Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a Savannah who is about 4 yers old or so and I can't seem to get a handle on his behavior. He's my first, but I have socialized many aggresive reptiles before, so I was hoping a more experienced lot could give some advice. He isn't aggresive (ie. he doesn't puff or hiss when I'm by the enclosure) but even though I handle him and he doesn't struggle or stress, whenever I'm trying to work in the cage (ie. water change etc.) it's like he associates that too heavily with food even though I feed live. He suddenly becomes exteremly active following my hand everywhere and leaping for the open part of the enclosure. If I didn't distract him with food, I have every certainty that my otherwise friendly (may be an overstatement) Sav would bite the crap out of me. Can anyone suggest a technique to bridge the association gap in his behavior?

Reminds me of a large male blackthroat I took in once.
When I had to do water changes or spot cleaning, replace lights, ect. ect.
I would feed it until it was full.
I would then wait until it was finished basking before opening the door. Worked like a charm. I fed with long silver tongs.
Try using tongs and Thawed mice.
If it's full, it won't be looking for food.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll give it a shot. No stubborn animals, just ignorant owners. He escaped for a few days once and hasn't been the same since. He gets so excited about me feeding him that he just goes nuts. Can't figure out how he's distinguishing between when I'm working in the cage and when I want to pick him up. He's always calm when I go to pick him up. Just a goofy reptile I geuss.