I have a 6 month old male (Cameron Highlands form). When I first got him at 2 months old, he would rattle his tail and display other defensive behavior. Since then, however, he has tamed significantly, and I am now able to pick him up without being bitten. He is still very flightly, but I suspect this behavior will disappear within a few months, or if I handle him more frequently. I attribute much of his more mellow behavior to the frequency with which he sees me. Since his cage is right next to my desk, he sees movement around his cage every day. Also, I usually mist his cage once a day, if not more.



As for the natural history of ridleyis, they definitely are interesting. It's very clear that mine prefers cooler temperatures. As an experiment, I placed a blowing fan on top of one portion of his cage on a hot day (90 degrees room temp), and he stayed underneath the fan for a while. He will also not remain on top of, or underneath, any direct source of heat over 85 degrees for an extended period of time, always choosing to move to a cooler location (~75 degrees).



In short, I think ridleys are well worth the potential work of taming them as juveniles. Good luck!

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