Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been trying to tame my Savannah monitor, Buba, and so far he's doing great. But I would like some tips for those who alread has experience in taming these guys. So correct me if I'm wrong. So far I've been working with mine intensely since he's still young and his bite doesn't actually hurt. When I pick him up, he tends to struggle to get away so I would hold him firmyly until he stop squirming in my hand; then I put him down. Then I kept repeating this quite a number of times. Simple cause and effect. Just how smart are they? Ddo you think they'll remember what I'm teaching him? I heard they can be smart, but I'm not sure. But so far so good! I guess they do have the ability to learn. Another trick I'm teaching it is: when I pet and scratch his head, he gets very aggrevated and opens his mouth and trys to bite me. I don't let him get away with this. i kept do this until he shuts his mouth and calm down, and then I stop. I kept repeating this for quite sometime to the point that he would just close his eyes and let me scratch and pet his head. So like I said: they seem like a very intelligent lizard and learn pretty quickly, too.

You don't think that doing any of those things is stressing him out? You've had stuggles with him not eating before, no? Stress is one of the causes of this! Didn't you read any of Holly's posts on her way to effectively handle monitors?

I have a young monitor myself and have used a completely different approach which has worked wonderfully.(so far)

I first put a worn shirt in his cage so he could get used to my scent on his own terms(it seemed to work with the tegu's I had, so I tried it with my monitor). Then I would open his cage periodically and talk to him and hold my hand out for him to approach it and explore it at his will. Eventually he was comfortable enough to just walk out on my hand.
Now I can open the cage and he will walk out on my hand and up to my shoulder. Then I will go back near the cage and let him walk back into his cage when Im done holding him. He comes out on his own terms and I don't bother him or dig him up unless its absolutely necessary.

I think your approach will cause your monitor to appear having a "broken spirit", basically looking like they have lost all hope.
Imagine if you were just walking around one day and some huge monster picked you up and sqeezed your head, but he wouldn't let you go until you stopped moving. You struggle because you are pissed off and then when you finally give up he puts you down. How happy are you? Do you like the monster or would you try to crap on him and bite him the next time you saw him. Or maybe you would lay there and play dead.

Just a thought.

Oh, no I didn't come up with this approach myself. I was reading Mellisa Kaplin care sheet for green iguana because I happen to have one myself, and basically that's how she tames her iguana. Her method is call behavior modification. She said they do the same with elephants and other animals in the zoo. When you see them telling the elephant to lifts up the legs, it's not a trick; they teach them that so they can inspect their feet properly. The same with dogs and iguana. You want to be the alpha and need to show them that the only time they get what they want is to listen to you. Except, ofcourse, monitor aren't that social compared to the green iguana. I was just following her method for behavior modification since she's an accomplish animal rescuer and rehabilatator.

your sav is not a iggy or a elephant and to get a elephant to do the tricks and all the other things they do they are really breaking the elephants spirit and your approach to handling your monitor will do the same you might get him "tame" thay way but he is going to loose his spirit and that is terrible, and when he gets all calm in your hand and shuts his eyes is because you defeted him (breaking his spirit) and he probably thinks your going to eat him anyway your going about the "taming process all WRONG VERRY WRONG look back a couple of weeks or so and youll see a post on handling by oh s324 i forgot her name im sure youll find it if you care to look she has a big mangrove her post ohn how to "tame"- handle is what you should do
i think its handling not taming is the subject find it before you stress out your sav too much

it was holly on july 1st says handling not tameing
hot topic
its one of the best articles ive read on the subdject you should READ IT

I think the problem is that you are grouping iguanas and monitors together. They are not the same or even close!
Have you noticed that some dogs bow down when their owner talks to them? Thats because they control their dog like you are controlling your monitor. With an iron fist. They install fear in the animal and call it tame, yet the animal is praying for its life.

You say that monitors aren't as social as the green iguana. If thats true, why are you treating it like one? For an animal that wants to be alone and would prefer not to be with you, why are you forcing it to be where it doesn't want to be!? Its a very intelligent animal and can choose what it wants. And it does not forget anything. 10 years down the road when you can't figure out why your monitor hates and fears you, it will probably link back to that one time you forcefully pried his mouth open or kept petting him on the head when he made it extremely clear he did not like it.

If you get information for an iguana, use it for an iguana. From my personal experience, iguana's are nightmares. You have no way to interact with them unless you control them and make them fear you. Monitors appear to have a lot more brain capacity. And besides, why do you insist on controlling your monitor and making it listen to you. Its a WILD ANIMAL! Your goal should be to make it happy, not control it.

What if your parents beat the crap out of you and told everyone it is the best way to make you listen to them and everyone else should use the same method. Does that make it right? Everyone is different and different circumstances apply to each person. Same with animals. They are not the same. Not even close. I think you are making a big mistake by applying the same technique to all creatures big and small...

paradon definantly needs some help, you sav experts out there help him for his lizards sake

At least he was trying and is here to get more infomation. The problem with this(and other) forum(s) is that many people say you need to do this, you are wrong, what I say is right.
Most people don't listen when approached like that, because they are given no reason to. If we help him to understand WHY his approach is potentially bad, instead of just telling him it is, it will make more sense and instill the willingness to fix it....

and yes, Hollys post should be read by every monitor keeper. It's very well written, in depth, and it works! Many thanks to her for taking the time.

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!!

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep that in mind. I'm gonna try your approach instead.

I just read a guide on how to tame them a little bit ago I can't remmebr where but here is pretty well what it said to me.

1) Get it used to your presence which is basicly when he will not run into his hide every time you walk by.

2) Get him used to your smell by putting your hand in the tank for a few weeks until he's not scared of it and doesn't consider it a threat.

3) Now it's his choice, his curious nature will kick in eventually and he will inspect what your hand is and hopefully climb onto it.

4) Start by only picking him up a little bit leaving him in his cage usually makes him feel more comfortable.

Thats pretty much what it said and it made sense to me I haven't actually applied it beacuse I'm very new to Savs.
And whoever mentioned the idea about the shirt I really like that and will try it once my savs a little older thanks.

Yes I have Had grate luck with a glove or shirt put in a cage with a biter!! mostly with snakes but it is a facked all creatchers will become desensitized and even seek out the fomilur smell to feel comfort open your mind have you ever went into a frends home and you smelled some thing that really stuck out in mind and after you are there for a wile you can no longer smell it well it is the same thing then you leave for a hour and return and there it is again in short the worn shirt works

ps. good luck with all you do.

It doesnt do a darn thing. Positive at least, let the animal learn to trust you on its own terms, if it never does, then let it be as it chooses to be.
They are wild animals, they do not tame, they are all individuals, they choose who, what, and where they want to be and how they want to be to whom. If you got the monitor hoping or wanting it to be a lap dog you got it for all the wrong reasons.
Yes, there are friendly monitors out there, they chose to be friendly or calm to whoever they want to, they were not tamed or trained.
Melissa Kaplins website, stay away, there is very little decent information there, and none of it is on animals care, but on vitamin supplements, etc.
With no sugar coating, you need to realize that if the animal chooses to be unfriendly to you, that is its choice, if so you need to decide whether you were looking for a pet like a cat or dog, or a lizard.

Please listen to these guys - I really wish I'd come to this forum before trying to "tame" my sav. When I got him at 4 months I did exactly the same as you - that was what I was told to do by the reptile shop guy (who seemed to know what he was talking about LOL!) and also on another forum. "You get it out a couple of times a day for 10-15 minutes, hold it till it stops struggling, blah blah blah". Yes - that did happen - I sat through it all, I was crapped on, tail-whipped but luckily never bitten. Sometimes he'd appear to go to sleep on me (read: play dead) - and I thought aaaah - he likes it after all! He's learning! But of course he wasn't - because after a couple of months of this he would still streak away to hide whenever I came in the room and hide if I so much as looked at him. I really wasn't getting anywhere at all.

Then I tried the approach people mention here (I didn't see Holly's excellent article till last week - but I wish I had). I left him alone - only went in to clean up, change water, during which I'd talk to him and tell him what I was doing. I never attempted to touch him. Later on when he seemed calm and was out when I was doing that I would put my hand toward him - if he hissed and showed stress I took it away again. Now he hardly ever hisses - and will tolerate my hand moving toward him and even the occasional scratch. It takes a long time for them to learn to trust humans - and now I can wander in the room and he's out basking and he doesn't head off to his hide. I know he still doesn't trust me completely - but it's early days and I can see he is better for it and I certainly feel a lot better for it.

So please listen to what these guys are saying here, they're not saying it just to piss you off - we're all here because we love (and respect) monitors and want what is best for them - which is a happy, healthy monitor - not a stressed-out one that could well become ill and die.

Good luck.

I agree with Shvar and you, but for one thing, it does not normally take a long time. In fact, they learn you and your intentions, very quickly. They can also learn to "trust" you very very quickly. They will trust you is you have something of value to them. And boy do monitors value stuff.

I think monitors are naturally tame and do not need forced taming. Just let the monitor be its natural self.

Yes, some monitors are nasty mean, but that is a product of man screwing up its life. In other words, its not normal. Cheers

I have a dog already, so I'm not looking for a lap dog. I'm always fascinated by animals, reptiles and arachnids in particular, and that's why I went out and got a Sav. I know that it won't be tame like a dog or a cat, and I also know that they'll be time that I will get bitten; it's only a matter of time before that happen. But just wanted to make handlable, so incase I need to take it to a vet, it won't be such a problem when they actually start to examine him. Or how about when I'm cleaning the cage? I probably need to handle it, also. That's why I was trying to make it more handleable. Anyway, thanks for your advice. I might just follow it!

Only having monitors for 3 years, I am not claiming to be the most knowledgeable person. I learned quickly that monitors are very smart and that you need to earn their trust THEIR way, not your way. Mine are so tame they act like dogs. They come right to me, never run away and hide and love to have their heads scratched. A few weeks ago I was scratching my big guys head, and my girl came over and shoved her head under my hand so she could get attention too. I never forced them to do anything, and I never manhandled them. They decided they could trust me and they do. I have taken my boy along with me to some reptile presentations I do at schools and he sits on my shoulder and watches the activities. The first presentation I did, he didn't want to sit in my arm, so crawled on my shoulder. He just calmly sat for over 1/2 hour, so now if that's what he wants to do, he can do it. Again, I never taught him to do this, he just did it on his own. My suggestion is patience on your part and let your monitor decide. Forcing him to do what you want will not accomplish your goals, it could only backfire on you in the future. Best of luck.

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