Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my BT for about six months now. He is a tail-whipping maniac! And at 3.5 feet it really REALLY hurts. Also, he seems to have no bite inhibition. While he is getting better about biting when I reach into the cage (mostly just whips now) he will still bite, "out of the blue", while I am holding him.

Example: Last night I was sitting on the couch with him in my lap, covered by a towel (this seems to keep him calmer, having a towel to burrow into.) He just layed there, still for about ten minutes, with only the occasional wiggle to burrow himself deeper. Then, with no warning, no movement, I feel this pressure on my hip- I lift up the towel and he is biting my leg! Thank goodness I had jeans on, and it was just the tip of his mouth. Is this normal?

Other monitors I have dealth with would try to bite when you are picking them up, but once you had them they were fine- this guy OTOH, will be fine for a while, then try to maul you without (apparent) warning! HE is getting bigger rappidly and my dreams of having a "tame" large monitor are dwindling. Is is this normal, or did I luck out and get a "problem child"? Any advice would be appreciated!

try to drill it into everyones head that there are no guarantees of your monitor becoming calm tame tolerant of handling whatever you want to call it.

They are all as individual as you or I. There are many possablities of tempermant and personality.

Handling it or doing things it does not like will only strengthen its dislike of you. You must find out what its rules are and obey to them. It may or may not then allow more contact from you.

Interesting. In my experience any animal can become acustomed to handling, as most adverse reaction to it is fear...and fear can be overcome with desensitization. I have met reptiles that were years old and so completely aggressive/defensive you couldn't walk by their cages without repeated hissing/biting/striking, but with enough time an patience, they grew acustomed to human contact.

I am not expecting him to seek out attention like my dog, but I found the behavior of random biting a bit odd. I am going to keep working with him (and he HAS improved, for sure) but of course I would never push too fast or over-stress an animal for my own pleasure. I was just curious if this was typical BT behavior or if I had a particularly feisty fellow on my hands....

" ..but of course I would never push too fast or over-stress an animal for my own pleasure."

But isn't that exactly what you are doing???? You are forcing the animal into a stressfull situation(picked up/being restrained/held) for your own pleasure and enjoyment(handling your monitor-sitting with it on your lap)...

I bet if you gave the animal the choice, it surely wouldn't want to be touched or bothered.. What you are doing is forcing stress onto the animal, regardless of whether or not you think so...

Trust me snakesgrrrrl, that blackthroat IS NOT scared of you. It just doesn't want to be handled. It wants to be left alone. If it becomes "tame" its either because its sick or has just given up. Yrue there re plenty of docile monitors, but most of those were already like that when they were young, without humans trying to get them to be.

"Trust me snakesgrrrrl, that blackthroat IS NOT scared of you. It just doesn't want to be handled."

I would dissagree strongly with this statement. His reactions are very typically defensive- as in fear of predation/attack/etc. He is not thinking to himself, "Oh, here comes that girl again, man, I hate her. GO away!" That is anthropomorhism to an extreme. All he sees is this big predator (me) trying to catch him, and he defends himself. Within seconds of being picked up, he stops hiss, stops whipping, and, though still wary, id generally calmer as he realizes he is not being eaten.

"It wants to be left alone. If it becomes "tame" its either because its sick or has just given up."

I also disagree with this STRONGLY. I have known NUMEROUS monitors who were very healthy and far from "broken", and were very VERY "tame". They were healthy, active, normal monitors, that through time, effort, and desinsitization lost their fear of people and become acustomed to handling.

"True there re plenty of docile monitors, but most of those were already like that when they were young, without humans trying to get them to be."

I don't know that I have ever met a monitor that was docile from the day it was born, but I have met MANY that started out super flightly and defensive but over time, with lots of contact, became so. Just my $0.02

I am confused and not trying to be a smart@$$. If you have your mind set about monitors and taming, then why did you ask, " Is is this normal, or did I luck out and get a "problem child"? Any advice would be appreciated!""
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Greetings,

Ed

Seems to be fighting and kicking at the advice given. My thoughts are if you don't want to listen or hear the answer then don't ask the question.

Well if you want to get technical, NO reptile *wants* to be handled. Are you saying touching/handling pet reptiles is wrong? I said I wouldn't OVER stress him, and I always leave him alone if he is being extra pissy. But when he is being calmer, I do pick him up, or he will never become used to it. I do not see a problem with this.

My dog doesn't WANT me to clip his nails, my bird doesn't WANT me to put it back into it's cage when I have to go to work, and my monitor doesn't WANT me to hold it. But sometimes being in captivity, for any animal, entails having to tolerate certain things necessary for it's upkeep. I need a montoir of that size and damage-causing ability to be somewhat tolerant of human contact. I don't think getting him acustomed to being handled is horribly cruel and he certainly isn't suffering for it.

I can see where you guys are coming from, as far as having realistic expectations, but some of your viewpoint seems a bit extreme, IMHO.

I don't think anyone is saying to never handle your monitor. What you asked is why yours bit you and if it was a "problem child".

You did not explain your intentions or how you perceive tame handlable or whatever you wish to call it. None of us know you or your intentions. We can only base things on your post past posts and then answer your question.

I took it you asked if it would ever stop biting or fighting you handling it. I answered By stating they are all individuals and noone knows for sure. Your monitor may very well stop biting you in time or it may continue to do so. If I sent you 10 BT's and let you work with each one the same you will find each one turns out differently.

You seem to know the answer to your own question to an extent.

"In my experience any animal can become acustomed to handling, as most adverse reaction to it is fear...and fear can be overcome with desensitization."

They do learn to deal with it and your presence with interaction whether that be direct contact or not. However the degree of tolerance is not the same in all cases.