Neo's Blog

I thought it was about time for a new post!

Neo is doing well. She came out for a wander around today, and enjoyed jumping around the furniture in my room and running down the landing! She came and said a brief 'hello!' to Darwin, who responded by giving her a series of jerky head movements This probably meant he was feeling a bit nervous of her being there, and also a slight warning perhaps that over 'here' is his territory, so don't even try to come near! Neo calmly walked off without responding to his concerns, and went to admire herself in the mirror instead

I should also add on that note, that two days ago Darwin did his first head bob! Ok, it was aggression, and directed towards me, but it was still cool to see that he is starting to reach adulthood

Darwin's training is still ongoing - he has good days and bad days. I am beginning to think that some of his aggression may be territory related, as he will come to me for food, and seems a bit quieter if he is out of his vivarium. He is just over a year old now, and should reach maturity anywhere between 18 and 24 months old. He's already decorating his own vivarium!


I decided to add a bit of (non-edible) greenery to Darwin's vivarium to make it more interesting for him to look at. He decided to check it out, and after a few licks realised it wasn't edible and now doesn't bother investigating this new addition to his home, which is good news for him and the decorations!

You can see he is already growing up and changing shape from the above picture - he has now lost his 'baby' green coloured belly, and it has been replaced with a similar red/orange colouration like the rest of his body! His head is also elongating more, and his spikes are noticeably longer, compared to some of his earlier photos... (see below!) He is also quite a bit bigger, and chunkier, than when I first brought him home. Oh, and, most noticeably for me, he is now eating more than Neo does!

The next step is to just keep going with taming your iguana in this fashion - don't be worried if he seems to 'forget' or suddenly get scared by something, and seems to go back a stage. Just be really patient with him, and he should learn that you aren't going to hurt him. If he does go back a stage, drop back to the previous 'lesson' and make sure he is happy with it before you move on again. It is likely that he will 're-learn' the earlier stages a lot faster than the first time around, and will end up back at the point at which he freaked out and hopefully overcome it.

Once your iguana is happy sitting on your hand, you can try petting him on his neck or side with one or a few fingers. Sometimes iguanas may adjust to one way of contact quicker than the other, for example if your iguana has already been accustomed to being touched on his back, but not being lifted up. On the other hand, like Darwin, he may seem happier sitting on your hand than being petted on his back. He probably associates a hand coming over his back with being picked up, and that is what he may not enjoy.

Remember to approach him slowly, keeping your hand lower than he is. It's a good idea to pet your iguana with the back of your fingers, as this area of your finger had less fat covering it. Sometimes reptiles highly dislike people smoothing them with the 'fatty' side of the hand, as it sort of feels to them the equivalent of if you had a slightly clammy hand, and then ran it over a plastic surface - it sort of ends up 'juddering' due to the friction. This is similar (though obviously on a smaller scale!) to what reptiles, especially snakes which have smoother skin, feel when someone runs the palm of their hand down their body. Most become tolerant to some degree of this, but if you are just accustoming a new reptile to being touched, it's probably a good idea to start off on a good note


In this pic above, Darwin is just about tolerating me touching him He has his eyes closed because he is trying to block out the situation - he hates it, and would much rather be somewhere else! But it is a good sign that he hasn't run off this time




A few days later, Darwin is sort of beginning to accept me petting him more 'properly'. I switched to petting him with the 'fatty' side of my fingers a few times, to get him used to the slightly different feeling (as obviously to handle him, I will have to touch him properly). With any reptile though, if you want to 'stroke' it like a cat or a dog for a length of time, please do so with the back of your fingers/hand! It will be much nicer for the reptile

Notice I was starting with his head area, then working back to his dewlap and then shoulders, and always to the side. This is to try and reassure him that I'm not trying to attack him (a sudden poke to the hindquarters, leg or tail may seem like something is attempting to take a chunk out of him, and likewise having a hand descend on him from above probably feels like being 'got' by something's talons! ) I approached him slowly, so he could see me coming. I also gave him plenty of opportunity to bite, whip or run away from me if he wanted to This was to prove to him that I am more dominant than he is, and that he won't achieve anything by biting me to try and make me go away. If he wanted to run away, I'd let him go to somewhere he was more comfortable such as his highest branch, but then I'd try approaching him again in a few minutes to make sure he didn't think he'd 'won' If he realises that biting or running from me results in being left alone, he will probably carry on doing so! The earlier picture of him with his eyes shut is a more submissive pose, meaning that everything he has tried has not worked, so he will just pretend I am not there until I leave him alone Eventually, he will realise you mean him no harm, will open up his eyes (like in the later photos) and hopefully one day learn to enjoy being petted!

Every time when I feed Darwin now, I let him come to me for the food, rather than offer it to him. He will sometimes now approach the open door of the vivarium if I wave a tasty rocket leaf at him!

As for trying to get him used to being petted on his back/having a hand approach him and then rest on him, he is getting there slowly. If I tempt him onto my arm with food, he will normally let me pet his back whilst he is happily munching away When the food runs out, he sometimes continues sitting there for as long as 10 minutes before deciding to wander off again back to his basking spot or branch. I am hoping that he will learn to associate being petted with nice food, and so not mind it eventually!

When your iguana seems happy enough with you opening and closing his vivarium doors, putting your hand inside and moving about normally, moving objects around, coming closer to him, etc, you can start stage 4.

Try offering your iguana some of his favourite food - I found that leaves such as watercress or rocket are good, as the iguana can still take it from you if you hold it by the stalk, without coming into contact with your hand. Eventually you want him to learn that contact is not a bad thing, but initially the feeling of human touch is very alien and a little scary for an untame iguana. You can try and get him to actually eat out of your hand a little later on, when he is happy with taking food from you at all.

If your iguana is not hungry, it is likely he will not take food from you at all. The best time to try hand feeding him is in the morning, when he would normally be hungry and want to eat anyway. If he doesn't eat from your hand straight away, wait a while for him to assess the situation. He will be deciding if he is safe, and if taking the food from your hand is worth the risk! If you sit there for ages and nothing happens, or he runs away or closes he eyes to ignore you, leave the leaf next to him and close the vivarium door. Back off a bit, let him adjust back to his comfort level, and he should eat the leaf. Then, once he has got a taste for food, try hand feeding him again.

Wait until he is relaxed:


His dewlap should be relaxed; not extended defensively, neither tucked up really tight submissively

Offer him the food from below his eye level, and don't rush forward at him with it either. Talk to him gently, let him see that you are holding food, and show him it from a distance. Watch his eye to see if he is interested in it, then move it gradually closer to him.


Just to illustrate a BAD IDEA, the below picture shows what happens of you offer food from above him:


You can see Darwin's dewlap has become extended, and he is feeling uncomfortable with my hand and arm looming above him At that point, I backed off and offered him the food from below him again, as I only wanted to illustrate that point for the blog! (Sorry Darwin, poor thing ) This was what happened next:




I had been working with Darwin for weeks before I got this response every day. If he is not very hungry, he will still not take food from me. Well, neither will Neo for that matter! But as you can see, this method does seem to be working so far! As in the pic, he will sometimes come and half sit in my hand, putting his front two feet on it. This is good, as eventually I will try and encourage him to come and climb on my arm voluntarily, like Neo does

When your iguana is exploring his vivarium, eating normally and appears comfortable in his new home, you can start to encourage him to trust you.

Begin by acting normally in the room where his vivarium is. Just do what you would normally, walk about relatively slowly, talk softly, pick up various items like books, etc. Don't go right up to the vivarium just yet and glare at him - he will see it as intimidating. Obviously you will have had to go up to the vivarium when putting in food, cleaning the vivarium, etc and this might have been the response:





Going and hiding. Scared iguanas will hide a lot! Darwin used to hide whenever I reached in to change his food or water or to clean his vivarium.

You might also see a similar response if you approach the vivarium too closely, and the iguana doesn't feel comfortable with you being that close just yet!

The idea is to gradually decrease the distance between you and your iguana, so that he feels ok with you within a few feet of him. It's a good idea to just go and sit close to the vivarium, and read a book, watch t.v. (quietly!), listen to music (again, quietly or with earphones in!) or something like that. Once the iguana realises you are no threat, he may come out from hiding and begin to move around normally again - perhaps to get some food, or go back to his basking spot - as if you weren't in the room. This is a good sign, and from outside of his hiding place he can watch you: this is very important. Iguanas have no idea about human behaviour, such as what is 'normal' and what might be considered a threat. When he is watching you, begin by making very slow movements, and not doing anything sudden or jerky. To him, quick movements are predator-like, and will trigger an automatic response that will cause him to go and hide again! In the wild, everything seems to eat baby iguanas, so they are built to respond first and think later. Even if they KNOW you're not a threat to them, they will spring away out of reach, just incase. This is a completely natural, wild instinct, and it is what keeps them alive normally. Iguanas are very intelligent lizards, and will even learn to overcome this reaction (well, most of them do!) over time, as they learn to accept that humans are not a threat to them.

Also, avoid long periods of direct eye contact with your iguana. He will be trying to study you, and a lot of eye contact will be considered a threat. When you are close to his vivarium, make sure your head is always at his height or lower. Looking down at him is also likely to make him nervous. If you're down at his level, it will help him feel more comfortable Talk softly to him, use his name, but also talk normally, for example if someone else comes into the room. This is just to get him used to 'normal' levels of speech, so he isn't alarmed if somebody enters the room another time talking about something or another. Iguanas may eventually learn to respond to their owner's voice, and recognise when they are about to enter a room. Sometimes when I arrive home after work, I call to Neo to say hello, and she will respond by getting up from her basking spot and standing up on her rear legs with her front two up against the vivarium's door, asking to be let out, as she knows I will let her out if she's been in there all day!

Neo is still not showing any signs of laying eggs, and I have had her out a few times now and had a good feel of her belly and I can feel nothing I can only assume that she re-absorbed her eggs this year! I have taken her egg-laying chamber out of her vivarium now, but I'll keep an eye out incase she shows signs of wanting to dig, etc and put it back in again if so. Well, that's a first anyway!

Darwin is still a bit scared, but he is doing well He has hand fed from me three days in a row now, and when I offer him a leaf he takes it almost immediately if he wants it, rather than waiting about five minutes to see if it's actually a trick you're playing on him and that if he takes the food, you'll grab him. Either that or he thinks I poisoned it!!!

At the moment, both iguanas are enjoying basking in the winter sunshine







...and I have realised that both Darwin's and my windows need a clean after the camera and sunlight highlighted all the water marks on them!!