Treating Aggression in Reptiles

Authored by: Todd Cornwell | Unique Birthday Parties for Kids & Reptile Rescue

Treating Aggressive Lizards

Apparently the article on Treating Aggression in Snakes was very popular. So the publisher asked me if I would do the same thing for lizards. How do you treat aggression in lizards? And dang it, I’m stumped. As a rescue, I deal with all kinds of reptiles, snakes, lizards, frogs, turtles (and yes, I know not all of those were reptiles). But snakes are my passion. I have taken in probably 75 bearded dragons, 40-50 leopard geckos, and 30 or more iguanas, plus a few other misc ones.

What I can tell you about them is this:

1. Quite a few lizards have their personality basically at birth. If they don’t mind being handled, or interacted with, they don’t mind. If on the other hand, they don’t like it, watch your fingers!

2. Many males, during breeding season, completely change their attitudes, from a gentleman, to a raging hormonal teenager. Let me be a little more specific.

Iguanas: Iguanas can be sweet, loving, gentle giants. To get them this way however, requires almost daily handling, and interacting with from birth.

If you go a few weeks or months without the interaction, you have to basically start all over, you will be whipped, scratched, and bit at for a little while, until they trust you again.

Then again you have the males. Once male iguanas reach sexual maturity, all bets are off. While they can be sweethearts, most become aggressive beasts between February and May every year. They can fixate on any female (including humans), and if another male (even us humans), gets close to “his” female, lookout, the fight is on! Iguanas, are a $20 pet, that requires a $400 investment to properly house.

Bearded Dragon

Bearded Dragons: A fan favorite, but they’re highly overbred, sold cheaply, with absolutely no words of wisdom when buying them. Too many come in to the rescue with MBD (metabolic bone disease, similar to arthritis), or with bones so soft, you can bend the forehead! Another $20 pet that requires a $400 investment to properly house. With the proper housing, care, feed, and heat/lights, they make wonderful companions, who rarely are upset, interesting to interact with, and fun to own.

Leopard Geckos: Word for word, read the bearded dragon statement over again! Other geckos, Crested, Golden, Day, Leachies and too many to list: Great zoo type pets, what I mean is, fun to watch, care is not too expensive or hard, but are not ones for handling. As always, there are exceptions to every rule. But these guys, are like fish, fun to watch, but not much for interaction.

Monitors: I will run down a few specifics, but the main ideas run through keeping most monitor species. Each Monitor species require specific temperature and humidity gradients. From the desert species to the jungle dwelling tree monitors. And while several monitor species, are sold as “pets”, to be honest, for the average Joe, they do not make good pets.

Nile/Water Monitor: Niles with a few exceptional creatures, do not take to captivity well. They are sold quite often to the unwary as “water monitors”, and while they look similar, the tendencies, and attitudes are quite the opposite. Minimum requirements is a 8 foot x 12 foot x 6 foot tall enclosure, with a large water area. They will bite, hiss, whip, claw, and explode out of the enclosure at every opportunity. Asian Water monitors, their cousins, are a lot more mellow, easy-going, and more tolerant of interaction, some even act like puppy dogs. However, they still require a huge enclosure (same as the Nile), and heat/humidity requirements, that means for the most part, they need to be kept inside their custom cages.

Courtesy of The Pet Wiki

Savannah Monitor: These are the most popular “pet” monitor, but for the most part, they are kept incorrectly, and die a slow death from kidney failure, or heart failure. Savannahs, like their name suggests, live in the African plains, but they hang out along the water ways and green lush areas. They live in burrows, coming out to hunt. So they spend most of their time in burrows that keep their humidity at 70-80% or more. I have seen too many, kept on sand, or dirt, aspen shreds, even newspapers, slowly killing their pet, and they don’t even realize it. If properly kept, Savannahs are great pets to watch, and while they can be socialized, (with repeated handling, time, and patience), it is much cooler to watch them more in a natural habitat, than riding on your shoulder.

Black throat / White throat / Peach throat Monitors: Again, almost word for word read the Savannah monitor section.

Tegus: Argentinian / Colombian / Red / Blue: Again, the differences between the species are night and day, Argentinian Tegus can be puppy dog tame, Colombians need constant interaction, and some never tame down. Similar to the Savannah monitor, they like to burrow in the jungle, so huge enclosures, with specific heat & temperatures to keep them happy. Blues & Reds are very rare, and expensive, so a lot less likely to come across them.

Other Semi-Popular Lizards: Water Dragon / Mountain Horned Dragon: A beautiful animal, similar to the difference in Nile & Water Monitors, as far as attitudes. Chinese Water dragons are the lizard I tend to recommend to families. Easier to care for than Bearded Dragons, just as big/fun to own, with a similar attitude. Easily tamed with a little care and interaction, get big enough to be impressive, and a very nice looking animal at that! Mountain horned, are again mostly a look, but don’t touch.

Again, I am not trying to discourage anyone from owning any lizard species. However, If you are looking for that companion, to sit on your lap, come over when you call, go for rides in the car, get a dog! As my son said to me today,