Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anybody ever heard of/used a "muzzle" when handling monitor lizards?
Want to calm wife's concerns, and be able to handle more readily around friends/toddler son's fascinated peers.

Thanx!

Stop trying to suppress your animal's natural behavior. Putting a muzzle on it will only stress it out.
Don't do it.
Ian
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buy the ticket, take the ride...

even if you did some how manage to get a muzzle on one, it would then go nuts trying to get it off resulting in freaking your guests out even further and possibly harming your monitor.

Would you wear a muzzle? I am sure a muzzle isn't natural for anything including dogs. If you put it on it will risk its health due to stress.

Appreciate all of your candor.
Was thinking more along the lines of building appreciation for/education with liability/safety concern...and don't think CAPTIVITY is necessarily "natural" for our monitors (or dogs) either.
Good point about the stress-potential.
Tangent: Always have wondered if all this "duct-taping" to crocodilian mouths is done with special stuph that doesn't tear skin/scales leave permanent damage...? Don't suppose similar option for larger lizards? (EASY!

tell you what to do,put some duck tape on your lips and rip it off and see if it hurts before you try and put it on your monitor. try that and get back to us.

You guys/gals are wonderful PR for getting new users for these forums.
May be stupid questions to you...but once upon a time, you....
Will leave conversing/sharing about incarcerating against their will these wonderful creatures to you "professionals".
Please offer solutions as much as sarcasm, and get up on the right side of the bed before responding next time.

They pull away, shake, jump, and try to remove any obstructions from their mouth as they use their tongues to test the environments constantly and their mouth is a defense if all else fails. If you and your wife are afraid of getting bit then maybe a monitor is not for you, not to say that they do or dont bite, as many individuals will never bite, and some will bite alot but that is their individual personality and they need to learn to trust you, then theres alot less chance of you getting bit. These 2 developed trust in each other from Sobek being around 2-3 months old, shes now a few months under 3 years old.

Beautiful animal.
What kind of monitor?
Our own 3 1/2 ft monster, Zilla (savie), tragically passed last summer and we are on the hunt for a new adoptee to bring into the fam. Any leads?

Shes a BTxWTxWT. She was a Rob Faust cross. Im soon getting a good friends WT that is too big and strong for him to care for after his surgery.

>> Anybody ever heard of/used a "muzzle" when handling monitor
>> lizards?

Well, I've never tried it, and I've never heard of anyone else doing it either. You could be the first to develop it, just let the rest of us know how it goes.

A couple things to keep in mind, though - monitors use their "throat pouches" to help them breathe. When they are pumping their throats in and out, they are forcing air into and out of their lungs. You would have to design the muzzle to allow the throat to move without restriction.

Also, you will need to allow the mouth to open enough to let the monitor flick its tongue. Thier tongue is a major part of their sensory apparatus, and if it cannot use it, it would be like you or I being blind or deaf.

I think you will quickly find any muzzle to be more trouble than it is worth, however. Getting it on is likely to be a major pain in the rear.

Luke

Thanx for the insight and advice.
Good points to this about prior to patent.