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Post by captkiddabc on Jul 12, 2004 17:00:59 GMT -8
Hi everyone, i have not posted in along time but I am still here and do your messages so now I am having trouble with Louie. The sweet hansome little guy I adoped. He is bigger now and has been in season since April. At first he did not change any, he was just a sweethart as always. so now he has bit me once and trys to do it again every chance he gets. He goes after my husband also, so male or female does not matter. He is not real agressive but lets you know he is going to bite!! I did not belive this at first and my husband kept saying Louie tried to bite me, well I did not believe that and the next morning he bite me, I was shocked and it hurt also, i am sorry to say this but I smaked him!! It happened so fast and that was my reflex and he ran across the cage and looked at me like I had lost my mind!! The bite was not real bad but could see the teeth marks and I did bleed and the finger was sore for a few days. Nothing like BobMac's bites , Thank Goodness for that! I am afraid this will get worse! What do i do now? Maybe I should post more often so my mesage will not be so long Sorry
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Post by prism_wolf on Jul 12, 2004 18:05:26 GMT -8
I'm not so sure it's breeding season issues your ig is having. It is possible, but unlikely. Breeding season usually goes from fall, through winter and starts winding down about April. Your ig could be going through the "terrible twos". He is testing you to see what he can get away with. DO NOT let him win! You will need to hold him more than ever right now. If he knows this behavior will keep you from holding him he will continue to do it. He is training you... There are ways to keep you from getting bitten, but it involves finesse`. You can also wear protective gear such as long sleeves and light-weight leather gloves (that is if he is still under 2 1/2 years old). Bigger igs require thicker gloves. I was able to socialize a very wild 5 year old female with just the arm gaurds from www.iggear.com. It took time...almost 8 months. You should not have that much trouble to get him back to being more sociable, but don't be surprised if it does take 3-4 months. Going into breeding season may prolong that some...fall is only a couple of months away. Patience, perseverance, patience, routine, patience, dedication. Did I mention patience?
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Post by IguanaKing on Jul 12, 2004 18:13:49 GMT -8
Heh...I thought I had the market cornered on long messages Your's wasn't that long ;D Smacking your ig, as long as its only done with enough force to let him know its not just normal patting or touching, is actually a sign of your strength to him. On the rare occasions that I have to do this, I just use one or two fingers and (actually fairly gently) thump him on the nose. Its normal for them to look surprised, especially if they have gotten away with this behavior for some time. Its important that when your ig fights you that you fight back in some way, he is asserting his dominance and needs to be reminded that he is not the king. However, considering your current situation, you might not want to go anywhere near his head or mouth. Another method I used, just recently, when my normally sweet 8-year-old, 14-pound male ig Hercules had a psychotic episode, was to push him around a bit with a broom while yelling "RRRAAAHHH!" at him. He would fight with the broom for a little while, then admit his defeat and run off to pout somewhere. We're both back to being best buds again. These methods have both worked well for me because I have raised him from a hatchling and he only has one or two violent episodes every year, but at the same time he still trusts me. Basically, you just have to achieve a balance between respect and trust, if you don't fight back he won't respect you. Its taken me a few years, and a few nasty bites (including 3 emergency room visits), to finally learn to speak their "language", hopefully I can pass on some of what I've learned to prevent others from being injured like I have. ;D Oh...the other thing...when he threatens to bite, don't back down. Obviously, you want to stay away from his mouth, but don't let him think he can do this and make you go away. I've seen some especially late, strange, breeding season-like behavior in Hercules this year too. In fact, I just paid $250 worth of vet bills to get my female, Audrey's, injuries fixed from an attempted mating last week.
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Post by prism_wolf on Jul 12, 2004 18:29:25 GMT -8
I cannot condone using physical force on an animal. Using the forceful holding works well enough. They understand in the same sense that they have "lost". Especially with smaller igs this should hold true...for the large female I had it worked fine. I never had to use physical punishment. She came to trust me without fearing me.
My male has never needed to be "smacked" either, though he has always been a well socialized ig (except for this past breeding season). Hitting, thumping, smacking just is not the way to alter behaviors.
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Post by IguanaKing on Jul 12, 2004 18:57:37 GMT -8
Whoops. I neglected to explain the situation I was referring to, my fault. I have only used the "thumping" (and like I said, it is a very gentle thump) when an actual attack had already been made on my female and another was being attempted. I don't recommend using this method just because your ig is resisting being picked up and held, because Veronica is right, its not the way to alter that behavior. However, if the ig has already bitten you or is chasing you around your house, leaping/lunging at you , I can't recommend a forceful holding either.
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Post by prism_wolf on Jul 12, 2004 19:04:31 GMT -8
Ahhh...I understand more of what you are saying now. There are other ways to deal with larger igs in full attack mode (the broom is a good way BTW). But I don't think we are talking about a large ig here...
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Post by IguanaKing on Jul 12, 2004 19:32:37 GMT -8
Heh...yeah...I guess you're right about the ig's size, afterall there was no re-gloving of any fingers or reattachment of any lower lips involved here (I've had both during my learning process). Oops...sorry captkiddabc, don't mean to scare you, but I guess you've already heard about BobMacs injuries, so mine shouldn't scare you too badly. Thumping was just an emergency thing to save my other baby from getting hurt any further (didn't have time to get the broom that time). I've been taking Audrey to work with me the last couple of days to closely monitor her and make sure an infection doesn't develop in her wounds. I work outside most of the time and she just loves coming out and hangin' out in the sun with daddy. ;D
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Post by Kerrydaktyl on Jul 13, 2004 2:46:36 GMT -8
When my ig was having his breeding season tantrum I put me garden gloves on to handle him, he would bite it lots, but soon realised it didnt hurt me and stopped. He once bit me on the nose quite bad, but he got just the reaction he wanted, I left him well alone and backed down. If I had thought I would have told him off and put him in his place, but my face was bleeding quite alot and I was just in so much shock that my sweet little green baby could do such a thing lol!! So I think they do look for a reaction when doing this.
We also held him lots and only let him go when he gave up struggling. He looked annoyed but only coz he knew we had won!
Lol what must that have looked like Iguanking, I will remember the broom trick for next year, when Dons bigger and stronger!
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Post by Tesa on Jul 13, 2004 4:28:12 GMT -8
Keeping iguanas is just like raising kids in that there are SO many different opinions on how to "discipline". I do not believe there is any "right" way. Capt, It definately does sound territorial to me, but bear in mind it's kind of a good thing. At least you know that he feels "at home" now. That's a step in the right direction. I don't know what Louie's life before you was like, but considering the pics I saw of him, it must have been terrible. Any creature that has been mis-treated will learn to become defensive. Add that to an already "behaviorally challenged" animal and you are bound to have trouble. Of course, we can't predict what Louie will do, but I can tell you that it took just over a year for Thrasher to finally submit to me when she is in her enclosure. Myself and others have said before on here (and I think it bears repeating) that your body language plays a huge part in communicating with these guys. You have to approach him with no doubt in your mind that YOU are the boss, but also give him reason to trust that you aren't going to hurt him. Does the biggest problem occur when you are trying to get him out of his cage? (That seems to be common) If so, I have 2 suggestions that worked for me.... 1) I got a flyswatter and put it up by Thrashers face (like a horse blinder) so she couldn't see my other hand approaching.. 2) She often closes her eyes and relaxes when I'm misting her, so I started scooping her up while she was intent on the "rain". I'm sure others have suggestions ... Keep in touch and let us know what's going on. I know how frustrating it is when you are doing everything you know how to do, and the ig seems SO unappreciative. Chin up Toots I have faith that it will get better.
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Post by captkiddabc on Jul 14, 2004 2:23:46 GMT -8
Yes Louie had a very bad start in life. My smack was not a hit more like a blip and it shocked him as much as the bite shocked me! I know they do not understand,but atleast he knows it is not fun to bite me! Now when I put my hand up on the cage to get his empty food bowl he makes a small effort to reach for my hand. I still handle him but I am useing my gloves now. He still gets his daily baths. It was more like he had betraded me cause all I have done is be good to him and I know that is silly also but that is how it feels,he is a lizard! About the season thing. I do not care what time of year it is he is in SEASON and has been since April! He has not read the book yet. He flashes me all the time with both those nasty looking purple things! He leaves his trail of white sicky stuff all over and it is not powdery it white and very sticky thick glob. But I love him anyway and he is not going to get away with this behavior. Thanks for all your input and helpfull ideas.
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Post by prism_wolf on Jul 14, 2004 17:43:04 GMT -8
LMAO!! They should learn to read more. It would make our lives SO much easier...
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Post by captkiddabc on Jul 18, 2004 4:25:33 GMT -8
I have been doing some extra reading and saw a suggestion to help calm down your ig. It was to cut back on uvb and light. So I have cut back on Louie and it seems to be working he is not as bad as he was. He is acting more tolerent of us. I will keep trying this for awhile and see what happens. He goes to bed earlier also and has a good nites sleep!
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Post by IguanaKing on Jul 18, 2004 8:00:19 GMT -8
Yup, your iguana should get between 10-12 hours of sleep in complete darkness. When they don't get enough sleep, they definitely start to get a little twitchy, not much unlike people. ;D
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