Mike, I know where you are coming from, and am not challenging your opinion in any way.

Chomper was purchased to replace "Barney" who was 5 1/2 and in perfect health when he was accidentally killed.

Barney was a house monitor, tore up the furniture, pooped in the bath tub and had a dogie door flap on the end of his enclosure to come and go at will.

Chomper lets us know when he's upset he has hissed and musked before. Right now his signal to me is IF he wants out of the enclosure he backs up onto my hand. he is uncomfortable with any motion up by his head, so he walks up on to my hand backwards.

if he does not want out, he just goes in his burrow, I then leave him alone until he climbs up on the sill and jumps around in the window.

Dorothy will not sway, since half a decade plus with a monitor that could go out without any leash or restraints, one that would terrorize the house and then lay out on the window sill half the afternoon is a hard memory to erase.

So my job is to make sure his husbandry and care is top notch. His enclosure is extra large and very private with just a 18 inch wide 12 inch tall window. clay dirt for burrowing, a rock pile, the works..

As soon as I can get the tractor, I am digging out a small pond, and building an outdoor paddock, so he can roam free and behave like a monitor. Since they do dig, and dig well, I will use big flat stones and some concrete for a floor, then cover it with dirt.

I make sure the walks are not excessive, and all 3 times he ate a dozen crickets immediately after returning, then slipped into his burrow for a few hours.

He consumes a few pinkies every week, and seems well adjusted.

Thanks for the reply, and yes I do read a lot of your posts. You keep a diverse selection of critters yourself I'm sure you have had a big python or two crawling freely in the house before. (Most python fans do at some point)

Kind regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
-----

1.0.0 Ball Python - Python regius "Cane" Rescue
0.0.1 Eastern MilkSnake WC "Carmello" adult super sweet temperment
1.2.3 Storeria dekayi Casper, Xena, Athena, & Kids (30 plus released!)
0.0.2 Thamnophis marcianus - Checkered Garters "spot" & "Zig"
2.2.0 Thamnophis radix Snow, Iowa snow & christmas snow het.
2.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis - eastern Garters
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis - "Flame" red and white stripes
1.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis CB "Flame" & Melanistic
1.0.0 Thamnophis pickeringi - Puget Sound Garter "Sky" (adult, Sky blue)
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon - Water Snake - "Aqua" adult WC
0.1.0 Storeria occipitomaculata - Red Belly snake (Her children were raised & released)
0.0.1 Amelanistic Corn Snake "CY" Juvinile CB
1.0.0. Pueblan Milk snake "Oreo" adult CB
1.0.0. ASIAN GREEN SNAKE 3' WC Cyclophiops major"Limon"
0.0.1. Savannah Monitor "CHOMPER" Growing fast!
0.1.0. Green Anole "Crystal" WC
1.0.0. K9 "ACE" Black Cockapoo
0.2.0. Feline"Felix"(R.I.P. 4/27/08) "Kaja" & "Silver"
2.1.0. calico RATS
2.4.?? Mice - Feeder farm - Crickets / fish
More herps than I could ever list out back on the land.

[ Show Entire Thread ]