Reptile & Amphibian Forums

which species is easiest to tame

A Golden Retriever.

That one got me and made me laugh out loud. hahahahahahaha Thanks

to tell you wat FR and others are saying is that monitor CANNOT be tame .. SOME can be very tolerant of humans .. most hate us.
if ur looking for something tamed.. get a dog.
thanx

...or have one of those people that are rescuing them loan one to you after it's dead. Surely it would sit there and watch tv with you. It may even let you pet it. You can put it in your pocket.

Perhaps you should look into an ackie? They maintain a relatively small size and seem to have a good temperament, going by what others here say.

(and I am not against "rescuing" monitors, nor am I referring to anyone in particular. It just seemed to go along with the mood of the "rescue rant" post.)

This is not the rescue thread, its all about context, u know. Cheers

I happen to think they are all tame, you do not have to do a thing to tame them. I am against this stupid forced taming deal.

Monitors normally have good reason to be offensive(bite, whip, projectile poop) They have been offended beyond belief.

If you do not abuse monitors, they seem to learn very fast that your not a threat. That is, unless you ARE a thread.

To force handle them is very threatening to them. They only know your a monster and your making them do things they do not want to do. So yes, its threatening.

If you provided something of use to them, food, safty, warmth, etc, to encourage them to include you, then that is not threatening.

Again, most monitors will soon follow you to the edge of the earth for food, if they are healthy.

for instance, so many want a lap monitor. That surely would be easy to accomplish. First place a mouse on your shoe, then soon your monitor would be feeding off your shoe. Then your knee, then your upper leg, then your lap. Of course depending on the species and levels of hunger, the monitor may take more then the mouse. The question becomes, can you afford to lose something in this area? Cheers

hey frank. u mentioned monitors that follow u for food are healthy.my monitor will eat just never from me.im sure he/she is still shy from when i got her lik 7 or 8 months ago.im not waiting for it to eat off my tongs or hands, but i know she eats, she is growing.so the question is , is my water monitor unhealthy for not chasing after food like a lot of other monitors ive seen.?

ive learned to just let her be,and place food in the cage.

A couple of things.

First feeding responce is like all other physical responces, its based on temperature. At the upper end of their temp range, they feed very very aggressively. The same individual will not show that feeding responce at lower temps.

Also in your case, feeding responce is different between the sexes. With larger monitors, the females have a very muted feeding responce, that is, until they have a strong need. Like when the cycle. During this time, a weak demure females will totally dominate a male and send him running.

For instance, my lacie females, normally give me a head nod, and a particular look in their eyes. I then know they are hungry. The males, see me and bonce off the door, over and over(big stupids) At other times, the females will make small gestures, like a quick lift of the head, to me that means, now you big idiot. And as I already mentioned, If I see a female making aggressive movements towards me(for food) I know she is preparing to cycle. Of course, there is some leeway. ITs not a hard fast set of rules, but it does serve as a great indicator.

So there are differences even with healthy monitors. Sometimes feeding responces are due to previous or exsisting stresses.

In your case, it appears from the pics, you have a very beautiful female. But I believe she should still take a strong interest in food. I would work on her conditions. Try things until you see improvement.

Heres another funny one, Its been very cold around here. So of my Lacies are allowed to get very cold, like below freezing. Well, these dumb things will still try to feed(males) even if they are near freezing. They open their mouth and slowly swing it around to catch the food. If the mouse is alive, it will simply walk away hahahahahahahaha but the cold male will barely move and try and catch it. Its a hoot to see that.

Other folks here have their monitors get a little cool, you know 80F or something and they think they are too cold to feed. Got me. Cheers

thank you very much frank. i totally understand what you're saying. her basking temps are at 136F during the day and is 120's at night time, now after talking to some other poeple on the forums , ive changed her conditons.she was at 110 or 115 before for basking so i raised it up.ive also added a heat pad witch she lays on. ive added a couple more hiding spots on both the cold and hot side and she seems to really like to sit on the cork bark i got her, she sits on that a lot... now from a couple months back maybe i posted a comment about her feeding responce and her shyness.. she isnt as shy any more she will sit out and bask now even when im in the room. the only thing that i just tried was cutting the mouse in half so maybe the blood will trigger something and it did...she grabbed it...that has only happend once. her soil is moist not super wet or muddy.she burrows in the a good amount.

i think maybe the only tihng now is time ... they all have differnt rates at eventaully gianing SOME trust maybe.. haha

thanks agian... tell me if u come up w/ any ideas or anything.