another henk hatchling and some extreme aggression

miguel camacho!

miguel camacho!

New member
well, after finally ridding the stubborn mites off of one of my male henkeli, i decided to reintroduce him to the group tonight. i didnt really expect it, but the males really started to duke it out. they were biting onto one anothers faces and limbs, and yelling at each other. i quickly stepped in and tried to separate them, but they were biting each other and refusing to let go. so after some gentle coaxing, they split, only to get into this weird defensive or territorial stance. both were fired up in extreme colors, rear ends lifted way in the air, tails waving around, and faces planted flat against a branch. they were still lunging at one another, so i reached in, and as i reached for one, the other grabbed my thumb and gave it a decent lil chomp. not the kind of bite i would expect from something like a tokay, but definitely the first unprovoked (well, at least i wasnt provoking him) bite ive ever gotten from any of my leaftails. they both must have been supercharged because they were crazy colors all night, and when i had finaly caught one of the males to separate the two, i sued a plastic bag over my hand to catch him so he wouldnt latch on. well it was a good thing, because he got the bag and he was a little easier to remove that way. anyway, there some pics of the situation, the first clutch that hatched out, and the nicest looking, most recent one that hatched. enjoy.

haha a mspaint sketch i did of their posturing
henkelidefensivestance.jpg


male biting the bag i had over my hand
henkbite1.jpg


the damage
henkbite2.jpg

henkbite3.jpg


the new baby
henk121006.jpg

henk121006b.jpg


the older two
dechenk2.jpg

dechenk1.jpg


a lot of spots showing up in the henkeli this year.
 
L

L.A.C. Herps

New member
nice post mike. The drawing reminded me of when little henks get ticked off and they stand up real tall and posture themselves kind of like the drawing. I guess I wouldn't like it so much with an adult thrown into the mix biting at me. Great looking hatchling too.
 
W

Whodaplatus?

New member
similar henk problems

Mike,

Nice drawing - seriously - a decent representation. So I've had similar problems with my henks. Specifically Mr. Bojangles has taken several beatings from Dr. Diego Suarez. There are 3 adult females in the same enclosure. The male-male aggression escalated over a few months last spring until I relocated Mr. Bojangles to a fimbriatus tank where he's never caused a problem. I've since tried 2 or 3 times to reintroduce Bojangles, but every time it's the same firing up, tail displays and biting on the first night. It's not even like Diego gets busy with the ladies - just super territorial with Bojangles.

Crazy stuff. It's amazing how social this genus is for a lizard.

Best,
Mike
 
HUNDO188

HUNDO188

New member
Nice post,i also have a male kept by himself and he is as aggressive as an tokay.As soon as you open the cage he tries to attack,its crazy.
 
miguel camacho!

miguel camacho!

New member
i just wanted to add the simple detail that the defensive posture was different from the startled posture of henkeli. the startled posture is more like the stereotypical pissed off cat pose, legs stretched long, back arched, and tail straight out into the air. with this pose, the front end was lying against the branch, with the hind quarters lifted high in the air, and tail waving. it's all in the details.

heres a better illustration of the startled pose....although the back not quite as arched.
CBhenk3.jpg
 
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