Monitor Care Opinions wanted

RontheReptile · 04-17-04, 10:40 PM

Hey Guys... (Also posted on CyberSal)

My little guy is a little over 2 ft. I have had him almost 3 months. I started by feeding him disco roaches and hissers, with a few meal worms now and then. I have now largely switched over to rodents(pinky rats.. 2 or 3 at a time) as well as fish and large tiger shrimp which I cut up into small enough peices. I also read that cat food supplamented with calcium d3 is acceptable. I have used this in a jam when I've run out of rodents. He is fed every second day.

Ambient Temp is about 90 deg.. Elevated basking spot at least 120 deg.. Humidity is between 50 - 80%. He seems to be thriving. Substrate is a dampened soil / peat moss mix. He has 2 hide spots which he uses alternately. He has a large water pool as well.

I have no intention of breeding him or getting another Monitor. I would love to get him tame as a lap dog. I would like some advice on my husbandry and any other advice on taming the little dragon would be greatly appreciated. Should I be doing something different?

Thanks in advance,,,,
Ron

Lrptls · 04-17-04, 10:42 PM

...what is it?

RontheReptile · 04-17-04, 11:08 PM

LOL !!!! Sorry... He is a Sumatran Water Monitor...

Lrptls · 04-17-04, 11:13 PM

that might be useful for people who know about them, sorry but i only know stuff about savannahs

RontheReptile · 04-17-04, 11:19 PM

I heard that savannahs share a lot of the same husbandry routines..

Lrptls · 04-18-04, 12:09 AM

if so then i'd say you are caring for your monitor well. i wont suggest any thing or tell you to do something different because it could be different between the species. if youv been caring for him like this and hes healthy then i wouldn't worry about any thing.

to tame him, try handling often without restraining him too much and when you want to handle him dont take him out of his hides, wait till hes alreayd out.

crocdoc · 04-18-04, 04:09 AM

Ron, skip the catfood.

As far as taming, I'm a big believer in no forced handling at all. With my monitors I wait until they get curious and start coming to check me out when I am cleaning or changing their water. They eventually do as they get a bit larger. i allow them to crawl onto my hand, then put them down. The next day, if they crawl up again, I may have them sit there a bit longer. As long as they don't have a negative experience (you grabbing them), they soon learn that you can be trusted. By the time they are adults, they are usually pretty cool with almost anything you do.

RontheReptile · 04-18-04, 06:03 AM

Thanks Crocdoc (DK on CybSal) ..
I have stopped grabing him a while ago. he will eat in front of me on occasion as long as I don't make any quick movements. He has also taken tong fed food from me as well. I have heard from a few people and most agreed with your method of taming. I have also heard that "daily gentle handling" will tame him. I could only assume that to "handle him gently daily" means chasing him down and grabbing him and then letting him calm down in your hands as I had done in the past. I would like to hear from anyone who used the "daily gentle handling" method to see how it turned out in the long run.
Thanks again in advance....

V.hb · 04-20-04, 02:12 PM

The husbandry with savannahs, and waters is pretty different, actually.

They require a higher humidity level. I kept my waters on leaf litter (deep leaf litter) oak leaves, or whatever I could find. They always burrowed deep in it. Basking spots, roughly the same. As crocdoc said, dont use catfood, its crap. Stick with whole meals, like rodents, fish, chicks.. and of course the roaches, crickets etc.. Make sure he's got ALOT of hides, i always found them incredibly skittish as juvis, even refuse food if they dont feel secure.

Ive never done the daily handling routine with any of my monitors. I just do the cage maintenance, and slowly but surely they stop taking off in my presence. Once they get to the point where they dont dash i slowly begin to touch them, and sometimes pick them up and move them from one part of the enclosure to another.. Eventually you'll be able to take him out, stress free.

crocdoc · 04-20-04, 08:44 PM

I think the daily handling thing, if it involves chasing the animal down and grabbing it, will depend strongly on the individual monitor. Mine certainly remember their most recent dealings with me and will react accordingly the next time I open the enclosure door. In the case of one of my females, she is more hostile towards me if I picked her up (without her crawling on me first) the day before. If I continued to do that, she'd probably stay well away from me and quickly become a defensive, nasty animal. Because I tend to leave her alone, she usually comes to check me out when I open the enclosure door.

V.hb · 04-21-04, 03:14 PM

crocdoc, i agree completely. it really depends on the monitor. Some are a challenge, they will run, huff & hiss at you but then take food willingly, in this case i dont believe they're stressed they just dont want to be bothered..

in other cases the monitor will run and slam into walls of the enclosure, and refuse to eat.. Thats a stressed animal.. Kinda goes to show how different each individual really can be doesnt it?

RontheReptile · 04-22-04, 04:47 PM

Thanks guys... nothing better than advice from personal experience .... I will have to be patient and let him come to me...
thanks again

mbayless · 04-26-04, 06:37 PM

Hi,
As DK and Vh.b have said, they learn by association re: tameness and handling, so avoid that whenever possible. Also scooping them up under their bodies gives them better support, less "Ive been grabbed by an eagle" sensation, which is one of their key predators when younger; as all monitors - ever notice they watch airplanes flying far overhead?!

good luck,
markb

reptiguy123 · 04-27-04, 10:59 AM

Have you ever watched a monitor react to a kite?

mbayless · 04-27-04, 11:38 AM

Hahahaha - no I have not! I bet that is interesting! Never thought of that.....my 6'2" female albigularis would sit in upstairs window and watch birds level eye-to-eye with her in the window, and sometimes lunge at them - and would have got them if the window was not in the way....kites - thats funny....
markb