Monitor attacking blanket

[BarelyBreathing]

I'm sure Max is sticking his tongue out at you right now.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by crocdoc

Hail3gh, the issue isn't just the temperature, but humidity as well. Monitors kept in open pens indoors tend not to do well long term because houses are heated/air conditioned to suit human comfort levels rather than tropical monitors. After years on the forums a common pattern that emerges with monitors that are allowed to free roam is that they live relatively short lives. They look really healthy and appear to do well, but after a few years (anywhere from 1-6) they die of assorted complications. Long term, low-level dehydration takes its toll, so the animals may have gout or assorted other issues that aren't easily picked up..

Please take this advice to heart, for it is the most important piece of information given here.

[crocdoc]

Originally Posted by BarelyBreathing

Crocdoc, I have a blue tail who has serious mood swings when he's in shed. Other than him, I haven't noticed huge behavioral differences in my other twelve.

Define a mood swing.

How can you determine when he's in shed, vs not in shed, anyway? All of the monitors I've owned are in almost constant shed. If they're young then they start shedding as soon as the previous shed has come off and the older ones almost always have some piece of loose skin somewhere that's about to come off. If they were moody when 'in shed', they'd be moody all of the time.

That aside, I've never seen a monitor attack an inanimate object like a blanket because it was having a mood swing.

[BarelyBreathing]

First off, he's no longer a baby, he's not in that awkward "constantly in shed" phase. He only gets moody when his shed is coming up around his face. He starts hissing when he's startled (something he doesn't normally do) and he will sometimes charge the glass at me (also something he doesn't normally do). I assume it's because these pieces of skin are somehow irritating him by either itching or being in his field of view.

[theapexgerman]

i would love to see him hiss at you make a video sometime when he hisses at you

[BarelyBreathing]

I think I have a video on my other computer. Now if it will only get repaired and get sent back.

[crocdoc]

Now we're getting somewhere. A monitor becoming annoyed when it's already irritated by loose skin around its face makes sense. A monitor becoming moody because it's 'in shed' doesn't.

[theapexgerman]

aww damm oh well

[BarelyBreathing]

Lol. You explain things much better than I do, crocdoc.

[Hail3gh]

So what your saying after all this confussion is You think she is just in a bad mood cause she has a lot of loose skin because of a shed. She attacked the blanket again last night she started shaking her head so I backed away to see what her plan was. She was not irritated by anyone because we were not touching her... She bit onto the blanket and started shaking it back and forth like it was food and wanted to kill it... I am confused now trying to figure out if she is hungry or just plain in a bad mood... Do You think that maybe the smell of my bed is making her think of food maybe the laundry detergent or something?

[crocdoc]

No, I don't think your monitor is in a bad mood because of a shed. I think the blanket has smells on it that make the monitor think it may be edible. It wouldn't be the laundry detergent unless it was straight out of the wash - body smells will often do that to a monitor.

Have you had a thought about the pen vs enclosure setup?

[infernalis]

Chomper had a thing for dirty socks.

The smell of human sweat (foot odour) made him hungry and he wanted to eat the socks.

[crocdoc]

My monitors often grab things out of my laundry basket and carry it off proudly like a fresh kill, with me hot on their tail.

[BarelyBreathing]

Now that I'd like to see, croc!

[SpOoKy]

My monitors often grab things out of my laundry basket and carry it off proudly like a fresh kill, with me hot on their tail.

That sounds incredibly cute!