Tails from the Wicked Witch ( Larry )

ChristinaM · 01-09-04, 10:33 AM

Welllllll.
It has been interesting to say the least.

She has been eating tons, and pooping fine.
But needs some serious attitude adjustment.

In our handling session, Dec. 28th, as per usual I ignored her
bobbing and flaring ( same as I do always because she's gonna get
handled like it or not ) and reached in to help remove a piece of
shed that was covering her eye ( MY MISTAKE ). The result:

The reason I say my mistake, is I know she gets aggressive when
shedding. Ignoring her body language was not a mistake IMO, but
ignoring/neglecting to remember that she's a mean shedder WAS a
mistake.
I definately think mine could have been so much worse.

Honestly (yah I'm morbid but thats besides the point) I like to see
people posting bite pics. Then, MAYBE, just maybe, if new owners or
people wanting an ig, would at LEAST research and learn first instead
of getting one then either abandoning it in the wild,
having it seriously injure them, friend, family, anyone
or what I had occur recently, is seeing someone put down a fairly
young(3yr old) ig because it was aggressive.

anyways, off my soapbox on that one.

So, I've been back to the gloves.
She's even tried to nip when I put her food in.
But, I wonder if we regressed over the holidays? ( was busy, not
handling her daily ).

Do you think she will lose the aggressiveness over time and handling
and more patience than I have LOL.

I've started to do this:
-prepare her breakie.
-put on my glove( only on my right hand )
-open enclosure
-grab Larry ( she will try to bite, but once I have ahold of her she
is fine, fine as in no bite)
-settle her on my arm, head in my gloved hand, body along my forearm
pressed in against my side( gloves ain't long enough, her back claws
turned my arm into shredded meat) tail against my hip.
she is held a minimum of 10mins. We walk around, I let her look out
the windows, and I stroke her with my ungloved hand ( as well, she's
still shedding, so I help get that off ). When she struggles, I
firmly put her back in the beginning position. If it's quite the
struggle, I lift her above my head till she calms.
-once she's been calm for a while, I take her, pick up her breakie,
put breakie in cage, then put Larry in the cage.

Can you critique my above handling sessions? ( postive/negative
welcomed, suggestions, etc)

Should I handle her more than once a day?

I haven't taken her to be weighed yet, I want things to calm down
alot before I do that. But I don't have any fears with that one.
She's strong, she's eating, digesting, no probs there.

If she's shedding, that has to mean she is growing right????
She's doing a full body shed.

Odds are I will find more questions later on, but I leave you with a
pic of the royal witch. She is a little puffed out in this pic as she
hates the camera.

pg

thanks for reading our book.

ChristinaM · 01-16-04, 01:09 AM

Jan.16th: she's definately getting better with the attitude. Still tries to bite when I grab her, but calms quickly. I let her walk around my bedroom for a bit today, then gave her a bath.

My sweetie is almost back to herself....yeahhhhh

manville · 01-16-04, 01:36 AM

that is good to hear

sapphire_moon · 01-19-04, 08:14 AM

Glad shes doing better for you!

TheRedDragon · 01-19-04, 07:41 PM

Yikes! That looks like that hurt. I hope she continues to calm down for you.

ChristinaM · 01-20-04, 08:42 AM

Thanks folks, here's another pic of her royal b itchiness

ReptiZone · 01-20-04, 09:35 AM

Are you 100% shour that it is a Female I only as because it has a good size set of rocks on her/his cheaks has a rather high dorsal crest that looks to have benn well maintaind BTW good job.

Also you say it is 3 years old and the discription you just gave of it's Temperment looks verry simalire to a young (3 Year Old) teratorial male *bobing head, flaring throght, a bit nipy, and you have probebly seen you fair shares of tail whips if not be ready for them* all that just goes hand in hand with what a male would do.

I am no iggy Expert I am just regurging what I have heard and read els where...Oh ya it was named Larry most likely for a reason.

The ReptiZone
Marc Doiron

marisa · 01-20-04, 10:55 AM

I am fairly certain Larry has had an operation to remove eggs, so I think Bichiraddict is pretty sure its a girl LOL.

That's too bad she got ya on the hand. Hope it healed well. Good luck with Larry! She looks great and it sounds like Roxy has given her tips on being Queen b**ch of your place!

Marisa

ReptiZone · 01-20-04, 05:29 PM

Oh ok sorry thanx Marisa as I said I am no Iggy Expert I am now banished back to the giant python forums.

ChristinaM · 01-20-04, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ReptiZone
Are you 100% shour that it is a Female I only as because it has a good size set of rocks on her/his cheaks has a rather high dorsal crest that looks to have benn well maintaind BTW good job.

The ReptiZone
Marc Doiron

Hey Marc, thanks for the words

Yep, Marissa is right...."Larry" is indeed a female who underwent a "hysterectomy" back in November. Since then has basically been a b!tch LOL. But it's coming

ChristinaM · 01-20-04, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by marisa

That's too bad she got ya on the hand. Hope it healed well. Good luck with Larry! She looks great and it sounds like Roxy has given her tips on being Queen b**ch of your place!

Marisa

Thanks Marisa, oh come on, Roxy is a sweetie

How's the allergic reaction?

sleddergirl · 01-20-04, 10:34 PM

Is there any way I can nominate my Bobbi-Jo for the Queen position?.....................we really should get them all together for a B!tch-fest..............LOL(kidding,obviously)

Sue

ChristinaM · 01-21-04, 08:13 AM

LMAO....
mentally picturing a bunch of b!tchy iggies.
Ummmm, that's kinda scarey.
And it will reinforce to them that they rule the world ( or so they believe). LOL

Pixie · 01-21-04, 10:18 AM

I've had my Paco for a bit over 3 months now and I find his temperment and moods constantly improving with time.

I'm really starting to realize now how much they are creatures of habit and need lots of time to settle in. A few weeks back I was getting quite discouraged as it seemed that taming Paco was moving backwards instead of frontwards.

That has since changed and things are improving daily.

Time and patience are the key IMO. That and constant daily routines (same feeding times, etc.) in no time you will see your iggy settle into her routines and even see her discontentment when you're not on time!

As for biting and scratching, my forearms look like I've fought off a gang of ninja cats! LOL!!! It's embarrassing now! People are really starting to wonder!

I'm lucky that Paco doesn't bite much, and even if he tries, he rarely hits the mark due to his deformed jaw. Only one did he land a small bite and that was when he was eating out of my hand. He is a very aggressive eater, or I should say PIG! And once bit my finger instead of his food. It drew a bit of blood but what impressed me more was all the little cuts that made up the bite mark. I realized then that a full bite for a grown iguana would definitely do some damage! Ouch!

Pixie