Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a Savannah Monitor. I am a college student and the Sav is with my younger brother and parents at home. On weekends I am there to clean the cage and take it out, but during the week I am at school so it does not receive the necessary attention. When it is fed, my brother just opens the cage door and feeds it then leaves. Because of this, my monitor is adjusted to searching for food anytime the door opens. When I come home to get him out as soon as I open the door he rushes over and thinks my fingers are food. I got bit really bad last week (definitely my fault, because I kind of let him do it). When I get him out, he is calm as can be, but it is getting him out thats the issue. Anyone have any solutions to getting my Sav to settle down when the doors open? Thanks a lot guys!

um, a hungery monitor will not be a pleasant monitor to interact with, ever - the fact he is aggressive when feeding is a good sign. If that ever stops you should be concerned with your husbandry.

Try filling him up and then let him climb up your arm out of the enclosure when you present it to him. You will be able to tell very quickly by his body language if he is still in an aggressive mood or curious.

Good luck!

Tom

when i have to handle my black throat monitor, i use big welding gloves. he actually knows the difference. once i get him out with the gloves, i can take them off and handle him bare handed without problems. if i reach in his cage bare handed, he goes into an immediate feeding response. i got this idea from the proexotics web site and it works fantastically. he is very tolerant of handling and human interaction, but like i said, he mistakes bear hands for food sometimes but knows that gloves = no food.

i would try going the gloves route.

Thanks alot man...the glove idea seems to be the best idea

yeah no problem. anything i can contribute to help. let us know how it works and post up some pictures or a recent video of him or something!

I feed all of my monitors from tongs and with the exception of my griseus none of them ever go after my hands when I have to move them or work in thier enclosures. Thanks Ian

i have always fed mine with tongs and he still goes after my hands when in cage. so not always a solution
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lamina1982@hotmail.com

if i'm feeding live prey, i just throw it in there. no hand even comes close to the lizard. if it's F/T rodents, they're in a bowl and again, no hands near the food. i believe that the reason a lot of monitors have a feeding response towards human hands is because they're warm, fleshy, and slightly (more so to some) resemble food items.

a human finger can actually eerily look like rat pinkies. BUT, your method can also be a good answer. maybe using tongs and gloves for "training" would be a good solution? it's always best to minimize risk while handling large, powerful animals like monitors.

also, what species do you keep?

I feed mine with tongs, he has never gone for my hands. He will grab the tongs even if there is no food in them. I dont reach into his cage to get him (65" water monitor)either, I just open the door and wait for him to come to me. Usually within a minute he'll come over and start out the door. I just let him climb out into my arms.
Dean