Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This may sound really crazy and stupid but i've had great success taming down aggressive monitors as well as Pythons by using my own smells. Sounds weird i know, I was thinking about how my reptiles have gotten to know my smell really well and figuring that smell is one of their strongest senses i thought about using that to help calm them down. I started putting my own shirts i have worn for a couple days in their cages especially in their hide dens where they sleep. In theory marking them and their territory with my smell I'm not sure if that is what is really helping me tame down alot of the mean monitors and snakes that i get but i've even had my friends try it at their houses and seems to work for them. I don't know if this seems like a sound theory or not but so far it's worked wonders for me, i've tamed down several niles and some wicked burms and retics i've had. So either i'm on to something or i'm just plain insane lol anyway thought i'd post this and see if anyone else has even thought about this.

I have noticed that if I let my nile monitor tongue flick my hand/arm a few times, it is easier to handle him than if I just reach in and grab him. I've always assumed this is because he recognizes the scent.

They do get used to you via scent recognition. But the main thing is to learn your not a threat, after that the only time they would lash out is if you crossed the lines or perhaps were associated with food.

The key is to let them get used to you slowly rather then jumping in and scaren the heck out of them. Let them get used to your scent, sight and sound, then touch. However I have learned these methods work but only to a degree, nothing is guaranteed.

that sounds a little weird but i'll try it with my nile and see what the result is. hopefully it will work