Does Anyone Know How To Discipline An Iguana?

[BFDesigns]

So I have 2 iguanas, one's 9 and the other one's 2 years younger at 7 (Sugar & Chili respectively). Anyways, the younger one is constantly picking fights with the older one. Now, Sugar seems to not be able to fight back; he always backs down and runs away even though he's a bit bigger and can kick the sh!t out of Chili when he's really pissed off. So everytime Chili picks a fight I put him in his cage, but it doesn't seem to be working very well. The fights usually start with Chili puffing up real big, standing all the way up, and then bobbing his head up & down. Sugar politely gets out of his way but Chili usually pounces on him and continues to insist that he's the Alpha Male. This will go on for about 5-10 minutes and it's usually over a position under the heat lamp.

This has gone on since Chili was as big as my hand & Sugar wasn't much bigger, but I'm getting concerned because it's starting to get pretty sinister over the past few weeks. Slashed faces, deep bites, and myself getting cut up. Also, Sugar seems to be afraid of everything now because of this a$$hole [Chili] beating him up on a daily, and sometimes hourly basis. I've tried everything. I've tried separating them, using a stern tone, hand gestures, the word NO, combinations, yelling, slapping, and still Chili doesn't get the point. I realize that they don't have the capacity to learn as well as dogs do but they do have the capacity for limited problem solving and all things food related of course (i.e.: you can't eat a banana in the same room without getting jumped by them). So does anyone know how to deal with this particular problem? I can't sell the offending little bastard because oddly enough they would both get really depressed without each other there as they've grown up together.

I'll record a video the next time they get into a fight but my camera is dead right now so it'll have to wait.

 

[delta38]

So I have 2 iguanas, one's 9 and the other one's 2 years younger at 7 (Sugar & Chili respectively). Anyways, the younger one is constantly picking fights with the older one. Now, Sugar seems to not be able to fight back; he always backs down and runs away even though he's a bit bigger and can kick the sh!t out of Chili when he's really pissed off. So everytime Chili picks a fight I put him in his cage, but it doesn't seem to be working very well. The fights usually start with Chili puffing up real big, standing all the way up, and then bobbing his head up & down. Sugar politely gets out of his way but Chili usually pounces on him and continues to insist that he's the Alpha Male. This will go on for about 5-10 minutes and it's usually over a position under the heat lamp.

This has gone on since Chili was as big as my hand & Sugar wasn't much bigger, but I'm getting concerned because it's starting to get pretty sinister over the past few weeks. Slashed faces, deep bites, and myself getting cut up. Also, Sugar seems to be afraid of everything now because of this a$$hole [Chili] beating him up on a daily, and sometimes hourly basis. I've tried everything. I've tried separating them, using a stern tone, hand gestures, the word NO, combinations, yelling, slapping, and still Chili doesn't get the point. I realize that they don't have the capacity to learn as well as dogs do but they do have the capacity for limited problem solving and all things food related of course (i.e.: you can't eat a banana in the same room without getting jumped by them). So does anyone know how to deal with this particular problem? I can't sell the offending little bastard because oddly enough they would both get really depressed without each other there as they've grown up together.

I'll record a video the next time they get into a fight but my camera is dead right now so it'll have to wait.

The bold & underlined part made me laugh hard. Lol. Sounds like a case of Iguana bullying!!
Idk if this works with iguanas, but have you tryed spraying him with a water sprayer thing when he does it? Or what about a shock collar? I don't think a shock collar is good for an iguana, this is just a thought that came into my head.. Sorry if this didn't really help. lol

 

[BFDesigns]

have you tryed spraying him with a water sprayer thing when he does it?

They actually like that so I would probably just be reinforcing bad behavior with that one.

what about a shock collar?

Would be pretty funny to watch but I'm not sure his limited intellect would get it.

 

[LeytonInTheNet]

Well, I'm not sure how to discipline Iguanas at the age they're at. Maybe Chili needs some 'live bait' to eat.

It's usually over a position under the heat lamp.

Or you could get another heat lamp?



If you find the answer, please let us know

 

[Vexona]

Yeah it does sound like Chili is being a jerk because he wants to lord over that primo spot hehe. Maybe you could get another lamp like Leyton said?

 

[Sean Bradley]

Male Iguanas frequently go through aggressive phases during which they'll attack almost anything that moves.. something about hormones... It's best to separate your Iguanas during this phase until the hormones get out of it's system.

My brother had this problem with his 4' adult male iguana. When the aggressive period hit, he had to keep the Iguana locked up at all times. He would occasionally throw a towel over him and take him to the back yard and let the it chase him around for some exercise.. it's was pretty hilarious to watch. The Iguana would stalk and attack people, pets, anything that moved, often ending in injury. My bro had to get stitches in his hand when the loose Iguana clamped down on him while he was sleeping. This lasted for about 6 months, then the lizard returned to being mild mannered for the rest of it's life.

Funny story, this is the same iguana that dropped out of a second story window and lived. It was loose in his neighborhood for 3 days until a neighbor found it stalking his cats.

 

[BFDesigns]

My brother had this problem with his 4' adult male iguana. When the aggressive period hit, he had to keep the Iguana locked up at all times. He would occasionally throw a towel over him and take him to the back yard and let the it chase him around for some exercise.. it's was pretty hilarious to watch. The Iguana would stalk and attack people, pets, anything that moved, often ending in injury. My bro had to get stitches in his hand when the loose Iguana clamped down on him while he was sleeping. This lasted for about 6 months, then the lizard returned to being mild mannered for the rest of it's life.

That's hilarious! but if the hormonal thing is the case then this little bastard has had it going off and on for the past 6 years.

Funny story, this is the same iguana that dropped out of a second story window and lived. It was loose in his neighborhood for 3 days until a neighbor found it stalking his cats.

Funny thing about iguanas, they bounce!

I am currently building a window box for them right now tho so that they can get some fresh air & some sun. Hopefully that'll calm them down a bit, but they'll probably end up fighting over that too.

 

[Haissan]

you think it could be pent up energy too? dogs dig and cats scratch crap so why not have an iguana pick fights?\

I guy I knew who raised exotic pets would put his cold blooded ones in a pillow case for time out

 

[BFDesigns]

I've seen a lot of documentation about the pillowcase trick, I might have to try it out. A lot of iguana owners say that it gives them a sense of security if you put them in a zip closed one for transportation. It might be something like energy too because now that they're heat lamp got repositioned the other day they seem to be pretty warm (body temp is something like 96°F) 24/7 cuz they fall asleep under it and don't seem to take any cool off periods.

Hopefully the windowbox that I just finished will give them something to chill out in and get some fresh air. It's an 18" x 30" bay window type of thing with a ceiling so that they'll be protected if it rains. They seem to like it so far.

Here's the box hanging out of my kitchen window with them in it:

Better view of them:

Since it's a second floor apartment they do have a pretty nice view and sense of height:

They love to be up high since they try to get up as high as they can being tree dwelling prey animals.

Another view:

A quick & simple $30 (solution?) to the problem.

 

[Haissan]

it might be a solution, but then it might as you said before be cause for another problem, not to mention the cooling costs to your apt