agressive iguana

Question
my boyfriend and i have had an iguana for about 1 1/2 years so im guessing the iguana is close to 2 years old. we have had a hard time taming it and it his been especially aggressive toward me. it puffs up and tail whips at every feeding or handling but my boyfriend can usually get it to calm down but with me it seems like no matter what i do it is very aggressive. i am 4 months pregnant now and attempted to feed the iguana while my boyfriend was at work and it jumped out of the cage at me, bit my hand and whipped me several times before i managed to get it back into the cage. before then at never bit anyone. do u think its more aggressive toward me because of the pregnancy? i heard that males can be more aggressive toward female owners who r menstruating but i couldn't find anything on aggression toward pregnant female owners.

Answer
Yes, male Iguanas tend to be more aggressive toward females, particularly during that time of the month. I would expect this sort of behavior even more so when a pregnant woman is around due to the even heightened hormone levels. The Iguana can sense this on the air. The hormones may "smell" offensive to him, or perhaps he is defending his territory from being overtaken by the offspring of a rival male. This should subside once you have your baby. There is also the likelihood he just doesn't like you for some reason. Could be colors or smells, or just your approach. That also happens when people who don't do most of the handling try to interact with them all of a sudden. Iguanas not properly socialized to everyone in the house can turn into a one person only animal, but, they also should not be subjected to needless handling and moved about by everyone either. Excess handling by numerous persons can stress them too.  

It is best for you and the Iguana, that you just leave the handling and primary care to your boyfriend for now until you have your baby. Afterward, you all need to work on socialization so that the Iguana gets used to everyone in the household before he gets 4-5 years old and much of this behavior is set in. He doesn't necessarily have to interact with your baby directly, but having the baby around will condition the Iguana that the baby is supposed to be there. Try to stay away from the Iguana for now, as all these sensory inputs from you are also stressful for him as well. It's overload.   

I recommend you maybe email and speak directly to Melissa Kaplan of anapsid.org and download her Iguana, Care, Feeding, and Socialization manual. She is also the author of "Iguana's for Dummies".  

Please try to work this out before it turns into a real problem, because as a reptile rescuer, we have a near impossible time trying to re-home unwanted Iguanas. Once they get a couple of years old, nobody wants them anymore because they're not little and "cute". I have people from last year who are still trying to find homes for their Iguanas today.

http://anapsid.org
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