aggressive" with an Iguana. You are supposed to instill "dominance" as the alpha male. But, a gentle dominance works best, not an aggressive one.

As Tesa and Merlin suggest, there is some "winning over" that needs to be done.

As Tesa suggests, every encounter does not have to be the same. It's a very good idea to sometimes just talk, sometimes just lay your hand in there and make no attempt to capture him.

The "dominance" comes into play when the Iguana begins to show aggressive behavior toward you. Posturing is not necissarily aggressive enough behavior to dominate. Let the Ig feel secure in the fact that it can still act like an Ig by posturing. If however, it escalates to biting for instance, then the dominance correction techniques need to kick in.

It's a fine line between gaining trust and keeping control over the Iguana. You need to simultaneously gain his trust yet make him understand that in all situations you control the outcome, not him. The reason being, when the Iguana gets older and the challenges to you more intense (and they will, Igs never give up easily), you need to assert yourself and remind the Iguana that you are in control.

It's indeed delicate doing the taming dance with a young Iguana. I think you are correct in your assumption that the stress may be causing the attempted tail-drop, but don't just reverse everything entirely. Modify is the keyword in this situation. Modify your technique to achieve your goal and help the Ig to trust you.

Just my HO. Good Luck!

[DaZed85]

I find putting Jolee in a towl calms him down when handling him.... i rap him up and he loves it! I just rub his head and he will close his eyes and chill out.... it has helped tame him a whole bunch.