monitor attitude

hey all i have a 12 inch (appx) savannah and he was the nicest lovable thing i had and nonthing changed with him but after about two weeks he just got mean one day he hissed and the next he was trying to eat my hand. its been on and off ever since ive done the bath tub trick he eats from my spoon but a hour later he wants me. is there anything to get them pass this?

I've heard that Sav's aren't really "loveable" at that age...from what I've heard them appearing docile just means that he's afraid and trying to get you not to eat him then when that doesn't work he'll change tatics and try something different...

Mine is doing the docile thing too...I'd really rather him bite and hiss and whip because it means he's healthy and acting like a monitor should, I do know you're not supposed to force handle, try letting him see you feed him and offer him food on blunt tongs so that he stops viewing you as a threat and more as a good thing that provides food.

Feed with long tongs to avoid him thinking of you as the food source, but I'm with Jackal, a hissing, tail whipping aggro monitor = healthy and well adjusted.

My blackthroats are pretty irritable, and I'm happy to be able to feed them while being careful. I worry if they are too docile seeming, honestly.

If that "bathtub trick" is the one I'm thinking of, please don't use it. Nearly drowning a animal to "tame" it is dangerous to the lizard and cruel as well.

ok so by just feeding and sometimes trying to rub them is all i can do

Read this
http://savannahmonitor.org/taming/ :D

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Originally Posted by slayer

Read this
http://savannahmonitor.org/taming/ :D

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They have very useful information its true but...they're so mean about it that it makes me not want to listen to them out of pure spite, if they really want to teach people about keeping savs they should be nicer about it.

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Originally Posted by Jackal

They have very useful information its true but...they're so mean about it that it makes me not want to listen to them out of pure spite, if they really want to teach people about keeping savs they should be nicer about it.

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That site is there to help people realize what they have or about to get into.That is the best site out there and he speaks the truth.To many people buy these animals expecting them to be like a dog or cat,and when they realize what they have gotten them selves into the animals suffers.

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Originally Posted by Jackal

They have very useful information its true but...they're so mean about it that it makes me not want to listen to them out of pure spite, if they really want to teach people about keeping savs they should be nicer about it.

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Reading it, I don't see anything "mean" about their information. I see them giving very good, very simple information on how to properly keep a monitor and also what to expect when keeping a monitor.

Just because it's not what you want to hear doesn't mean it's wrong. After all, I talked to someone at a reptile show vending who claimed his monitor was "dog tame" and how he could carry it around on his shoulder. When I asked about basking temps, he scoffed and said a monitor never needed any temps above about 85F.

I'm sure he would scoff at that site too. But IMO, he's dead wrong. A cold, ill-treated monitor can appear very 'tame', but if I put my ball pythons into the fridge, they'd appear perfectly tame too.

if you dont listen to that site, 50% chance it will die or lve a misrable life