Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I have a baby black throat monitor. He is in a 30gal breeder tank. Hes about 12in long. This little Guy I got him a little over a month ago and he was the nicest little Guy.
I will only feed him by tongs everytime and he enjoyed it. I will put my hand in his enclosure and he will actually come up and smell me. He never whipped or hissed. Couple times i actually took him out and he was perfectly fine with it, he will just walk around. my hands then I will put him back.

Now About 2 week ago I went on vacation and I left my friend my house keys to feed it. which he did. I came back a week later and he was completly different. He wont come out of his hide to bask. only when am not around. And when I go to tong feed it he goes nuts. Now he hisses tail whips and goes to bite my hand. He gets very stressed everytime I change his water or feed him.

My question is why is he freaking out so much. Is it because my friend threw the crickets in. He did Not tong feeding it like I was before. Why is he doing this? what can I do to help with behavior and calm him down and actually be able to socialize with him like before. I never forced handle him and dont believe in it. By the way I have some experience with monitors. I have a 2 year old savannah over three feet and tame as it can be. Never forced handle it. and always fed it with tongs. He learned the difference between food and my hands. I want to this with the baby btm. but he just seems very stressed for some reason.

If you have any tips Please help. Thank you.

Maybe your friend was doing something he didn't like to him. Handling him doesn't necessarily hurt a reptile if you do it right, but if he associate it with something nasty, then he might get pissed off. I'm not accusing your friend, but maybe he didn't know what he was doing and inadvertently scared him and pissed him off.

A friend's croc monitor also got a bit nervous when he traveled for a week, but in another week it became calm like before.

I believe they need some sort of routine when young. Yours is probably getting calm again soon.

Thank you guys. I actually have been spending lots of times with my baby btm and he got really calm again. He has grown a lot in the past month too. He eats like a beast.

Now I kind of have another question. Two days ago after I fed him I noticed he was limping when he walked. His right leg is the one with the problem. The leg looks fine to me. Its not swollen or anything, but he still limps while he walks. He is alone in his cage so I don't know how he got hurt if that's the problem. I am very worried about this he's been like this for two days now, and hasn't gotten any better. If u have any tips or guidelines how to take care of this problem please help. By the way I live in Florida I dont know any good reptiles vets around here. So a veterinarian does not seem like an option to me.
If you know what I can do in this case please help.
Thank you.