But his approach IS wrong. VERY wrong. I think any well-informed posters here have an obligation to emphasize that. "Being nice" here seems to downplay the seriousness of the error. Yes, he came here looking for advice. And he's gonna get advice. Luckily we have people posting that don't tiptoe around blatant errors. It might sound "mean" - but a strong response hopefully elicits a prompt reaction, it's not to be taken personally, but for the sake of the monitor.
Here's my advice, Paradon:
(1) STOP reading Kaplan's webpage.
(2)you misinterpret your Sav's responses to you. The only thing he's "remembering" is that you are SCARY.
(3) when he gets bigger, his bite WILL hurt.
(4) when he closes his eyes, it's his last ditch effort to escape. You've forced him into a terror-stricken, frozen panic, and he will only associate you with fear. Someday, when he's bigger, he might catch you off guard and take a well-deserved hunk of flesh out of your hand. You might wonder why. Think back to this post.
(5) the concept of "dominant alpha" doesn't work here. They aren't social (in the sense that elephants are, or dogs..etc.) following that idea - you can't "punish" a monitor for bad behavior. They just aren't wired to understand that.
Fear is not your goal. Let him come to you. tempt him with food. Sit by his cage quietly. You don't want to be a monster, you want to co-exist, and you want him to know that you mean no harm. It takes time, it's worth it, it's safer and much more satisfying. I don't want to piss you off by telling you you're wrong - but you asked!!

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