asi.emailhandlers.net/assets/library/174_jaws060103.pdf

A little off topic but I think interestingly relevant. The above is a link to a .pdf of a publication about training aldabra tortoises. As you would expect it is quite easy for them to train them using food response but what is interesting is how easy it was to train them using tactile stimulation as a reward too. I suggest reading the article in its entirety though. Its not monitors but I believe torts should be considered at least debatably intelligent.
The other thing I would like to add is my perspective as a classically trained and peer-reviewed/published scientist. I think its important to acknowledge we are far less removed from other mammals than reptiles. Therefore their behavioral ques will be more similar to ours and easier to interpret. It should be at least considered reptiles may have behavioral ques for communication that naturally elude us as mammals. I also wonder if we may be misinterpreting their congregate/aggregate/congregate/aggregate behaviors. You say they come together out of necessity and then separate out of preference. I wonder if they come together out of preference and separate out of necessity ie when they are in their feeding primes no small area could possibly sustain them all so they separate but when possible to sustain them all in an area (while they brumate or during rainy/breeding seasons) they gather. I am not necessarily referring to your rattlesnake story, just a generalization on the pattern in many reptiles. Just a thought

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