Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok- this is a behjavioral problem- what if anything can I do about the Bullrushing the cage for my argus(Uh this is only in reaction to being picked up-nothing else-)- and how can i make it the most pleasant when putting him back in the cage- i would like to put him back in a burrow or hide but when I open the top to release him he starts gunning right away- I was thinking of trying to put him right in a burrough- a suggestion for the thinnest gloves if anybody has had sucess would be great.the rationale I am going on right now is that this is a captive bred animal- he has acclimated him well and I should start conditioning-to make things safe later on- if anybody has any advice that would be great,Thanks,
Zach

Hi Zack, your problem was discussed recently, down below.

Your argus is just being an argus. Your task is to understand your monitors behavior. Once you understand what it is, you can modify its behavior for your own use. This is good for both you and your monitor.

Argus are very aggressive lizards, not mean, just sorta hyper, OK, real hyper. They are the same as other monitors, but are not afraid to show it. This lack of fear is what makes them so aggressive. Most other monitors are the same, but fear stops them from acting normally. You should be happy your argus is acting like an argus. It shows your doing something right.

I am not sure what folks understand these days, most around here think taming is about handling, which is really not really taming or training. Handling is dominating an aggressive animal, its not taming it. Of course it done right, it can work. In most cases it does not work, not with a healthy monitor.

Taming or training is taking your agressive animal arranging its behaviors to be useful to you.

I wonder if there are some sites that actually explain animal training. You know, like they do at the sea world type places or like the San Diego wild animal park. They train animals using their natural behavior and a reward system. They train them to do tricks and such. The side benefit is, they become a far better pet or friend then by dominating them.

Not long ago, someone posted a video. It was how a zoo trained two mertens to a certain colored block. They do so to stop them for fighting over food. Maybe someone could link to it.

For instance, I flew raptors years ago. Falconers teach how to "man" a bird. This is done thru trust and food. These birds often bond to their trainer to a point of complete trust. They become partners. I took these methods and applied them to parakeets, cockateels, etc. It worked beyond belief. I then applied it to reptiles. It kinda worked with snakes, but it really works with monitors. They are prime candidates for that type of training. Yes, they did tricks.

Try goggling up some of that and post it here, Thanks