Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 17 inch savannah, Porker, has been growing nicely since i bought him 4 months ago (he's gone from a 55 gram hatchling to a big 400 gram baby). I've been handling him regularly. When i first started, i would hold him inside of his cage for around 20 seconds, then set him down and that was it for the day. He seemed to be fine with that, he hasn't bit, tail whipped, hissed or shown any aggression towards me. I've been slowly working up and hold him for longer periods of time. Here's my problem: lately Porker has been becoming more frightened of me. Before he would bask, keeping a careful eye on me. Now the second i enter the room he runs for on of his hiding spots. When i'm holding him, there is no change of behavior from before. I've shortened the amount of time i hold him each day hoping that would help, but it hasn't. Is it just a phase and i should continue holding him until he (hopefully) realizes that i don't want to eat him? Or should I give him some time for him to get used to me walking past his cage? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Scott

Your monitor knows that whenever you walk into the room, you're going to grab it and hold it, which is why it runs when it sees you.

The way I've got my monitors used to me is by not handling them. They very quickly realise that I leave them alone, even when I open the enclosure to clean. Then they start getting curious and, eventually, start coming over to check me out. I'll stick out my hand, fingers together, palm up and let them tongue flick it and eventually they crawl up. If I still don't grab them then, they realise I can be trusted and it isn't long before I can pick them up. Now, with two of my animals, I can do just about anything and they'll still be calm as anything. A third one is just starting to trust me enough to sit on my hand almost a year after I got her (as a 2 year old adult that had rarely been handled).

Picture your monitor as a squirrel in a park that you want to feed by hand. If you grabbed it every time you saw it, think it'd keep coming back? If you fed it and left it alone, though, how long do you think before you'd have it crawling on you for food?

One of my Bosc rescues from this year is a total crack up. I havent "tamed" her, but shes a bold little devil. She was the smallest out of a group of five hatchlings that were surrendered to me in spring, and always the most fiesty for sure! I give a little "tap" "tap" "tap", wiht my fingernail on one of the wood planks of her basking pile, and out she zooms in an instant. Someimtes I bring food, and sometimes not. Its just so funny her reaction when I appear empty handed! Its as though Im the most awful, decietful person in the world! Shes a smart little bugger! She sees my empty hand reaching out and she puffs up about 3x's her normal size, curles up in a U shape and walks all stiff legged sideways! Its too adorable!
I dont know if shell ever "mellow out", but it really doesnt matter too much to me at least, as her little personality is just too interesting as is!
Ive noticed with alot of these guys though, as they get to be closer to their adult size, they get more comfortable, and arent so defensive. Perhaps this is what youll see happen with you little one? Just be patient, I guess.

They have to know you. If you reach in to the cage pick them up for 20 seconds in their territory and hold them then set them down for the day they learn a few things. 1) someone is invading for a few seconds (enough to stress me out) then gone, they dont stick around long enough for me to get to know them. 2)They must not trust me to leave my cage and have some freedom to explore and expand my mind.
They need time to get to know you, when you pick them up and be seen so they learn to identify you and explore you, they learn that each time you trust them more and more by satisfying their curiosity to explore you and your surroundings (make the handling sessions educational, and make everything as positive as possible). Feeding them afterwards helps also.

more handling time then? The reason i was holding him inside his inclosure is because would freak out and try to run away/hide outside, so i figured it would help to get him more used to me in a familiar environment. From your post and DK's here's what I've gotten: First i should get him accustomed to me without holding him, once that has happened, i should begin to hold him, but still make sure he is comfortable and not scared. Then i should spend lots of time with him in a larger environment that he can explore. Does that sound about right?

Thanks,
Scott

that sounds about right to me, but there are a couple of different schools of thought on this so others may disagree.