Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my savanna monitor has seen fit to re-potty train himself. it used to be that he would only go in his water dish which was great because then i can just empty it out (yuck!), clean it and put it back. this worked well for the past few years. Suddenly in the past 2-3months he refuses to go in his tank. Now he either waits until you take him out or he stays wide awake and claws to get out and when you do you're guaranteed poopie within 5-10minutes. This would be fine if we lived some place warm, but I think it's animal abuse if I walk him in a NY winter

anyone know of a way to paper train this guy? or re-train him to go in his water dish? he comes out often and walks around the house when we're home and has his own corner of the living rom w/ a heating pad under a footstool. He's a very social animal and i don't want to make his tank a punishment place or restrict him from getting held and petted.

He is about 2' long in a 125Gal tank w/ a hidebox, heating and a hammock. Thanks for any help.

Signed,
Tired of Playing "Shove the Paper Under The Tail In The Nick of Time"

--Sam

If you have a small bathroom you could put paper down and put him in there and wait for him to unload. Second some people don’t like this method but you could put some water in the bath tub and try putting him in there and see if he will unload although. If you use this method just keep a spray bottle of diluted Chlorhexidine handy and spray down the tub after flushing it out. Link below is where you can buy Chlorhexidine by the gallon and that should last years. Third if you have hardwoods and don’t mind cleaning up you could let him find a new place. I have a yearling 3’ B&W Tegu that has free roam of the house and he picked the tile kitchen floor as his bathroom =). Good luck hope this helps>

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Chlorhexidine

Sorry I sound like a tard in that last post, I was using cut and past to rearrange a couple things and didn’t read it over before I hit the post button. I also meant to say if you have the option to let him find a new place somewhere in your home, you can then put paper down in that area and he will generally hit the paper 95% of the time. That is if yours is like mine and chooses to use the same spot every time.

thanks for the ideas. he hasn't picked a favorite spot, lately he's just been letting go free and eazy like a little lizard hippie. I think i'll just put down a _lot_ of paper and hopefully he'll get the hint. Unfortunately I don't own a tub, just a large shower stall. No hardwood floors, we have rugs and linoleum in the kitchen. I've gotten used to catching it fast and then getting down on my knees w/ the 409 stain remover when i don't.