My boyfriend has a wild baby lizard. Recently, he has started applying some of his newly-learned horsemanship skills when he handles her (picks her out of the aquarium).
I have never heard of a lizard trainer, and I know that the “norm” is just to snatch the lizard up.”One day, it will just let you do that without running away!” Which surely works with some. Then again, that’s the way many horse people talk, and many dog people, too. In other words, they handle their animals roughly.
It seemed horrible to just terrify this lizard half to death each time I wanted to just hold him. He’d run to the other end of the aquarium, try to climb up the tall, slippery, clear walls. Frantic and freaked. I remember there was one time where I just held my hand still to see if it would calm him down.
So my boyfriend has started doing a similar thing more regularly. He has started riding a horse and he always nods along to my rants on how to be with animals. It seems to have rubbed off a bit on him. The other day he mentioned that he is holding his hand up in midair in the aquarium when his lizard gets scared and then backing off after a bit when his lizard stands still. Interesting to see where this leads! Naturally, lizards think differently than animals. Doesn’t mean they don’t feel fear! I’ll keep you up to date on any progress or surprises along the way.
Have you ever had a “training” or “taming” experience with a reptile?