monitor

D&J-burgos · 10-23-10, 04:51 AM

a friend of mine has a savana monitor about 4 months old, he is wanting to give it away with a 55gallon tank...ive never cared for one he says he is aggressive from little to no handling is there any way to correct his aggressiveness? (ive had other lizzards and snakes)

Reptile_Reptile · 10-23-10, 04:55 AM

in most cases yes but with a monitor i hear its slightly harder cause they are vicious XD i'd wear gloves and a long sleeve shirt (maybe 2) while doing it but after he realizes your not food/trying to eat him im sure the fella will calm down... it just takes time and patience/ neosporin

marvelfreak · 10-23-10, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reptile_Reptile

in most cases yes but with a monitor i hear its slightly harder cause they are vicious XD i'd wear gloves and a long sleeve shirt (maybe 2) while doing it but after he realizes your not food/trying to eat him im sure the fella will calm down... it just takes time and patience/ neosporin

So true. And make sure you have lots of neosporin. At that age it shouldn't be to hard to get it tamed down.

Freebody · 10-23-10, 05:34 PM

from what i have read they are easy to calm down, hand feed them, and spend lots of time with them. give your little fella a warm bath and suport him in the shallow water of the tub and after a short time he will be your best friend.

Jenn_06 · 10-23-10, 05:36 PM

hand feeding is not a good idea,there teeth are made to bit and hold on, if you really want to feed them use some tongs.

Freebody · 10-23-10, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenn_06

hand feeding is not a good idea,there teeth are made to bit and hold on, if you really want to feed them use some tongs.

my bad, that is what i meant :P i was just thinking in terms of putting food down and walking away

infernalis · 10-23-10, 06:38 PM

We raised ours from a hatchling, and I can say he is absolutely not vicious at all, but he has his moments.

NEVER consider ANY reptile at "tame"

Chomper has turned on me, he's turned on "mommy", if you happen to let your guard down at any moment, you have a powerful animal with eagle talons for feet...

I'm more worried about him slashing us with his toes than getting bitten.

bighog85 · 10-23-10, 10:00 PM

Monitor taming is not the same as snakes. Forced handling is about the worst thing you can do. Monitors are very smart and need to build up their trust in you before anything useful will happen. The best thing to do is to just get it used to you being in the same room. If it runs away as soon as you enter the room then it will do no good to try and handle it. Not until he starts to show curiosity in you is it time to go beyond just looking. You can then start to try and tong feed and get it used to you entering its enclosure. One bad experience for the monitor can set you back a long ways so you want to do this whole thing on their terms. Never, ever grab a monitor and force it to be around you. Food is the best training aid and once you can consistently and easily tong feed, then it is time to start working on maybe petting it as you feed and getting it used to your touch. It is not a quick process and keep in mind that this animal is still young. Young monitors are very wary and it is in their nature to run from anything bigger than they are. There is no reason to handle him now and it will only be detrimental to your long term goal. Also keep in mind that within a year or so you are going to need an enclosure that is a minimum of 8'x4'x4' so if you cannot provide that, then it is probably best that you not take him.

infernalis · 10-23-10, 10:23 PM

Once again, excellent post!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bighog85

Monitor taming is not the same as snakes. Forced handling is about the worst thing you can do. Monitors are very smart and need to build up their trust in you before anything useful will happen. The best thing to do is to just get it used to you being in the same room. If it runs away as soon as you enter the room then it will do no good to try and handle it. Not until he starts to show curiosity in you is it time to go beyond just looking. You can then start to try and tong feed and get it used to you entering its enclosure. One bad experience for the monitor can set you back a long ways so you want to do this whole thing on their terms. Never, ever grab a monitor and force it to be around you. Food is the best training aid and once you can consistently and easily tong feed, then it is time to start working on maybe petting it as you feed and getting it used to your touch. It is not a quick process and keep in mind that this animal is still young. Young monitors are very wary and it is in their nature to run from anything bigger than they are. There is no reason to handle him now and it will only be detrimental to your long term goal. Also keep in mind that within a year or so you are going to need an enclosure that is a minimum of 8'x4'x4' so if you cannot provide that, then it is probably best that you not take him.

D&J-burgos · 10-23-10, 10:28 PM

hmm..good points, i dont think space is a problem at all, and i assume handling a monitor is similar to iguanas no? ive had two and of course it took a while but they eventually where able to approach me on their own.

Freebody · 10-23-10, 10:35 PM

monitors are by far smarter than iguanas. iguanas are more the way they are as far as taming, i mean they are fine unually untill they hit maturity and if they are just nasty they will be nasty no matter what you do, same as if they are nice and calm its hard to gt them to be nasty, monitors on the other hand can be tamed and be fine for years and then you miss treat them a few time, actually my nile monitor relapsed on me after 1 bad experience. he bit be and clawed the hell out of my arm and jump out of my hands hit the ground and tried running off, so i grabbed him and he was so pissed off for months, infact he never forgave me after that. Smart with a grudge lol

D&J-burgos · 10-23-10, 10:39 PM

i know they are much smaller, thats why im considering taking him off his hands..i was thinking about getting another iguana but this may be a better match for me assuming i can devote the time with him and he being smaller than iguanas.

Freebody · 10-23-10, 10:43 PM

for the first few weeks your not going to handle him at all, just sit infront of the cage so he can see you and know your not a preditor, when hes fine with that and not hiding all the time , you can move in and feed him with tongs and move towards him being tame. when he is tame unlike iguana's they need to be Hot! so you cant really take him out for long periods of time any ways, but a few short trips out of the cage a day will keep him nice and happy

D&J-burgos · 10-23-10, 10:47 PM

when i had my red i would always leave the cage open all day and he would come and go between the living room window (where my couch was and i often sat with him) and his cage...would i be able to do this with a monitor at some point?

Freebody · 10-23-10, 10:56 PM

hmm no, not unless you set up a small box and keep a light that can heat him up to 130- 150d. i do know a guy on a different forum, that that does that and lets him monitor run around, so ya you can, just get a nice flood light and a large litter box with some soil in it so when he wants to heat up he can, but i still would not let him out 2 long because i bet you he would get cold just because he would want to explore more than he is worried about regulating his temp.