hey i just got a new water monitor about two days and when i bought him he was nice as can be and when i got him into his new enclosure the nest day he was tail whiping me and hissing no biting but it worried me hes 4 months old and was farm rasied is do u think it just needs time or would it be a waste. i had a water monitor for 2 months be4 this 1 and it died of internal paristes 
but he was nice as can be and super duper tame please help!
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Taming Water Monitors
deadinbloom
Nov 08, 2006 11:47 AM
Replies (2)
lophius
Nov 08, 2006 01:13 PM
It just takes time, patience and plenty of handling.
let the animal settle in to its new environment, become comfortable with feeding and comfortable with you watching (before you try and handle it) .. just take your time.
How big is the animal? I am assuming that it is small. Also do you know where it came from? Most likely it is wild caught and as you have already found out there can be issues with juvenile wild caught salvator.
So long as it is healthy and in good condition (if not why did you buy it?) it may be worth taking it along to a vet to get a course of anti-parasite treatment (I use panacur and flagyll with all wild caught monitors).
Mainly you need paitence.
hope this helps
Carl
holygouda
Nov 08, 2006 04:53 PM
Make sure your temps are up. Chances of them getting sick and dying are much greater with temperatures that are too low.
You should leave him alone! Give him time to adjust to his new environemt. If you keep trying to handle and grab him while hes stressed out, he won't forget and it will take you forever(if you are lucky) to earn his trust back. Give him time to get comfortable and slowly introduce yourself. Let him get used to your smell and sounds before you get all grabby with him. If you are just patient and let him come to you on his own terms, he will like you much more. Put your hand in the cage and let him explore it without feeling threatened like hes gonna be grabbed. This will require mucho patience and restraint but I think it will work out best for you in the end. You want to make your monitor trust you and accept you into his world, not the other way around.
