monitor experts

[Lrptls]

i am considering not keeping my sav =( i love him alot and am doing every thing i can to keep his cage needs right and care for him right but hes geting more and more chalenging and i also have to worry about all my other reptiles...so i am thinking he may need a better home, i will NOT give him to just any one! i want some one who knows their monitors! so if any of the monitor experts near MD think they can take in another sav...please tell me, thank you

[reptiguy123]

Explain size, weight, eating habits, temp, humidity, condition, etc. Then you could get more responses quicker. I wouldn't mind, but I would need to know these things+how soon you need to "rid yourself of it" and how you other people would get it.

[V.hb]

Just hang onto him, you're doing a good job by asking all your questions. I tell you, your sav is in no immediate danger, just take your time and improve. Not everyone here knew what they were doing when they started out. Keep em' and you'll see how rewarding it is later on.... Nothin like a full grown HEALTHY monitor! :)

[Bartman]

I agree, keep working with him and you will be happy. I had my sav for about 3 months and i love him so much, i can just sit and watch him explore for hours :) there so intellegent...just be patient!

[Lrptls]

i'v had my sav 8 months and although i have gotten his health way up he is just geting harder and harder cause i dont have his cage requirements right yet and i dont know how i'm going to get him a cage, i have to buy alot of other cages. i'm going to give myself a little while to think about this, but i want whats best for him

[Bartman]

If you are having trouble caring for him to the point where he will begin to get neglected then of course sell him to someone who has the time, but id say try to keep him...there great animals!

[Lrptls]

i have no idea how i'm going to tame him though, if i get near the cage he goes in the hides and sence i'm not supose to take him out the hides he won't come out for hours.....so how do i do any thing with him?

[Bartman]

Mine does that to, it doesnt hiss but it jets to a hide the second it sees anything moving. Ive had it for about 3 or 4 months now maybe and i finially saw it grazing around the tank. Ive never seen it out...basically i can tell its slowly getting used to me being around. As someone said on another thread you have, patience is key!

[Lrptls]

today i fed him earth worms, he really liked them. so a few hours after he ate i got out a worm and tried to coax him out of his hide with it, he just squished himself in the back of the hide. i tried for about 10 minutes and i ended up moving the hide, i showd him the worm and he took it from me. i see this a good start that he wasn't scared to death to get close to my hand.

[Bartman]

see!! :D
good luck with the calming process, but try and not give up

[crocdoc]

Michele, your biggest problem that I can see is that you want it to become tame overnight.

It won't.

Patience is the key. It may take a long while, or it may never become as tame as you want it to, but trying to rush things will only make it worse. Once you've accepted that and take your time with it, you'll learn to enjoy your monitor more.

If you were looking for a guaranteed tame animal, monitors may not be the right choice for you, in which case you'd be better off giving it away. The choice is up to you. I think monitors are fascinating animals, whether they are 'tame' or not.

[NewLineReptile]

Well said Crocdoc

I have a sav that was nasty as hell when a babie but with the year i have had him he is a big suck now. So keep working on him and like the crocdoc said "Patience" is the KEY

Good luck

Brandon & Sherri

[Lrptls]

thanks, i'll keep trying with him yet be patient, i was never thinking i'd get a completley tamed peaceful monitor, i just want something that when its bigger it wont be trying to constantly bite me =\

[reptiguy123]

The doc isn't lying.

[Lrptls]

today i got him out to see if he would take more worms from me, he was taking them and spitting them out. i sat on my floor and had him in my lap trying to give him worms or see if he'd eat ouf of the bowl i was holding. eventually i decided to give up, he just didn't want to eat that close to me. i started peting him behind his ears which he use to really enjoy. and he let me do it again, i swtichd behind each ear every few seconds, he closes his eyes, he nearly fell asleep in my lap. after about 10 minutes of that i pickd him up, he was wiggling again and i put him back in his cage with his food. i think i found a way to get him to like me =)

[reptiguy123]

Where would you guys say the "weak" spot is on savs to calm them down?

[Bartman]

Petting mine on the top of the head seems to calm him down..if i go to his neck or under he gets really wired...i guess its becaues i could "kill" him easily if i wanted to, as if i was a preditor or something

[reptiguy123]

Yea, that makes sense.

[crocdoc]

my monitors (albeit not savannahs) hate being patted on the head but don't mind being stroked under their chin/throat.

[Lrptls]

mine likes being petted on the head too, but when you scratch behind his ears the eyes close and cocks his head a little like when you scratch behind a dog or cats ears, he enjoys it so much

[reptiguy123]

IMO that's the equivalent of a dog's leg going off.:D