Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This spring has been a special one, all in the same week I found an Eastern milk snake with a friendly temperament AND a wild "Flame" Garter snake.

Go figure, I paid a hundred bucks for a baby flame, and then find an adult one in my yard! (The captive bred one has brighter reds) 30 years of flipping boards & rocks, this is the first red and white garter I have ever caught.

We have also been taking the Ball Python out in the yard, and walking the Savannah Monitor on his leash. that little lizard walked 500 feet yesterday! quite a trip when your six inches long.

It's just too bad that central NY only gets about 120 days of weather like this a year..... If you don't mind running the furnace at night and air conditioning during the same day...

Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey

our critters

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1.0.0 Ball Python - Python regius "Cane" Rescue
0.0.1 N.E. MilkSnake WC "Carmello" adult
1.2.3 Storeria dekayi Casper, Xena, Athena, & Kids (30 plus released!)
0.0.2 Thamnophis marcianus - Checkered Garters "spot" & "Zig"
2.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis - eastern Garters
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis - Orange stripes
1.0.0 Thamnophis pickeringi - Puget Sound Garter "Sky" (adult, Sky blue)
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon - Water Snake - "Aqua" adult WC
0.1.0 Storeria occipitomaculata - Red Belly snake (Her children were raised & released)
0.0.1 Amelanistic Corn Snake "CY" Juvinile CB
1.0.0. Pueblan Milk snake "Oreo" adult CB
1.0.0. ASIAN GREEN SNAKE 3' WC Cyclophiops major"Limon"
0.0.1. Savannah Monitor "CHOMPER" Growing fast!
0.1.0. Green Anole "Crystal" WC
1.0.0. K9 "ACE" Black Cockapoo
0.2.0. Feline"Felix"(R.I.P. 4/27/08) "Kaja" & "Silver"
2.1.0. calico RATS
2.4.?? Mice - Feeder farm - Crickets / fish
More herps than I could ever list out back on the land.

Congrats on your finds.

Wayne,
I think you've read enough of my posts to know that I wouldn't say something as if it were a fact unless it's true. Honestly, you're gonna kill your monitor by force-handling it. It does not enjoy walking on a leash, and most likely never will.

It doesn't enjoy being handled, either. It's cared to death of you. It lives a miserable life in constant fear that it's going to be accosted by you. I kid you not.

I'm only saying something out of genuine concern for your monitor's health and I also believe that you genuinely care about your captives. A monitor's behavior can be very misleading to the average reptile keeper. It took some experimenting, even though I had read all the pros & cons of handling from both sides, for me to find out. And it's tried, tested, and true.

Have a good one!
Mike
(HH)
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

Mike, I know where you are coming from, and am not challenging your opinion in any way.

Chomper was purchased to replace "Barney" who was 5 1/2 and in perfect health when he was accidentally killed.

Barney was a house monitor, tore up the furniture, pooped in the bath tub and had a dogie door flap on the end of his enclosure to come and go at will.

Chomper lets us know when he's upset he has hissed and musked before. Right now his signal to me is IF he wants out of the enclosure he backs up onto my hand. he is uncomfortable with any motion up by his head, so he walks up on to my hand backwards.

if he does not want out, he just goes in his burrow, I then leave him alone until he climbs up on the sill and jumps around in the window.

Dorothy will not sway, since half a decade plus with a monitor that could go out without any leash or restraints, one that would terrorize the house and then lay out on the window sill half the afternoon is a hard memory to erase.

So my job is to make sure his husbandry and care is top notch. His enclosure is extra large and very private with just a 18 inch wide 12 inch tall window. clay dirt for burrowing, a rock pile, the works..

As soon as I can get the tractor, I am digging out a small pond, and building an outdoor paddock, so he can roam free and behave like a monitor. Since they do dig, and dig well, I will use big flat stones and some concrete for a floor, then cover it with dirt.

I make sure the walks are not excessive, and all 3 times he ate a dozen crickets immediately after returning, then slipped into his burrow for a few hours.

He consumes a few pinkies every week, and seems well adjusted.

Thanks for the reply, and yes I do read a lot of your posts. You keep a diverse selection of critters yourself I'm sure you have had a big python or two crawling freely in the house before. (Most python fans do at some point)

Kind regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
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1.0.0 Ball Python - Python regius "Cane" Rescue
0.0.1 Eastern MilkSnake WC "Carmello" adult super sweet temperment
1.2.3 Storeria dekayi Casper, Xena, Athena, & Kids (30 plus released!)
0.0.2 Thamnophis marcianus - Checkered Garters "spot" & "Zig"
2.2.0 Thamnophis radix Snow, Iowa snow & christmas snow het.
2.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis - eastern Garters
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis - "Flame" red and white stripes
1.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis CB "Flame" & Melanistic
1.0.0 Thamnophis pickeringi - Puget Sound Garter "Sky" (adult, Sky blue)
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon - Water Snake - "Aqua" adult WC
0.1.0 Storeria occipitomaculata - Red Belly snake (Her children were raised & released)
0.0.1 Amelanistic Corn Snake "CY" Juvinile CB
1.0.0. Pueblan Milk snake "Oreo" adult CB
1.0.0. ASIAN GREEN SNAKE 3' WC Cyclophiops major"Limon"
0.0.1. Savannah Monitor "CHOMPER" Growing fast!
0.1.0. Green Anole "Crystal" WC
1.0.0. K9 "ACE" Black Cockapoo
0.2.0. Feline"Felix"(R.I.P. 4/27/08) "Kaja" & "Silver"
2.1.0. calico RATS
2.4.?? Mice - Feeder farm - Crickets / fish
More herps than I could ever list out back on the land.

I'm glad you didn't take offense to my post. Just try to keep an open mind about it for the sav's sake, not mine or yours.

It's not excessive walks that's bad for it, it's the stress of being handled, period. But I'll not hammer you about it, I think you'll keep these things in the back of your mind because you want to do the right thing.

"I'm sure you have had a big python or two crawling freely in the house before. (Most python fans do at some point)"

I've got & had several pythons, among other snakes & lizards. 40yrs of reptile keeping, but never allowed one to free-roam for anything more than a few minutes of exercise. Boids and varanids are a world apart, especially as far as human interaction goes.

Our homes aren't suitable for free-roaming reptiles. Reptiles do best with a continuos temperature gradient so they can cool off or warm up at free will. Plus, the humidity is too low in most homes, for a lot of reptiles, especially savs. That's why the other sav you mentioned defecated in the tub, it was dehydrated and sought out water. I'm glad to see that you're keeping that sav in an enclosure.

Like you, I've heard both sides of the arguments. The things I've mentioned here in this thread come solely from my personal experimentation. Explore for yourself. These magnificient creatures know what they need and they will tell us. We just have to be able to interpret what they're saying. It's not always easy but it can be done. Become one with your captives, try to think like they do. They don't think like we do.

Take care & I'll see ya around.

Mike
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com