Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all. last week i received a young adult, male black rough neck monitor from ben seigel reptiles. i have not handled him since i got him cause i wanted him to settle in and start eating. he actually ate as soon as i put him in his cage. ben said he was "tame" and only huffed a little when picked up. well i learned that wasnt exactly true today. when i reached in, WHACK! boy can he tail whip. after i picked him up he calmed down, didnt try to run or anything, didnt crap on me but all of a sudden puked all over. he might as well have crapped cause thats what it smelled like. is this a normal thing for monitors to do? will he stop after he gets used to me? thanks for your input.

you've only had him a week and your already forceing him to be handled handle, im glad he puked on you. (MONITOR 1, HOMO 0).why was you getting him out to paint his toe nails ?

Not a good idea to handle them on a full stomach. If you do you'll either get puked on or crapped on depending how far along digestion is.

I prefer to let my monitors walk over to me then to just scoop them up. Try putting your hand in and letting him check you out. Do this repeatedly and you may notice him just walk right over to you and up your arm. Be gentle and respect your little one and you'll typically get that back. Unless you just have a nasty agro monitor on your hands LOL I have a few like that. No matter what ya do they are not going to like you.

"Make sure you like what your getting for what it is and not what you hope it will become." Myself just now

Thanks for the HELPFUL info. he hadnt eaten since yesterday but i will move much slower and just let him get used to me without picking him up. again, thanks for the help.

Hi,

I'm still a newbie as far as monitors go although I had 2 previously which escaped. The one I'm having now is WC(like the other 2) but it's pretty docile in that it will not tail-whip or show any threat display.

So far, it has never ever attempted to bite although it will try to run when I handle it. Likewise, it will never eat in my presence but will gobble up all its food when left alone.

What I did notice is that if it has a full stomach, it will regurgitate its stomach contents when alarmed and that can really messy. To avoid this, I give it at least 5 days before handling it and, so far, it has worked out.

Btw, mine is a V. salvator. Just to check out with the rest of you who own water monitors, are yours aggressive or docile?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Regards,
Francis

mine never go 5 days without eatin, if they did i would probly get bitten reachin into their cage.

You should really feed it more often. If kept in good conditions with good temps. they metabolize quickly. This would mean yours is walking around on an empty stomach for the most part.

My monitor is 18" long and its main meal is crickets every 2 days. About once a week, it is fed frogs or mice(hoppers) and takes about 3 at one sitting. It is after eating frogs or mice that I do not handle it.

Previously, it had regurgitated its food when I handled it 3 days after its last heavy meal so I'd rather not risk it. To your question whether its feeding response is stronger due to the long(?) break between meals, the answer is no. No matter how hungry it is, it has never ever attacked prey in my presence or tried to go for my hand.

I suppose that when it grows bigger and, hopefully, becomes less nervous, the chances of regurgitation will decrease to allow more interaction after meals. I hope this answers your questions.

Regards,
Francis

Welcome to the wonderful world of monitors!! Haha!! Yup, puking is a natural defense mechanism along with crapping, whipping and biting. What I've found is that the biters/whippers don't generally puke/crap and vice versa but yours seems to be have other thoughts. Bottom line is that puking is a reaction to the possibility of being eaten. It serves two purposes: one is to lighten the load for flight and the second is to slime the perceived predator and gross it out enough to cause it to let go. Read all the replies about handling and taming and you will notice a common theme which is don't force it on your animal - let your animal initiate the contact. Respect it's boundaries and HOPEFULLY you should gain it's trust and possibly be able to handle it in the future. But be prepared for that to take weeks, months or even years. Like Jody "just" made up, you have to like what you have for what it is NOW and not for what you hope it will become. Best of luck! Billy

>>Hi all. last week i received a young adult, male black rough neck monitor from ben seigel reptiles. i have not handled him since i got him cause i wanted him to settle in and start eating. he actually ate as soon as i put him in his cage. ben said he was "tame" and only huffed a little when picked up. well i learned that wasnt exactly true today. when i reached in, WHACK! boy can he tail whip. after i picked him up he calmed down, didnt try to run or anything, didnt crap on me but all of a sudden puked all over. he might as well have crapped cause thats what it smelled like. is this a normal thing for monitors to do? will he stop after he gets used to me? thanks for your input.

Thanks so much for the input!!

today i went into his cage (its big enough for me to sit in and him still have lots of room to get away from me.) i sat there for about 10 minutes and he came walking over to me and climbed up on my lap and then up my chest (which really hert). i know he will never like me but its really cool that i can get that close with out him freaking out. thanks for all the input!