Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everybody,

Good news! The plans are in the works to get my second monitor! We plan on getting him/her on October 27th at the NewYork Reptile Expo. I currently own a Savanna, for those of you that are not familiar, I had alot of problems with her because on my inexperiance with monitors. But most of that has passed, I have learned so much from her I cant even begin to explain it and she is currently growing at a tramendouse rate and will shortly be moved into a very large, permenant home where she can live comphortably. With that said I am looking to get another twards the end of this year. By that time Page will be in her new home and I will have some more room for a new addition. So the research begins! I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good species for a beginner with some experiance. I am not particularly looking to get another Savanna and Im not looking to spend more than $200 on the animal. One more thing I should say is that Im looking for a monitor that will "tolerate" being handled for soaking, cage cleaning, weighing and such, Im not looking for a lap dog or anything just somthing that wont kill me for cleaning the water dish. One more quick question...should my savanna calm down with age...and appropriate handling? Shes a bit wild and enjoys pretending my fingers are mice.

Sorry for rambling!
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Rydair

0.0.1 Savanna Monitor (Were guessing girl)
0.0.1 Painted Turtal
0.0.1 Red Eared Slider
1.0.0 Hampster
1.1.0 Parakeets
1.0.0 Ferret
0.1.0 African Clawed Frog
0.1.0 Cat
15 assorted fish
all in the bedroom of a 17 year old girl

Try a Tegu out. Not many monitors besides Niles and Savs can be bought cheaply unless they are WC or in poor health.
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Its funny you say that because as soon as I posted this message today I started doing some research to answer my own question and stumbled on Tegu's. Well I didn't just stumble on them, I know about them I guess it just hit me that theyre just what im lookin for. But if anyone has any suggestion Im still waitin to hear 'em.

Thanks!
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Rydair

0.0.1 Savanna Monitor (Were guessing girl)
0.0.1 Painted Turtal
0.0.1 Red Eared Slider
1.0.0 Hampster
1.1.0 Parakeets
1.0.0 Ferret
0.1.0 African Clawed Frog
0.1.0 Cat
15 assorted fish
all in the bedroom of a 17 year old girl

its an argintina black & white just a yong one its 7-8 months old and 21", they cost about $60-$110, they can get 5ft and almost 30lbs and i just love mine to death he is what i would consider puppy tame, eats just about anything that move(or doesnt).but if i were u i would look in to getting a tegu
hope this help
Gage

he was 6 months old in this photo

Thanks so much for the info and the pic they are really helpful. Im gonna start doing some serious research on these guys over the next couple of months and hopefully by November 27 I can see about getting one at the New York reptile expo. Its a long time to wait but a good amount to time to prepare! Thanks again!
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Rydair

0.0.1 Savanna Monitor (Were guessing girl)
0.0.1 Painted Turtal
0.0.1 Red Eared Slider
1.0.0 Hampster
1.1.0 Parakeets
1.0.0 Ferret
0.1.0 African Clawed Frog
0.1.0 Cat
15 assorted fish
all in the bedroom of a 17 year old girl

"One more quick question...should my savanna calm down with age...and appropriate handling? Shes a bit wild and enjoys pretending my fingers are mice."
A fiesty monitor that acts like a monitor is a healthy monitor.
I still don't understand why everyone, well, most people need to handle their lizard.

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

If you have read my post which you quoted properly you would have read that I dont want a monitor that I can puppy tame and constantly "handle", that is not how i view monitors and my post that you quoted says that. Dont bring your issues with others to me please because you and me are on the same page. I merly dont want to be bit EVERY time i go to change the water or clean the cage. With my monitor getting bigger I can see where behavior like that can turn into quite a problem for both of us.

Peace
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Rydair

0.0.1 Savanna Monitor (Were guessing girl)
0.0.1 Painted Turtal
0.0.1 Red Eared Slider
1.0.0 Hampster
1.1.0 Parakeets
1.0.0 Ferret
0.1.0 African Clawed Frog
0.1.0 Cat
15 assorted fish
all in the bedroom of a 17 year old girl

Theres a differnt kinds of biting, one is the scared/mean/territory type, other is they think your food. I try to tong or hand feed regardless of why, in time it usualy works to calm them down so i can get into their enclosurs, somtimes i feed them first, then go in, when your gets bigger the problem will increase. It becomes a larger problem when they get large and skiddish because they can run strait into walls and smash their face up.

Also theres nothing wrong with holding your monitor (my opinion, unless its a new monitor that needs to time to get use to its home) i take some of mine out often. Somtimes they follow me right out of there enclosures (mostly because they think i have food) but i like to think they like me. I have one that actualy like to sit on me (again hes just likes warm spots) but i like to think he likes me. I have some pictures somwhere of some coming out of there cages to grab food outa my hand, if i find it ill post it.

The truth is, $200.00 is not enough money to do right by any monitor from scratch.

You could get a friend for the one you have though, and add the rest of the money to what you have for the construction of your large permanent cage for the first one.

The problem with the question about biting and breeds is monitors can and do bite. All of them. It is a defense mechanism at their disposal, if they think they need to use it, they will. Weather they bite you is only going to be determined by your relationship with it. That means most of the time doing what the monitor wants to do, not what you want to do LOL

I have just resign myself to being bitten. -someday- It’s easier that way. Even a monitor that is relatively comfortable with you can get spooked and bite, or mistake you for food. Monitors can move remarkably fast, they are attracted to movement. When I realized I had no chance of snatching my hand away from a bite, I decided to force myself to freeze and hope the monitor realizes it’s mistake. This was sooo hard to train myself to do! So far I have never had a monitor bite me out of fear/anger, but I have been lunged at mistaken as food, or startling them by being too casual. Monitors tolerate people, they don’t look at you as master, probably not even friend. If you are relaxed and not pushy a monitor might accept you as a non-threatening part of it’s environment.

Goodluck

The $200 I was planning on spending was set aside soley for the animal alone not for the animal AND all the cage and equipment. I know full well the time energy and money it takes to prepare for a new addition haha I was just looking for a reletivly inexpensive animal.

As for being bitten I to am trying to accept that I will often be bitten. To be honest I dont really mind, if my lizards feel they need to bite me (other than mistaking me for food) than I honestly think I deserve it. Its just that my Savanna is VERY eager to bite and THEN decised im not food. She has only bitten me once out of fear and it was my fault entirly but she was very young then and i didnt mind. When I talk of her "calming down" I was just subconsiously comparing them to dogs (*shocked* I know thats the worst comparison to make and will likly start a fight on this forum Im sorry please dont kill me!). My family has always owned Labs, when they are young they're wild but they calm down with age. Thats all I was wondering, I know ill have to work at it...hopefully one day shell learn that Im not food and I wont hurt her.

Peace
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Rydair

0.0.1 Savanna Monitor (Were guessing girl)
0.0.1 Painted Turtal
0.0.1 Red Eared Slider
1.0.0 Hampster
1.1.0 Parakeets
1.0.0 Ferret
0.1.0 African Clawed Frog
0.1.0 Cat
15 assorted fish
all in the bedroom of a 17 year old girl

Being bit happens all the time with most reptile owners, nothing to be ashamed of or apologize. $200 can get you a more exotic type monitor (if thats what you want), most people start out with savanahh monitors and move to more exotic's, like it seems you want. Also nothing wrong with moving to more of an exotic if you enjoy monitors, nothing wrong with owning multiple.

You can check out the classifieds too to get some ideas what you like.

>>I have just resign myself to being bitten. -someday- It’s easier
>>that way. Even a monitor that is relatively comfortable with
>>you can get spooked and bite, or mistake you for food. Monitors
>>can move remarkably fast, they are attracted to movement. When I
>>realized I had no chance of snatching my hand away from a bite,
>>I decided to force myself to freeze and hope the monitor realizes
>>it’s mistake. This was sooo hard to train myself to do! So far
>>I have never had a monitor bite me out of fear/anger, but I have
>>been lunged at mistaken as food, or startling them by being too
>>casual.

Holly,

Please be very careful about this. A sharp toothed monitor the size of your mangrove Scooter could take off a finger, or cause permanent debilitating damage to a hand by severing nerves or tendons. With Asian or Australian monitors approaching or exceeding the 1.5 meter (5 foot) length, the only real option is simply not to be bitten, and take appropriate steps to prevent this. Foprtunately, you've already done most of what is neccessary - getting to know your monitor, how it communicates, and its moods. Other than that, always using hemostats when feeding and a pair of very heavy armored gloves for when the monitor absolutely needs to be handled when it is in a bad mood (such as trips to the vet) should be considered essential.

Good luck,

Luke

Luke,

Hello and thanks for your concern! I hope you and yours are happy and well.

In my situation, I feel this is my best course of action not to be bitten. Let me tell you, It scares the holy youknowwhat out of me to think of it. Scooter really enjoys catching crickets, the loud smack of his jaws slamming shut is a constant reminder of his power. I am careful. I don’t feed by hand. I do realize if I pull when he has a hold of me, I’m hamburger, it would be better if I were still. His larger teeth are ¾ the width of my finger. Hell, my whole hand could fit in his mouth. Scooter and I have “shared territory” for extended periods of time. I allowed him to make himself at home in my apartment and he did. I’ve only seen him really upset on a small number of occasions. He has never threatened me in anger. The older he gets, the more attention he seeks from me. Mostly to rub his mouth and drool on me, I figure he is marking me as his territory. I’m as careful as I can be, (hey, no bite in 10+ years) I’ll take my chances trusting him.
-H-

(a note to new monitor keepers) I do not condone free-roam monitors. I learned the hard way what it means to keep a fully grown “mid-sized monitor”.

Hi Holly,

Glad to hear it! Only one thing to add ... if you do get bitten, try to keep the presence of mind to restrain the monitor by the shoulders with your free hand. This can (hopefully) prevent it from shaking you like a terrier with a rat. This shaking can make a bad wound all that much worse. Restraining a powerful animal like a 5 foot monitor with one hand while in shock and pain and dripping blood may sound like an excercize in futility, but hey, it is better than nothing.

>>(a note to new monitor keepers) I do not condone free-roam
>>monitors. I learned the hard way what it means to keep a fully
>>grown “mid-sized monitor”.

With this I completely agree. The amount of trouble a monitor will get into in an amazingly short period of time is just mind boggling.

Luke

Ahh, I can see what you mean. Never hurts to prepare for the worst. I sincerely doubt he would shake me, I think he would know as it happened it was a mistake. He really prefers very small food items. The only large things he gets are the fertilized goose eggs. They don’t look anything like my hand. I almost hate to talk about Scooter’s rare personality because I am afraid the new monitor owners will get the wrong idea. He is 11 years old and is extremely tolerant because he knows me very well and he knows I will leave him alone if he moves away from instead of toward me. What you said did give me some ideas about preparing. LOL, hopefully my first bite will be from something small like the tristis. I wish so much I could give Scooter the company of another monitor.

About picking him up. Of course he doesn’t like it, he is understandably nervous being lifted off the ground so we bought him a 6 ft canvas army duffle, we left it in his space and he decided he liked it. There is a blanket in the bottom and we lift it from underneath. He is comfortable with the bag, it’s pretty easy to get him in there. He has gone in there to sleep all on his own. For everyone’s safety we make him stay in the bag when riding in the car. We ALWAYS have 2 people when transporting him. I need a lock for the bag, he recently figured out how to unzip it from the inside. Smart smart lizard…..
-H-

"The amount of trouble a monitor will get into in an amazingly short period of time is just mind boggling."
I remember one time I put my albig in a rubbermaid tub so I could do a thorough cage cleaning and dirt change. I had to run and pick up my daughter from cheer practice. i was gone maybe 20 minutes. When I opened the door, I knew Fluffy was loose. The cats almost ran me over when I opened the door, the shelves were dumped on the floor and the birds were making all kinds of racket. A few more minutes of free time and he would have figured out how to open the bird cages. I guess he wanted a parrakeet snack, I heard they taste just like chicken.

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

Wanna post a pic of fluffy? Just curious...
Thanks!
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Rydair

0.0.1 Savanna Monitor (Were guessing girl)
0.0.1 Painted Turtal
0.0.1 Red Eared Slider
1.0.0 Hampster
1.1.0 Parakeets
1.0.0 Ferret
0.1.0 African Clawed Frog
0.1.0 Cat
15 assorted fish
all in the bedroom of a 17 year old girl

Home after a vet visit.

Scott

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

He is telling me, "if you aint got food, go away!!"

Scott

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

Cruising

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

Fluffy is actually nice, calm and social compared to this fella.

Scott

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