Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My baby sav has been doing something strange, he rubs his face on the rocks and bricks in his tank. he doesn't seem to be shedding, i was wondering if monitors mark their territory or what he might be doing. also he hides 90% of the time, which is fine, but i have no idea where he hides. out of nowhere he will just appear and i try to see where he goes but i cant tell. he must have some whole he has dug i cant see, should i try to find it so i can check on him ocassionally to make sure he is okay....or shuld i just leave him alone? thanks

No worries, monitors will often rub their snouts/faces on objects in the cage after eating. I see this a lot with my argus's they don't like anything to be on their faces, so they do that to clean themselves. Hiding for much of the time is normal monitor behavior. You're probably right about him having a burrow. As long as he'r eating and growing well, don't worry about it...he's doing what monitors do. Leave him be, maybe he will soon learn the sound of you opening the cage and come out for food. My ackies know when I open their trough, and come out and wait impatiently for crickets, haha. Good stuff. Cheers, Lance

Sounds like he is happy. Burrow and all.

how long should i wait before handling my sav? i understand he will never become a "tame" pet, but i would like him to be accustomed to me handling him so he doesn't grow to be a 4 foot lizard chomping on my hand everytime i try to feed him or change his water. does anyone here ever hold their lizards for anything other then moving them or whatnot? i have heard they enjoy soaking them and giving them spongebaths....is this true?

Hello,
Savgirl, if you read over the forum(archive) you will find that none of these are a good idea and in fact I would go so far as to say that these practices are now deemed as poor monitor husbandry or keeping. None of them will benefit your monitor. Best to you- Mike

I have handled ours- for the simple fact that NO you do NOT want a 4 or 5 ft anything biting, scratching, or whatever-ing you while you try and care for it. We try to keep any animal we have as handleable as possible. We don't get them out everyday and let them lay on the couch and watch tv while we rub behind thier ears or anything like that. but we do 'mess' with them so they are used to us and don't just think 'food' when we go in the cage. while it may not benifit your monitor- it will benifit your fingers and eventually arms, legs, and face.
Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

Hello,
You do not have to handle a large monitor to know how to handle it if you must... Also, and this is the part that gets me- You had better know how to handle a four or five(or bigger) foot lizard before you decide to acquire one. The fact of the matter here is that the majority of people with them know not what they are doing incorrectly nor do they bother to listen(or read it) when people tell them... Best to you- Mike

You do not need to know how to handle a 5 foot monitor before you purchase one. Most people had a "first" monitor. Unless you had friends with 5 footers you would learn with your first. Most people are comfortable with that. Too many experts on this forum like to tell others they should not have their monitors. Ignore them. Keeping reptiles is a fun hobby and you are doing good by looking for more information.

Breeders don't handle their monitors much and it is not necessary for what they do. But if yours is a pet then handle it. I know of many monitors who were used in shows and have had much handling and lived long healthy lifes.

I wouldn't expect it to be a lap dog though. Read more and watch your monitor and you will see they are quite different.

Nerkhunts,
Do you read what you write? Yes, you do need to know how to handle(and restrain if need) a five foot monitor lizard before you bring one into your care. I am not an expert, nor do I proclaim to be. I have experience, I have been at this herp thing for some 20 years, but I am still no expert.
I have friends who handle their reptiles, but they also do shows for education(and a living). Is it harmful, well, that is controversial, but I can say that some of them have had to replace animals frequently and all of them have been handling longer than you. I think far too much stress is placed on petting and not enough on proper keeping. Besides, I find the training method of conditioning to be far more interesting and safe. You know, like the whales at Sea World... No, my lizards don't jump through hoops(probably would for a rat!) but I can get in with my seven and eight footers safely, move them if I have to and feed all without handling. (This worked with big crocs, all accept for the cubans!) They are unstressed in their enclosures and I am relatively safe from bites. This is probably too much toying around for good nesting with monitors... Anyways, I have worked some herps from hatchlings to adults to eggs again, tropical turtles, tortoises, some crocs, snakes and lizards. I have gone from WC adults to eggs to hatchlings to CB adults again- which I found to be difficult in some(not monitors)- but I am still not an expert... Not like Frank Retes at all, heck, I have never hatched a varanid egg! I plan to change this and will... I will however say that I have not read any posts by you that have lead me to better practice to date. I hope that you will change this... But I must ask, given your limited experience, do you feel comfortable giving advise to others who may be entrusting the lives of their lizards to your guidance? Think about this... Best to you- Mike

Savgirl,

I'm not an expert and these guys said the same exact thing to me. They say the thing they do because they don't have a "tame" monitor otherwise they would cheer you on. These people give great advice on cage, temp, feeding, and etc from experience but they hit you hard when you ask about taming a lizard. My sav when I got him was 4 inches and now he's 5 inches. I've handled him everday for at least 20 minutes. I either just hold him or sit in the bathtub(dry) and let him crawl around and get use to my smell. I believe that if you handle him everyday he'll never forget you and learn that your not in anyway going to harm him. So handle your sav everyday is what I think you should do. Also search kaffir2 on youtube and look at her vids, her savannahs they want to go to her, they want to be loved by her. I find it amazing and it inspires me to dedicate time to the savs. People on this forum also hate her, but I admire her love for savs.