Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was told that black gloves can scare savannah monitors. I want to use gloves because my sav lynx has been snappy lately and pooped once in the hand already i know these are natural. I have black gloves now.

i never heard that. i think all gloves and hand scare them.

Hi,

I have never heard that black gloves scare varanids, but I think I have a explanation for it, if only in-part? Both hands and (black) gloves resemble talons of birds of prey, a noted predator of many varanus species (V. albigularis, niloticus, indicus)(Stevenson-Hamilton, 1947; Steyn, 1982; Bayless & Luiselli, 2000; Beehler, 1992 - all varanid/bird-prey related field reports). Watch a savanna monitor outside when a commercial plane flies over-head, it will look intently at that plane until it has passed clear over-head....reaching down to pick up a varanid from above would resemble a talon, and initiate a fight or flight response from the monitor ...

cheers,
mbayless

n/p

np

np

Thamk you do you think i should handle with gloves or not when Lynx is displaying aggressive behavior.

I would wear gloves....One day my cute little Sav who would wrap his tail around my finger so he wouldn't fall off my hand turned into this mini ragging beast who would do a jekyl and hyde on me. One day I saw him so intent on defending himself that he not only opened his mouth to bite me but he actually tried to jump up and take out a finger and after seeing him crush the head of a fuzzy I decided some gloves might be a good idea until we get some what out of this "Dad is trying to eat me stage" he is in....

thanks for the warning, i'm not sure what to think people say different things after my sav and I start a trust towards each other the gloves will come off.

Thanks to all for the info on the black glove issue. Does anybody think i should not use gloves when Lynx is displaying agressive behavior?

I used to use gloves years ago.You lose the feel of the monitor and if you use a different pair of gloves(or different color),they lose your scent or are confused by the color change.I don't know how big your monitor is, but it's all part of the experience.Scratches,bites WILL happen at one point or another if you have them long enough.17 years of monitors and I only have a few stitches and one broken knuckle.Pretty good from my point of view.Dogs bite,cats scratch,birds hurt like hell when they bite too.It's all a part of the big picture.

thanks for the response Lynx is 9 inches lond still a hatchling/juv.

Here is Lynx. Hope this works

This is a great place for info. if you listen to advanced keeepers,not newbies.

i showed a picture of how big lynx is how do you get the word [image] on the screen, so people know that there is a picture posted also.

np