I almost gave him up

[Relax Mon,Jamaica MeCrazy]

here is how my problem started,

http://redtailboa.net/forums/iguana/...ed-advise.html

Yes, I know its long, but if you have experience, I could use some advise.

Yesterday I took my rhino guana out of his cage (which was a 30 minute battle) so I could clean out his feces smeered "territory". I put him in a tub with nice warm water. I've had my little buddy for about a year and in that year his been going potty in warm tub of water every single day.

But since puberty, he doesnt wanna go. I left him in the tub by himself for a half hour while I was gettin ready to go to work. He still didnt go.
When I finally decided to pick him up he pee'd and pooped while in my hand. Luckily I managed to dodge most of it (just another way for him to get me to be late for work again).

At this point I was pretty confident that he was pooped out, at least for one day. Also, I ran out of food and was gonna buy some on my way back home, so I didnt see any reason to worry about him making another mess.

After a hards day of work I came home only to see poop smeered all over the place. It was worst than ever. As I looked at the mess I knew that it would take me a minimum of an hour to clean, not including the mess he would cause outside once I open his cage.

The next day I put him in my car to return him to the pet store (owned by a friend). I ended up taking my little buddy in and out of the car 3 times, before I decided to wait a little longer and think about it some more.

I love the little guy, but if I cant get him to follow a consistent routine (like he did the first year I had him) I'll have no other choice. At the moment, my life revovles around him, and thats unacceptable.

[RehabRalphy]

Well with reptiles, they do revolve around your life. In fact, they are your life. Much bigger responsibility than your ordinary house cat.

I think that returning him is the worst idea and the excuse of him taking up to much of your time should of been thought about before purchasing the iguana.

I'm not slamming you, but just think of it from others point of view.

	Iguana Iguana

[Adrya]

Did you read my post in the other thread? I think it would help you to not be late for class or work if you just wait until you get home to deal with him. If he craps everywhere while you're gone, then you can clean it up all at once when you get home. It's no different than you cleaning him up in the morning before going to work, and then he craps everywhere again while you're gone, and you having to clean again when you come home.

Just do it all at one time when you get home, it's not going to hurt him.

[spike06]

serioudly, dont give him away. its breeding season. if he is still acting this way 3 months from now, then there is a behavioral issue that u need to rid him of

[Lucille]

Originally Posted by Adrya_Webb

Did you read my post in the other thread? I think it would help you to not be late for class or work if you just wait until you get home to deal with him. If he craps everywhere while you're gone, then you can clean it up all at once when you get home. It's no different than you cleaning him up in the morning before going to work, and then he craps everywhere again while you're gone, and you having to clean again when you come home.
Just do it all at one time when you get home, it's not going to hurt him.

I saw that and thought it was a great answer. One thought I had, depending on the size of the enclosure, would be to divide it with a panel temporarily so there are two habitats, and if one side gets dirty, the iguana can be washed off and put in the other side, and this would give you less total area to clean while he is going through this phase.

	Iguana Iguana

[Dezires]

My sisters husband had a male iguana who was very high maintanence after reaching puberty. It got really bad that they had to put him down (he was violent and very very angry).
Only things I can suggest - besides what others have suggested - is getting him a mate, or dealing with the problem.

When you got the animal, you took on the responsibility of being it's "parent".

Whenever my son requires my constant attention, smears his feces or vomit all over, etc...I do what I have to do.

If work and school were your priorities in life, you should have reconsidered getting a pet that requires a lot of attention. It's just like parenting, you can't just return the kid when they become a handful. Get over it and work through it.

The mesh idea was great. Try that for awhile and see what happens.

Just don't give up an animal because it's too hard for you to juggle it and your other priorities.

I have a lot of animals, a 3 year old, a husband, and a job...I can handle taking care of all their needs and then some. If I can do it, you can too.

Don't give up on your buddy!

Good luck and have patience.

	Iguana Iguana

[boaterr]

Originally Posted by spike06

serioudly, dont give him away. its breeding season. if he is still acting this way 3 months from now, then there is a behavioral issue that u need to rid him of

I do not think very highly of people who give up just because things are not going their way. I have an 8+foot reticulated python that is in breeding mode. He strikes at me as soon as I go near his cage, and he hisses loudly when I get him out. I gave him a bath today and after about 20 minutes he started to calm down a bit. He is just going through his little faze, but I love him just the same as the first day I got him. A real test of love his when a large snake owner attempts to handle and adult female reticullated python and the owner can sense that his snake is thinking about killing him "happened to a friend, you could feel the tension in the air". What me and Relax Mon,Jamaica MeCrazy are going through is merely childsplay.

[Adrya]

I think what spike06 meant about "ridding" the iguana, was NOT to get rid of him, but to work with him and try to rid the iguana of its behavioral issues.

	Iguana Iguana