Extremely Dominating female

[Cheryl Ann]

I rescued a female Iguana (Danielle) just over 2 years ago. The vet put her at about 5 years old. She was in rough shape....her tail was so skinny, she had broken toes and ribs, she had lost part of her tail, she was gray and was super fat. She weighed 3lbs. She was pretty tough to deal with, even bit me a few times. But I spent a lot of time with her, and gave her the right light and food, and she relaxed A LOT. A few months after having her I got a baby rhino, and they got along GREAT. They shared a cage and slept together, and followed each other around the house. About a year ago, Danielle got egg-bound (due to a move), and I paid the $1,200 to get the eggs removed, and to have her ovaries taken out (the vet said he had to do this). The money was never the issue, but I knew there was a 50% chance she wouldn't make it. Thankfully she did, and her recovery went very well. In the last few weeks, she has been so bad. She charged the rhino Iguana and bit him (thankfully I was right there and she barley broke skin), so I had to seperate them...and she has been terribly dominante. I have an "Iguana room" which is set to the right temp/humidity with the correct amouth of UVB lights, and every time I go in to visit, she goes into 4 wheel drive mode, puffs out her dulap, head bobs, and charges me. I have tried to show her I am the dominant 'iguana' but taking charge, and holding her firmly, but gently. I try to sooth her by just gripping her and telling her "its okay, im here" etc....and she eventually calms down. I will put her back in the room, and come back a few minutes later, and shes back to hating me. Yesterday I went to open her cage and she charged right at me and sunk her teeth into my leg. I dont know why the sudden change in her behavior, and I don't know what else to do. I am trying my best to show her that I am in charge, but for some reason she is challenging me. I am at a breaking point where I don't want to have a violent lizard around, especially if anything bad happens to my rhino Iguana, he is so sweet, he never head bobs or goes crazy. He just likes to relax in the sun, and borrow in blankets. I don't want to get rid of her either, I love her, and I am afraid the person I give her to may not take care of her properly, or get frustrated with her and pass her along to another person. The last thing she needs is another move, especially as traumatic as another caretaker....but I don't know what else to do. Any advice would be a huge help.

[Jen]

First mistake you made was housing a Green Iguana with a Rhino, I don't know much at all about Rhinos but if I remember correctly they have different care requirements. 2nd you should never house multiple Iguanas together, Igs are extremely territorial animals. They may seem to get along fine for a while but eventually in most cases they start fighting resulting in one or both becoming seriously injured. Iguanas are wild animals, they will always remain wild no matter how long you have them. They can become aggressive for no obvious reason. Maybe she isn't feeling well, maybe you were wearing something that scared her. Have you changed anything in your home recently? Could you please tell us about your enclosure set up and diet?

[Cheryl Ann]

I realized housing them together was a mistake, and they now have 2 seperate cages where they cannot see each other. The care for a rhino is the same for a green iguana (I spoke with my vet and the person I bought him from who has been breeding rhinos for 30 years), and they both agreed that care for both iguanas is the same.....the only thing that has changed in my place for them, is adding the cage for the rhino, which I had done 8 months ago, so I dont think that would cause her to freak out now. It is possible she isn't feeling well, the thought did cross my mind, but she is eating, drinking, and pooping fine. Getting her blood checked and having some xrays done wouldn't hurt, I will do that next. Thank you for the suggestion. As far as her cage is set up....It is about 6 feet long, 5 feet high, and 3 feet wide. The entire front I made into 2 doors with small chicken wire, so she has a big opening there. There are logs for her to climb on. I have a flood UVB on the outside of the cage. I sawed out a circle from the wood, covered the hole with the same chicken wire, and put the lamp on lop. The highest point on one log to the light is probably about a foot underneath the lamp. I had a hiding spot for her, but it got damaged recently and I had to throw it away, so I need to make her another one. The room is set up with the Rhino's cage on top of Danielles (where they cant see each other). I have a blue recliner in the room that Danielle has deemed hers. I put a heating pad on the top of the recliner where she sleeps. When I take the rhino out of the room, Danille climbs on top of her cage and looks out the window for hours (right next to the window is the rhino's cage, which I move for Danielle, and she is again, about 2 feet below another UVB light). I keep the room between 75-80, and have a humidifier always running. I know I am do everything right as far as habitat, temp, water, and food.The only mistake I can see is keeping the two together. I think my next step is to get Danielle into the vet and get her checked out. Thank you again for the suggestions. Hopefully nothing is wrong with her health wise, and this is maybe just an angry phase she is going through....Thanks so much.

[Merlin]

I am afraid that this may not be "Just a phase". It sounds to me like your green just got to the point where she decided that the interloper had to go! This is common behavior even among two greens. They seem to be fine and then all hell breaks loose!
Even having them out of sight of each other will sometimes not work as they can still smell each other. And one can smell the other on YOU making you the target of the aggression. Your only hope of keeping both of them is to have them in seperate parts of the house and even that may not work.

[Cheryl Ann]

UPDATE: I recently brought Danielle (my green) to the vet for a general check-up, and I had noticed some swelling in the tips of a few digits....The Vet didn't seem too concerned, and sent me home with 10 viles of intermuscularly shots to give her. Since I have been giving them to her (every 72 hours), she has definatly become calmer. He also said her attitude may be because of the weather. He said they are not particularly weather-changing beings, but they can be. Spring is in the air!! In the last few weeks my Rhino has become sexually mature, and I am assuming Danielle can sense this, and that probably had an effect on her too, especially since she now has no reproductive organs. I can only presume it is the combination of being in pain, the rhino's sexual maturity, and the changing weather that put her in such a foul mood. In the last 4 or 5 days she has retained her normal "better than thou" attitude, and hasn't tried to kill me. Let's hope she stays in a "better mood." Thanks everyone for the adivce!!