Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Meet Kenai. I have had raised many water monitors but only one as nice as this animal.

Most of the animals I had would crap on me or regurgitate on me. Some would tail whip me or give me an occasional bite. All the petstores said give it time they'll calm down. I kept the animal for years growing them to adulthood and the only difference was the crap was more and smelled worse the rats were larger that they regurgitated.

A tame monitor meant it wouldn't bite, but who wants to be crapped on every time it comes out the cage or regurgitate a 5 dollar rat everytime you handle it.

I went to a local petstore in Northern Calif. and they picked out a few and all were completely tame. These are WC but none I mean none out of the 5 that were in there crapped, bit or regurged and they were burning hot. I thought wow this is to good to be true. The icing on the cake was when we threw some crickets in the cage they immediately start eating after we had been digging through thier cage. I was thoroughly impressed and FINALLY I have a monitor that is EXACTLY what I want.

If anyone wants to know this store I'll be more than happy to email you the name and number. I don't know if they'll ship because I never asked the question.

use this email (herplexx@hotmail.com) as I don't use the one linked to my kingsnake account

BTW Kenai is still just as nice as can be. Not at all flighty. I just love him/her.

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That's a very lovely baby you have there!
And I'm really glad you are happy with her!
But...but...
Dude, its a baby...
A teeny, weeny water! I hope you will still be committed to her when she grows and changes. She'll change, you know. How could she not? We do, when we mature.
Please be patient with the little one, and keep her when she is big, and still needs you to care for her. She'll just keep changing, you know. Take the bad with the good, none of it lasts!
D.

I have two of the bad right now. One is 5.5ft and the other is 4.5ft. I've had them for about 4 years now. Do you have experience of good babies turning bad? Do you still have your water monitor.

Thanks in advance!
Alex L. Smith

ps post some pics of if you have them.

Sorry if I was the bearer of bad? news. ??

I'm a bit confused, though.
Why are your adults bad? Because they don't want to be picked up? Because they try to tell you in the only way they know how (they have no voice, remember?), 'please don't pick me up, I don't like it'?

All monitors are bad, guy. Some just have the guts to try and communicate with us (we never listen, anyway) and some just lay there and offer no resistance. Why not give your monitor a reason to crawl onto you willingly? Be patient, and you may get the physical contact you want.
Hey, I sneak pets on the neck of my BRN all the time. Its a compromise. I'd love to pet the whole darn animal, and he'd love it if I'd keep my mitts off him. Now he's taken to twisting his head around and trying to bite the warm hand touching him, and now I've gotten sneakier at trying to pet him. I can get him when he's sleeping, usually.

My monitor is not bad, neither am I. We are what we are. Try to get in touch with your 'bad' monitors.
I don't own a water, but I am temporarily housing one. She is shy. She doesn't flinch from contact, or run, but I know it bothers her really bad, because she will run and hide for hours as soon as you put her down. That makes me feel bad, and it should. She doesn't like it. She's not SUPPOSED to like it. She's a wild reptile. Just like yours.
D.

So I wont say they are being typical "wild animals", or are normal monitors. I have my own that NEVER try to bite, after all biting is a last resort, theyd rather tail whip, etc etc, until no other option is left long before biting.
But if your animal doesnt run, doesnt hiss loudly, doesnt tail whip, but acts inquisitive in return for your attempted contact its a good sign, they arent saying dont touch.
My male albig doesnt like his head touched much but he gets inquisitive and friendly about being touched on his back or neck or tail sometimes, and by certain people.
Ive found certain people set my monitors off, even if theyve never met before. I cant imagine how much it would take to set my ackie off, and it takes a certain few people on the wrong setting to set Sobek off or way to much harassment from other people that she doesnt mind at all.
His waters all have their own personalities and Im sure he knows that. But to compare an animal thats spent 4.5 years in captivity to a wild animal, Ive yet to see a wild water, so I wont call them wild animals until I can compare them to one in person. Ive had a few monitors in the past that bit, but that was what I or someone before me taught them worked, to never learn to trust people, other than a food source.

That's a beautiful water, you have there. Very nice color and pattern. I have a water that was very sweet like yours when it was younger, not as pretty as yours though. I hooked it up with an a$$hole for a mate.This girl has been biting me since I got her. Now the sweet young thing is being just like her. I'm wondering if hes copying her, or I dunno,maybe hes just acting up.

I think you are on to something there!
I have noticed my female BRN acts different when apart from the male.
For instance, if I put her alone in the tub, and hang around, she'll be climbing all over me and nudging and poking my person (looking for food? just nosy...) but when I bring the male in, she'll copy whatever he does. He'll hiss at me, then she will look at him, then look at me, and hiss too.
hahahahaha
D.

Haha, maybe she's being brainwashed by the male when you're not there.

It's funny cause when I first got him he was something else. Wouldnt bite, hiss or tail whip me when picked up, sweet as pie, would just tounge flick and didn't have a care in the world.Now hes been in a few months with this girl that is satan reincarnated. From day one she has bit me , crapped on me etc etc. Whatever it took for me to leave her alone, she would do. She was so bad that she wouldnt let go of my hand no matter what i did. I would lightly spray watered down vinegar into her mouth to get her to let go with no luck. Even my meanest croc monitor lets go after tasting it, not her. I wasn't just about to sit her back in the cage so she could let go.

Well now the tables have turned. Now hes the pain in the arse with a horrible attitude and shes calmer than before. Hmmmmm makes me wonder what they tell each other

Female left, male right?

I had posted a long time ago about my male 'talking' to my female, but I don't think anyone believed me...he will still do it on occasion. He sortof gestures with his head, and opens and closes his mouth while she watches. She doesn't do it back, but she does jump down off my shoulder and back into the tub.
I picked him up recently, it was late at night, and he had been sleeping, and he woke up and started the head gestures to me, but then stopped. Wierd.
D.

The one on the left is the male, the one on the right is the female. Then again thats all guesswork and I can't be positive on it yet, but thats another headache.

Hey goon did they think you were being a kook? Shucks. Monitors have to communicate in some fashion, just because its not english doesnt mean they're not communicating.

I once saw a great sight with my whitethroats. My male whitethroat had been near dead when I took him out of his enclosure, where he was with his female Wt. Paralyzed and not moving. I took him in and pampered him for 6 weeks, and nursed him back to a decent condition. All that time the couple never saw each other. When I released him back in, I set him right in front of the female. She nodded and bobbed her head at him and around for about 30 seconds. He then slid his head inbetween her front legs and she then hugged his body and laid her head on him in a comforting manner.It seemed like relief and comfort for them, I think they missed each other. Oh but wait they were near the basking sight, woops my bad lol

That's so sweet!

Mine aren't touchy feely. Ana just uses War's body for things. To get closer to the light, and mostly to get up out of the water. He prefers deeper water, and she doesn't. When she tires of dipping her face and paddling around, she hauls herself up onto his butt. He just tolerates her, it seems. I've never seen him initiate any contact with her. *rolls eyes* Well,... she keeps getting pregnant!
I've always wondered if he has a mate somewhere out in the forest. Surely, he did at some point, he is much larger than the average male, he would have won one. I wonder what happened to her? *sad* If she missed capture, or did not survive capture?
D.

I think War would have alot of girls missing him out in the wild. Then again those girls might have many friends, lovers and foes to keep them busy. I think when they're couped up in a box they enjoy having company, just like they probably would in the wild. Whether it be for stimulation, companionship, life events etc etc, I'm sure its some sort of relief for them. I don't know. I'm sure there's undesired company as well. Then again theres all types of relationships.There are just my thoughts though doesn't make it true.

For instance my croc pair are funny. I have a hollow log right under one of my basking spots for a quick getaway. The male loves it when that log is there. He actually makes that log his home 80% of the time. Hes a pansy and very skittish, but curious. My female on the other hand is bold and aggressive. Guess shes figured out that hes afraid to use the basking spot without the log and will throw that log off so she can hog the basking spot up . I dont dare nail that hollow log down, I just put it back up so she can do it again the next day, haha.Guess whos eating first????

Here I am "anthropomorphiphiphiphiphisasasasizing"man I hate that word). Take care D