My new baby

just rescued my baby spike a week ago from my nephews friend. He was an impulse purchase by friends dad to please his friend who very quickly lost interest. He is now 3-5 years old( they don't know, they had him for around 2 years) he was adequately fed and heated, but wasn't ever snuggled or played with. Now he is very aggressive and standoffish, especially with my husband and boys. At first I could at least hand feed and bathe him, but He is more combative with me after my husband and brother handled him. Now he wont let me pick him up even with a long warm up ( showing my hands approaching from below ECT.) I have only had girls previously, is thins a male thing or because of his past? Really want to show him he is loved and safe, any ideas? I don' t want to do anything traumatic!

Its going to take some time and patience since he was neglected -- you can try hand feeding him some worms like super horn or butter worms -- what size is his tank hes in now and what are you using for a UVB brand and bulb please - if you like you can post a pic of the tank
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Karrie

He needs lots of love and time, but I'm sure he'll come around and be as sweet as your previous girls were.

Thanks for your responses! He is in a 50 gallon currently with 100watt zoomed uva light, keeping the basking temp at 100 during the day warm side at 85-90 and the cool side at 75-80. Been checking with the temp gun regularly. We tried moving him to a larger tank but he tore it up and was surfing almost constantly, so we put him back but added the hammock and hide to make it more comfy...trying to ease into moving him back once he gets more comfortable.

Your uvb needs to be a 24" fixture w/ reflector and a Reptisun 10.0 T 5 bulb- if that's a coil please get rid of it--- they are a health issue-- the UVB also controls their behavior-

It is not a coil, That was the first change i made when he got here, and the bigger tank has a much better light but it doesn't fit on this tank. We have always used zoo med, and they have been great for our girls...