Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just rescued a hatchling Nile monitor, about 10in long. He is really agressive but it seems mainly from fear and I am working on calming him. It is so obvious that he is highly intelligent. You can see it in his eyes.

I know that komodo dragons can be trained. I have seen it work at the National Zoo. Murphy, their juvenile born there, has been trained using clickers and a whistle to target and to follow the target. He is pretty special, being aclimated to touch therepy, reducing need for sediation.

So, anybody done it? I bought the clicker today and have started clicking everytime I feed him. Hopefully he will learn the clicking is followed by food and I can move on to actually training.

Brett
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The Zoo
1.0 Amel Cornsnake
1.0 Russian Tort
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
3.0 Cats
To be added
0.0.2 Beardies
0.1 Cornsnake morph to be determined

Trained to know a noise means food yes, trained to sit up and do a back flip NO.

I really would not call associating noise to food training. It is not something we taught to them. In the wild they associate food and noise already. More like we manipulate that.

A tap on the bucket, a tap on the cage etc. can all be used instead of a clicker. As soon as my buckets come out and the sliding door opens to the room they all stand at attention. So I guess if you call that trained mine are trained.

They also know when I grab the water tub and pull on it, it means get out so I can remove it for cleaning. Then when I replace it they sit in it waiting for the water to be dumped in. Some of them seem to like to drink it as it is dumped in. Guess it's easier then drinking with your head down.

I am positive he will learn to associate the clicking with food. That is just the first step in training. I don't want him to do tricks but I do want him to become easier to manipulate since he seems to be one of those really aggressive monitors. What I really want to do is target train him to the point he will follow the target and stay on it while someone is moving around him. I was just wondering if anyone had done that sort of thing before. I have the experience of the keepers that trained Murphy but it is always good to get multiple ideas.

Brett
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The Zoo
1.0 Amel Cornsnake Pulcher
1.0 Russian Tort McCarthy
0.0.1 Crested Gecko Kruschev
0.0.1 Nile Monitor Scipio
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor Mandela
0.0.1 Forest Hingback Tort Mineta
3.0 Cats Ragnar, Pluto, and Nyord
To be added
0.0.2 Beardies
0.1 Cornsnake morph to be determined

Why would you do that, when all you have to do is move them over and clean the cage. Really, its about that simple.

Your Nile seems to have the wool pulled over your eyes. Actually, your nile will learn soon enough all the stuff that goes on around him. If you let the Nile run you around, then the Nile trained you, or you can train the Nile. FR

I did not miss anything. I understood you. But you just got it other things should be more important to you right now.

Getting it to move from one place to another is easy either move it, or toss some food. Put a mouse on the end of a stick it will follow it all day long.

Of course I have trained them to do backflips. Thats easy, but you need some of the more boneheaded species, like the gouldi complex, or male Lacies.

I use to show people that when they came over. It was kinda a sales technique. But after a few years you just let it slip by the side.

It really was not hard to teach them. Cheers FR

Well mine catch food out of the air, jump for it, etc. I do not call that me training them to jump hoops, or sniff out drugs at baggage claim.

Backflips, I said backflips, as in backflips. I taught them backflips.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha Jody go back and start over, he said, you said, I said. that may help. Thanks FR

I had my albigs whistle trained. They would emerge from their holes in their outdoor enclosure on command.

Jim

I've trained all my animals to eat all their food. Wish I could train the kids to do that. Maybe I should try feeding the kids mice. Hmmmmmmmmmm............

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

I trained her to follow me when I walk away (hmm maybe she just wants to), but on occaision shes like a little kid when they see something they want to get into she just doesnt listen and goes the other way (maybe thats something that makes her a monitor?). I let her loose on the far end of the yard and she comes to the back of the house and waits for me to either take her back up there and do it again or to go indoors whens shes done crapping in the same spot shes been using for 2 years in the backyard. She also does a few other things but I think alot of it is intellegence showing and adaptation to her captive lifestyle, after all they like to think and figure things out and learn, challenge themselves, ask the wild rabbit thats lives in our backyard for 4 or more years, Sobek sneaks up on her then lunges to capture that tasty lookin rabbit but I always intercede and allow the rabbit time to escape, she likes rabbits and almost gets them with me interfering. She does alot of things that she learned but thats becuase I trained her to trust me as a family member a when she was still around 2-3 months old.