TRAINING YOUR IGUANA TO BE A LOVING COMPANION

        

Getting to work with your iguana and watching him or her grow up and mature into an adult is very rewarding and an amazing experience. Just like people and other animals all iguanas are different and have their own personality. Some may respond fast to training and others who may be a rescue may have a longer time to rehabilitate before they become "puppydog tame" as some people put it. Some iguanas may just always be nasty or not like to be handled, that's just who they are.

Take my lovely Phoenix for example, I have had her almost a year now and to this day when I walk by her enclosure she bobs her head at me and may also lunge, once I get her out and start working with her I can get her calm in about 10 minutes vs the 30-45min it took me before. Its all about patience and respect.

When you purchase a baby green iguana you never can tell what its temperament is going to be like as it ages, and it will change many times for many different reasons. You may have a well behaved 3 year old iguana one day and the next she bites you for what you think is "no reason at all". Well there is most likely a reason you just may not recognize because last week you did the same thing and she didn't care but not she doesn't like it. That is exactly the reason why you need to be aware of what your iguana is telling you every time you approach it. Watch how they are sitting, how they move, where their eyes are focused and body (including tail) posture.


Once you pick up on the signals your iguana is giving you and understand what they mean and how to address them individually your training process will be a lot easier for you and a lot less stressful on your iguana.

There are many different holds that I have found to work when dealing with flighty or aggressive iguanas which allow your iguana to still feel safe as well as keeping all of your fingers out of harms way. I will try to get a YouTube video of these holds posted within the week ( please be patient as lately I have been so busy). You can see me using one hold on Phoenix in the picture above but its a poor shot to show my exact hand position.

I will also be working on a video  of how I am currently working with Phoenix, as she wasn't responding to my other method that well (some iguana respond to different types of training, depending on their personality so you may have to work with a couple methods until you find what works). You can see my training video on my YouTube page by clicking here >>> Phoenix's old training method <<<

So look for those videos in the next couple weeks to come out!
If anyone has any questions or concerns you can easily reach me on my Facebook page or on instagram at @robinsmall or #Ontarioiguanas


Thanks
Robin.