Mean Sav!?

[LORI34205]

i have had my sav for about 3 or 4 months now and it is growing rapid.It is inly about 11 or 12 inches now but is getting a personality i dont like.It hisses and tail whip alot, i handle it 4 outta 7 days.And it has jmped out of my hand twice!
i am very scared of handling my sav now(not because it can hurt me but it can get out of my hand very fast.)what to do???!
i heard that that size can be a little jittery and squirmy but they will out grow it?Please help me i dont know what to do.I refuse to have a sav that will act like this its whole life.

[JasonBrennan]

Don't take his attitude personally. He is just doing what comes naturally to him. As far as he is concerned, you are a predator...it takes some time to have a "tame" savannah (I use the word tame loosely).

Don't just put him straight back in his cage if he bites you, or hisses or tail whips or whatever. Just be persistantly gentle (if that makes sense), and he "should" come around.

If he proves to be more than you want to deal with, ship him up to me (I love herps with attitudes!!).

[burmer]

My little nile is the same way, and a little bit worse. Don't give up on it though. Mine has made alot of progress. I try to handle every other day for about 10 minutes. Most days he tolerates it for a few minutes and lets me know when he is done being handled. He doesn't hiss or bite he just whips a little and gets real flighty. Get yourself a pair of glove too it helps.

[V.hb]

being a little cranky is nothing out of the ordinary.. it takes time and work to calm them down.. some savs are just dog tame from the get go, but some arent.. Ive had some that were just completely tame, and grow to massive adults and remain tame.. but yet others that would literally lunge to bite given the chance..

Maybe a coincidence, but i found more of the banded savannahs more aggressive.. I know patterning has nothing to do with mental activity, but maybe a different locality? markb? any insight?

[Steeve B]

Not sure about this but you may have something here! Aberrant patterning is often the result of high incubation temperatures, many animals iv seen with such banded or aberrant pattern where kind of mentally ********, very high strong always striking at every movements and reluctant feeders, now aim not saying this applies to all aggressive monitors, no aim just sharing personal observation from captive hatchlings from witch I know the history, this allowing an accurate diagnosis. Species IV witnessed includes ringed pythons, berm pythons, sinolean milk, calif king, red eared sliders, dwarf croc, alligators, Jobiensis, and probably a few aim forgetting! All of these animals exhibited aberent patturning or banded and light to sever norological damage resulting from high incubation temps. Perhaps others may whant to shar there experience too!
Rgds

[V.hb]

steve its really interesting you say this too! ive noticed this behavior in a few species as well. the savannahs i saw this with were very light in color, and completely banded.. completely insane too!

[LORI34205]

Far from insane but a little cranky at times.Nothing a little time wont heal i think.If she goes truly psycodic i will let her to the wild or sell her.Lets all hope that wont happen.

[Dragoon]

Back to the wild??

You are considering a plane ticket back to Africa?
D.

[V.hb]

Lori, i really hope you dont mean you're gonna send it into the wild/FLORIDA
dont do that!!!!!!!!!! if you dont want the sav iam sure theres many expierienced keepers your way that will take the little guy off your hands. Dont sell him to a petstore, look for a herp society your way and donate it! they will find him a good home

[Bartman]

my tegu is exactly the same...and i was also thinking of selling it but i cant now..ive had him/her for tooo long to give up now..i took some tips from the people on this site and i went from not even being able to come into the room with out it going crazy to picking it up only in the enclosure and from time to time but that was all in the span on 2 months so think about what another year or so can do to its personality..as someone said before its only defending itself because it thinks your trying to kill it so you need to gain its trust first..that is the key. good luck with ur savanah and i hope you wont have to end up selling it.

[V.hb]

bartman, good work with your tegu.. if i remember correctly it was a golden? those are much more work then a savannah. take this expierience as a good thing Lori, he worked with a far more aggressive species and got somewhere with it..... keep the work up with your sav, you wont regret it in the long run.

[hudson]

LORI don't get discouraged too quickly you haven't had her for that long, it's going to take time. She has to learn to trust you.
We got ours w/c at over two feet long and for some reason it was dead "tame" and strangely very protective of me from the beginning, but my husband on the other hand could not walk in the room with me and the sav without the sav running across the room to bite him. He couldn't feed him, change his water, or clean his cage at first. Now a year later he can actually handle him with no problems (as long as I'm not in the room).

Don't give up, she'll come around.

Kate

[Amiechann]

Originally posted by LORI34205
if she goes truly psycodic i will let her to the wild

That's definitely not a good idea.. :mad:
I'm hoping you are joking..

[Bartman]

unless your ACTUALLY thinking of flying to africa or wherever there from.........they wouldnt make it a second in northamerica