Traded for a blackthroat and have some questions

lol, I didn't mean 10-14 days before feeding I meant before trying to handle him. Thanks for all the insight and i'll just go by trial and error and pray for the best.

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Originally Posted by mr~python

that is DEFINITELY a no no. that is not at all how you tame ANY monitor.

you have to gain their trust and let them be the ones to come to you. try offering food from your open palm (using leather gloves ofcourse) and let him sniff your hand and examine it until he feel comfortable around you.

you dont want to force handle him. that doesnt accomplish anything. i have a good link on "taming". here it is. http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1110696,1110696

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That's a good link Marshall gave you, I used to force handle my sav at first for the first 2-3 months I had him and basically it wasn't getting anywhere - he'd run like hell if I just poked my face round the door of the room he was in - and if I opened the viv door he'd scramble for cover quick (large human predator about to get me!). I wish I'd done it this way to start with when I first got him but I never heard of that way then. Mine's at the stage now where he could care less if I enter the room while he's out basking, and if he's at the front of his viv and I open it up he doesn't run. He flicks my hand with his tongue and will let me pet behind his ears - a different lizard to what I first had ;)

fish, your sav probably is so "tame" now because he's lost hope really. you've held onto him until he stopped struggling. that is not taming at all and not good for the monitors psychy(sp?).

monitors are not "tame" at all. they just tolerate you and allow you to handle them. "tame" for monitors is not charging at you and biting you every time your near it.

MY monitor needs some med applies on a rub mark she had when I got her. How badly do you think this handling will set her back from utilizing the handable NOT tame method? It is almost healed up, but I have been having to catch and restrain her to put the med on her boo-boo. I want to get a larger viv too, so I will be looking into that. Could I move her into the new viv(when I get it) and then start the new method? She will bask on her branch if I am sitting near the tank(3 feet away) and will watch me come clsoer, but if I reach in for anything, she will run. She has seemed to realize that I put clean water in and will immediately got to it to climb in and play. One good thing?
Thanks so much for the link! I just read the entire thing, and I will save it too. I want to have a happy monitor that isn't scared of me. And the grab and restrain method isn't working so well(necessary for the med though).
Hopefully I will get her settled like that!
Wolfy

dont worry about grabing and restraining them if its necessary. thats just part of keeping monitors. sometime restraining them is needed, but it DEFINITELY shouldnt be done if theres no reason for it.

her not running from you and allowing you too sit next to her cage is a good thing. i would also get a frozen pinkie or small mouse even (depending on how big she is) and put it in the palm of you hand and place your hand on the other side of the cage and just keep it there until your arm gets tired or until she comes to investigate or eat. thats a good way of them gaining trust.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

MY monitor needs some med applies on a rub mark she had when I got her. How badly do you think this handling will set her back from utilizing the handable NOT tame method? It is almost healed up, but I have been having to catch and restrain her to put the med on her boo-boo. I want to get a larger viv too, so I will be looking into that. Could I move her into the new viv(when I get it) and then start the new method? She will bask on her branch if I am sitting near the tank(3 feet away) and will watch me come clsoer, but if I reach in for anything, she will run. She has seemed to realize that I put clean water in and will immediately got to it to climb in and play. One good thing?
Thanks so much for the link! I just read the entire thing, and I will save it too. I want to have a happy monitor that isn't scared of me. And the grab and restrain method isn't working so well(necessary for the med though).
Hopefully I will get her settled like that!
Wolfy

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What is the rub mark? Often monitors will heal better on their own if it's nothing much - I was reading on another monitor site about neosporin being not good for reptiles (or any petroleum based medication) - but of course you may not be using this anyway. I'd literally just read that thread before coming here so that's why my feeble mind can still remember it :)

My monitor's at the stage now (and remember I started off with the "force handle daily" routine) where I can go into his viv and he doesn't worry about what I do there. If he's laying on his tiled bit at the front he'll just sit there while I open the door and have his head scratched and won't move away. He loves his water too - don't they make a mess though! LOL!

Do I smell a thread hijacker? J/K I'm going to try to give him some crickets today and see if he bites. I'll let you know.

Charity actually sometimes really goes after crickets, sometimes she ignores them, so even if he doesn't go after them right away, don't give up on them. She LOVES earthworms.(Nightcralers, whatever is large and juicy) and earthworms are great for sprinking the calcium powder if you want to supplement.
I am indeed using triple antibiotic gel, but it is almost healed.
Wolfy(sorry about the hijack)

my ackie does WILD for crickets. if hes basking while im shaking them i the dusting bag he'll come to the side of the glass and start running around. he chases them SO fast and he can catch them out of mid air. its amazing.