Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,

In taming a water monitor as it grows from a hatchling what do you do to discourage biting or is it just an "either they bite or they don't" kind of thing?

Mine gives me quite a painful gash at 18 inches yet I see people handling big five footers unrestrained. Seems quite dangerous unless there's some way to discourage it.

Thanks

Chad

Stop doing things to piss it off, like handling it against it's will.

If you continually force handle it will likely always fear you and bite, tailwhip and scratch in self defense. Let it come to you on it's own terms. Tong feeding is a good way to start teaching it you are not a threat, that is if it ever gets past the negative impression of humans it already has.

Like the previous poster said, what works best with waters is to not force them to interact with you. If you set them up correctly and don't force yourself on them, baby water monitors are curious and inquisitive about everything that goes on inside and around their cage. They're pretty much my favorite baby monitor to work with/care for because if they haven't been given a reason to fear people, you can open up the cage and they will walk right up to see what you're doing.

So, your best bet is to leave your lizard alone. Hang out in the room with him, get him used to you being around but not necessarily holding him. The more time you can spend in the room with him, the quicker he'll "tame" down. Eventually your presence in the room shouldn't faze him at all - he should still bask, drink, dig, etc just like he would if you weren't in there.

Good luck!

~jen
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"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words."
- Anna Sewell (1820-1878)