Well good luck with that one.
Remember to post pictures when you get bit.😜
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(Varanus ornatus) Ornate "Nile" Monitor
- Thread starter that_fish_Guy
- Start date
Remember to post pictures when you get bit.😜
Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
That's part of the hobby 😉but I will for sure .....I doubt I will be bitten as I have experience and know my limits when it comes to these beasts....but hey ....you never know .... 🐊🚑
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PICS of the new sav
Adding two creamic heat lamps tonight and making a shingled slanted roof next week and building a water tight electrical housing
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Adding two creamic heat lamps tonight and making a shingled slanted roof next week and building a water tight electrical housing
Sent from my LG-D850 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Completely different species actually, V, ornatus versus V. niloticus. These two form a clade with savannas, white throats and black throats in the subgenus Polydaedalus.
These guys aren't as wild as Niles, but they can be temperamental. Not really a beginner's lizard like its clade-mate, the savanna monitor.
There's a good reason they are the "lesser kept" monitors. They are aggressive, belligerent, fast, unpredictable, they bite, slash, tail-whip, and make a ton of mess. Not likely that it will see the 5-6 foot mark, most captives mature around 4, but mine was 57", so anything is possible....just make sure you have experience with big mean lizards and crocodiles or you're gonna get pounded by all 6 ends of that thing.
Invest in a pair of Welder's Gloves for handling him, and tape the mouth shut and cover it's head with a little cloth bag when you have to work with him. I have been bitten and it's bad - they lock-on and it can last hours if they want it too before they let go. The claws will literally cut into your skin just from it's weight alone and that tail, dude........OMG dude,....the tail, the tail lol Keep a firm grip on that sucker at all times.
He's not going to love you like a Savannah and I have never seen a tame Nile. handle him everyday while he's a juvenile and if you're lucky he might not turn into a chainsaw with legs.
Also, Ornates are a different sub-species, but still the same species as Varanus niloticus
ROFLMAO!!! SEEE, they're friggin EVIL!!!
Ok, this post deserves some serious attention.
I agree that these animals are NOT beginner's monitors and command tons of respect. I do, however, strongly disagree with....
Frank Castle
suggests will only reinforce to the animal that you're a threat.
If one wants to raise a large monitor into a calm, trusting, tractable pet, reference the video series put out by Kevin McCurly and Jason Raimondi from New England Reptile Distributors (NERD) on socialization and handling. You'll learn a thing or two about the psychology of these surprisingly intelligent animals.
While Niles and ornates both tend to be a bit more wild than a water or albigularis, they are by no means immune to the charms of a competent handler. They don't calm down in a month like the aforementioned species, but with patience and proper husbandry, they make some of the best pets in the big-lizard world. Learn on a savannah, water or a tegu, or hell, a croc monitor, before you try a Nile or ornate. Your life will be much easier.
The primary reason that they're a lesser kept species is that most people don't know what they have. It is the exact same thing as how TATF were unknown in the hobby until someone bothered to actually explain what they were, then it turned out that they were more common than vitattus and no one knew what they had.
I agree that these animals are NOT beginner's monitors and command tons of respect. I do, however, strongly disagree with....
...That nonsense. This is some of the absolute worst advice I've ever seen on varanid husbandry. You take a species of animal known for defensive reactions, and then treat it in such a manner as to guarantee further defensive reactions. This is how you create a large, wild, dangerous animal that is exactly the opposite of what someone assuming the responsibility for a lizard the size of a dog should want. One must build TRUST with the animal; a bond that teaches the animal that you're beneficial and not trying to harm it. Doing what
Frank Castle
suggests will only reinforce to the animal that you're a threat. If one wants to raise a large monitor into a calm, trusting, tractable pet, reference the video series put out by Kevin McCurly and Jason Raimondi from New England Reptile Distributors (NERD) on socialization and handling. You'll learn a thing or two about the psychology of these surprisingly intelligent animals.
While Niles and ornates both tend to be a bit more wild than a water or albigularis, they are by no means immune to the charms of a competent handler. They don't calm down in a month like the aforementioned species, but with patience and proper husbandry, they make some of the best pets in the big-lizard world. Learn on a savannah, water or a tegu, or hell, a croc monitor, before you try a Nile or ornate. Your life will be much easier.
Chicxulub
I have owned them and they don't ALL tame down, Bro. I agree mostly what you are saying, but the same could be said for my Anacondas......I had 2 females tamed and docile, and had my male for 10 years he NEVER tamed down. He would bite you and that was guaranteed. I worked with large constrictors for better than 25 years and I'm not too shabby at it, and this one just would NOT stop being psychotic.Just like my Nile, just like a vast majority or Spectacled Caimans, Cuban Crocodiles, many Kingsnakes and so on. Everyone who has kept a variety of different reptiles or even had a mean one that was supposed to be nice can fairly agree that just like people, there's always some bad apples out there.
My recommendations were for the safety of the owner and I was covering all bases because people who own animals that are large, aggressive and potentially dangerous need to understand the capabilities of the Forces of Mother Nature. You can't tame everything, especially cold-blooded animals. Dude, we haven't even technically domesticated CATS.
I speak from the stand-point of someone who has taken every precaution and spent my entire life working with animals like monitors, crocodilians, constrictors, venomous snakes, and too much more to list in a post - and many of the thoughts I have typed are hindsight while I'm in the hospital getting stitched up or worse. You can not go into something like owning an animal like that without understanding the risk and what it can do to you. To do so otherwise would be foolish, reckless, and possibly even dangerous, Sir.
Cheers.
What is TAFT stand for?
