The best day ever!
- Thread starter AW2EOD
- Start date
coura;2910765; said:MyFishEatYourFish;2909109; said:true coura, monitors are solitary creatures that do prefer to be left alone, but they are smart and adapt to social interaction with humans. unpredictability is a problem with all reptiles and will only be worsened if he is treated like hes expected to bite
Im not saying it should treat the lizard like a tiger but hell that is a animal that must be respected considering the kind of waponery it has on its mouth. This is still for all means a wild monitor that was raised by humans, You cant expect him to become like totaly tameIt has to be a limbo. On other hand unpredictability is defenetly bigger on this guys simply because they are so smart. Once I get my igs out of their cages I know i can trust them but I dont know if I would trust one of this guys
All animals can bite, but this have the potencial to do serious damage. On the other hand handling can have a oposite efect turning the animals wilder because they dont like it. But if the lizard "likes" it, interacion can be given and its desirable. But it has to be allways present the knowlege that this a predator lizard from a harsh evoirement and should be treated with the upmost respect as well as reading its body language. On the other hand this guys are great for training and he should teach him a few simple tricks for both safety.
. touching their head is not seen as a threat until its forsful or unrelenting, just like most animals. touching his head for him is not like eye contact with a dog, he will trust it until there's a reason not to.
Both can be seen as chalange, but really depends on the lizard. Some adult male igs dont like both eye contact or toching their heads. My big girl doesant like it either
i know the two lizards are very different but there are some similarities in all monitors. when i got my sav 3 months he would hiss, whip, bite and even lunge at me to try and bite. from handling him all the time and touching him all the time i can touch him anywhere and he will crawl right onto my lap and push his head into my hand to get me to scratch him, like a cat. this guy demands respect but that doesn't mean you need to be scared of him nor does it mean he can't be a pet.
Rigth but dont forget the kind of power it has, that on its own means that it has to be respected. I also think a litle healty amount of fear aint bad either, that will keep him safe. Good jugement is also important. Dont forget thouse 2 animals personality is diferent. Even with savs some aparently remain beasts from hell (even if I never saw a agressive one)
monitors are definitely the kings of glare. when mine is basking and doesn't want to be muffed with he will burn a whole through my eyes with his stare. i love it though cause he looks into my eyes when he does it and not at the hand that is reaching for him.
don't take this as "how do you know what youre talking about?", i'm just curious. do you have any monitors coura?
I dont have monitors, my big lizard thing its iguanas(also my mom doesant like the fact that they hand snake like tongues, go figure
) I do however look foward into getting me some ackies in the future. Back to topic, but I do have monitor contact. One of my best friends (now its studing in spain) has a true cb female sav that is completly tame. Now I kind of look at her because she´s living at he´s mom´s place after he´s room mates decided they no longer wanted a lizard pooping on the bathroom floor
but I refused, its a nice home and electricity aint cheap
i agree with everything you said! ok, lets quti, the op is probably getting annoyed with us
Thank ALL of you, for being so supportive and encouraging.
To say that I am happy to have this guy is a HUGE understatement.
We're working with him more and more, every day and he's responding very well. Hasn't shown a bit of aggression, but we've been extremely careful.
Not only has getting him been great, but since then, I've met some great people. A local cell biologist/herpatologist, who breeds big monitors. He, in turn, is putting me in touch with the head herpatologist at St. Louis Zoo. He's also put me in touch with a few people who have breeding pair of Crocs and their advice/info has been absolutely invaluable.
To say that I am happy to have this guy is a HUGE understatement.
We're working with him more and more, every day and he's responding very well. Hasn't shown a bit of aggression, but we've been extremely careful.
Not only has getting him been great, but since then, I've met some great people. A local cell biologist/herpatologist, who breeds big monitors. He, in turn, is putting me in touch with the head herpatologist at St. Louis Zoo. He's also put me in touch with a few people who have breeding pair of Crocs and their advice/info has been absolutely invaluable.
He took his first rat, last night. We're on a strict feeding schedule of one rat/mouse, per day, until fatty loses some weight. He's already lost at least an inch in girth and he's become more active...and more aggressive. Nothing to alarm us yet, but it's nice to see that he's more active, starting to hiss, posture, etc. when we do something he doesn't agree with.
AW2EOD;2918425; said:
Very nice!!! He's starting to act like he's supposed to now! How long did it take him to lose that much girth?
