SulcataSammy
Member
Sammy my 25 pound Sulcata is charging me. He spent all of his 15 years in an enclosure, finally ending up in a fairly large tortoise table, at table height.
He is now in his dream home. He is in an insulated enclosure, on the ground, in an area four times bigger than his tortoise table was. The sides facing the walls, and the bottom 4 inches off the ground are all insulated.
I can now walk in his area. Go in to turn lights on and off, food, clean up and water. This is all very new to him. Now I am the big giant looming over him, rather than just reaching over the side when he was on his previous table.
Now, every time I walk in his area, he makes a point to walk over to me looking happy and friendly like he’s going to greet me, then Wham!! He charges me, ramming into my ankle like he’s going to climb my leg. It hurts! If I move to a different spot, he follows me and does the same thing.
My intentions are to interact and get some sort of recognition or friendliness from him. Yes I know, everything I read says this behavior is normal, and the boys get a little aggressive and do this. But I have been an animal lover and have had every imaginable pet in my life, and you can train an animal, even if it’s just slightly, working with them and their idiosyncrasies.
Lets get some ideas on things that I can try. Anybody else found any ways to minimize this behavior? He used to take leaves from my hand when he was in his old enclosure. Now he walks up to me obviously wanting the leave, and instead of taking it he charges my hand. Do I just sit in there with him regularly and let him charge me and when he realizes that he gets no response, maybe gives up?
So let me hear of your experiences, what has been tried, or is this just the way it’s going to be.
He is now in his dream home. He is in an insulated enclosure, on the ground, in an area four times bigger than his tortoise table was. The sides facing the walls, and the bottom 4 inches off the ground are all insulated.
I can now walk in his area. Go in to turn lights on and off, food, clean up and water. This is all very new to him. Now I am the big giant looming over him, rather than just reaching over the side when he was on his previous table.
Now, every time I walk in his area, he makes a point to walk over to me looking happy and friendly like he’s going to greet me, then Wham!! He charges me, ramming into my ankle like he’s going to climb my leg. It hurts! If I move to a different spot, he follows me and does the same thing.
My intentions are to interact and get some sort of recognition or friendliness from him. Yes I know, everything I read says this behavior is normal, and the boys get a little aggressive and do this. But I have been an animal lover and have had every imaginable pet in my life, and you can train an animal, even if it’s just slightly, working with them and their idiosyncrasies.
Lets get some ideas on things that I can try. Anybody else found any ways to minimize this behavior? He used to take leaves from my hand when he was in his old enclosure. Now he walks up to me obviously wanting the leave, and instead of taking it he charges my hand. Do I just sit in there with him regularly and let him charge me and when he realizes that he gets no response, maybe gives up?
So let me hear of your experiences, what has been tried, or is this just the way it’s going to be.
