Posted by:
jobi
at Sun Jun 10 15:11:47 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by jobi ]
Peoples keep asking me why I say this, well its not just a question of temper, size or dentition, the answer is more about all of these combined.
This is a skull of an adult 4.5feet nil monitor, given the choice id rather be bitten by such animal then any other species of same size, looking at the dentition should give you an idea why. Sure African monitors have enormous jaw pressure, they can crush bones, I don’t know if they can crush finger bones but they sure can do damage, no where near the damage a same size water can do.
But theirs more then bite damage, nil’s in particular have been pledged with a bad reputation as being aggressive, they are not aggressive but rather defensive, witch is a good thing as it teaches about respect, the body language of a nil is easy to read for any keeper regardless of expertise, you know when the lizards want nothing to do with you, this is invaluable communication between keeper and kept unequalled with other species, as they grow to adulthood and learn to trust there keeper, this language is by then engraved in your memory and will protect you from a possible future accident with your captive, this cant be said of other species witch do the opposite, they allow close contact when baby but become dominant as adults, often unpredictable (many salvator do this)
I am not saying go out and get an African monitor, no!
But if you have one already, be a proud owner, this is not a disposable reptile, it’s a unique creature that deserves all the best you can offer, and will reword you later, more then any species I know.
I love English, it use to take me a bazillion words to say nothing, now I can do this in one post, what an improvement.
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 Why African monitors are safer… - jobi, Sun Jun 10 15:11:47 2007 
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