# Calming or "Taming" Monitor Lizards



## Nero Egernia (Mar 29, 2016)

This is a topic that I have relatively little experience in, and as a result I've been scouring many sources to satiate my curiosity. From what I have found there appears to be two schools of thought, "complete and constant exposure" to humans and their environment such as regular handling, touching, and taking away the ability for a monitor to retreat and hide. Or the second school of thought, "let it come to you", where you refrain from handling and touching until the monitor eventually comes to you for some type of reward (such as food) and where you provide ample opportunities for the monitor to feel secure such as providing multiple hides and leaving it alone for a certain period of time. 

Both appear to work, and I have provided links to videos of both schools of thought. I myself am using the technique "let it come to you", and while the progress is slow, there is progress nevertheless. I haven't had the time nor the animals to conduct a proper investigation. From what I have found, sometimes the "complete and constant exposure" technique can have drawbacks such as raising a monitor to become defensive, or having an attitude where the monitor resents human contact. However, the "let it come to you" technique may, in some instances, never teach a monitor to calm down in a human's presence. 

Complete and Constant Exposure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u51EuQkQbSc

Let It Come to You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SJKlTXfOF0

To monitor keepers, thoughts? Opinions? Experiences?


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## Smittiferous (Mar 29, 2016)

*Calming or &quot;Taming&quot; Monitor Lizards*

I'll be watching this thread intently, I'm keen as mustard to learn... I have three monitors who regularly tell me on no uncertain terms that I should go die in a fire immediately, if I would be so kind. Like right now.

That's using the "let it come to you approach". I felt like I was making progress for a short while and then one had to go to the vet, has been iffy on me ever since.


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## pinefamily (Mar 29, 2016)

We tend go more with the let them come to you approach, although letting them get used to you while cleaning feeding and changing water is good as well. Offering food either with tongs/tweezers or holding the bowl while they eat is a good way to gain their confidence. Our flavis will eat from tongs or from a bowl, and our timid red ackie will now eat from a bowl while I hold it.
Time and patience are the key.


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## Evil_Birdy (Mar 29, 2016)

I have one monitor and I have had him for just a month - so I am far from an expert on this - but this is just my two cents on the matter. I have found that a happy medium between those two methods works best for my lizard and I. Taking away all the hides sounds ridiculous and stressful, something I never considered, but at the same time, it is a good idea for them to be exposed to you. Keeping them in an area such as your bedroom or lounge room so they can watch you shows them that you were not put on this earth to eat them. I lure my ackie onto my hand with a cricket in tweezers, much like the guy in the second video so that I can get him out without seeming like a predator. Once he is out I just let him run through my hands, or sometimes he will just sit there and let me stroke his back gently with my finger. We have made progress in just a month, I can touch him now without him running off, flattening, or breathing heavy. I try not to force myself on him, but it didn't take me 212 days to start to gain his trust either, although I'm guessing that monitor was wild caught. But as I said, I have one months worth of experience, and it is highly likely that my opinion on monitor timing will change over time, but this is what has seemed to work so far.


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## CrazyNut (Mar 30, 2016)

Taking away the ability for any animal to retreat and hide is well fairly stupid and irresponsible in my opiuion. All you're doing is putting unecssary stress on the animal which can be a serious problem. The "let it come to you" approach is best. Once its gets used to you regulaly feeding, cleanng and supplying water it will build confidence. You can try and handle streight away but its best to let them settle in a little first (maybe avoid direct contact bia touch for a week or so). Just remeber you will never fully "tame" a monitor but rather increase there tolerance of you, these are still wild animals and haven't been through any domestication process like a dog or cat has. I might also like to add that like pinefamily said, tong feeding is a great way to help increase tolerance, it gets them closer to you with the promise of food and still keeps a yardstick away. What you could try is slowing moving your hand up the tongs so the distance is gradually closed.


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 5, 2016)

No breakthroughs, but a few interesting observations so I thought it may be worth sharing. It's generally accepted that most Black Headed Monitors (_Varanus tristis tristis_) are particularly flighty, and mine is no exception. At the time of this post, I've had her for just over a month. 

It was perhaps a week before she decided to show herself while in my presence. There was plenty of evidence that she would waste no time emerging from her designated hide to explore, bask, and carry on with her regular business while I was not in the room. The first time she decided to show herself while I was there was a slow process. She would poke her head out of her hide while I was quietly reading, and it took over an hour for her to become confident enough to emerge and bask. I have stumbled in the room many times while she was carrying on with her business before, and, depending on whether she was basking or exploring, her reactions were different. If she was basking, she would freeze and rely on camouflage. If she was exploring at ground level, she would shoot into her hide or under the stack. A few weeks later she has slowly become more confident and generally has no problems basking and exploring while I'm around, provided that I'm quiet and make no sudden movements. Recently, however, she now carries on with her business even while the TV or radio are on. When I now stumble in the room she doesn't retreat into the hide or stack, she now just freezes. But sometimes on her "off" days she may retreat into the hide or stack. In general, she appears to be more confident while perched high, while on the base of the enclosure, however, she appears to feel more vulnerable. 

On the topic of feeding, slow progress is also being made. At first she would point blank refuse to feed from the tongs and would often flinch her head sideways when food was offered. When this happened I would leave the food item in the food bowl and while I was away it would "disappear". Perhaps two weeks later from receiving her, when offered food via the tongs she would still refuse, but now she would tongue flick at the food item and no longer flinched. I would then leave the food item in the food bowl. This was also approximately the same time I had first observed her feed in my presence. Perhaps a week or two later after this, when offering food tongue flickering was prevalent, but still would not feed from the tongs, but now I left the food close to her (such as on the perch she was on) and then I would back away and quietly read or something of the such. If she was hungry, she would feed after she was convinced I was doing my own thing. It is also worth noting that I would only offer food while she was perched high where she was most comfortable. Just recently (about a week ago), however, she has begun feeding from the tongs, so you could only imagine my excitement when that happened. However, tong feeding is sporadic. I am going to try and slowly transition to only tong feeding. 

Another observation that I have found interesting is that there is evidence that the monitor can quickly discern between different species and different people. My monitor now has no problem feeding in my presence, however, she will refuse to eat while other people are around, such as family members or friends. An example would be I tried to offer a food item to her while Nanna was watching, but the monitor did not feed, even though we both sat quietly for over 30 minutes. When Nanna left, however, the monitor accepted the food item within the span of perhaps 10 minutes. Another example was when a friend and I were watching a movie in the same room, the monitor remained hiding. When I watch movies or TV by myself, however, she tends to carry on with her business. On the topic of animals she tends to accept the presence of my cat (yes, I have a cat, cat haters get over it, this is about the monitors) even when he meows or runs around like a maniac. However, when family bring their dogs over (these are chihuahuas and are in fact smaller than my cat) and the dogs come in the room the monitor will retreat into the hide or under the stack. 

I hope these observations will prove useful to other members and provide insight to the school of thought "let it come to you". I have not touched her since the time I have first received her. While the progress is slow, there is progress nevertheless. Hopefully things will continue to get better as I really do enjoy watching her carry on with her business and I really loved it when she tong fed. It is also worth noting that this particular specimen is a wild-caught adult, although she has been in captivity for a number of years. Apologies for the mini essay, was just trying to provide some amount of detail.


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## CrazyNut (Apr 5, 2016)

Awesome! Haha if the lizards can accept domestic cats I can't see why lizard keepers can't lol


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## pinefamily (Apr 5, 2016)

I think people are either dog lovers or cat lovers
Occasionally they are both

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry Oshkii, I didn't acknowledge your post. That is great news, and very good progress. One thing I've noticed with our tristis orientalis is he is more likely to come out if he's hungry. I have deliberately left feeding him for an extra day, just to see if he comes out of hiding, and he does. After feeding though he runs away again.


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 5, 2016)

pinefamily said:


> Sorry Oshkii, I didn't acknowledge your post. That is great news, and very good progress. One thing I've noticed with our tristis orientalis is he is more likely to come out if he's hungry. I have deliberately left feeding him for an extra day, just to see if he comes out of hiding, and he does. After feeding though he runs away again.



No worries, pinefamily. My monitor comes out daily. Generally tends to poke her head out from her hide at around 10am and usually then emerges between 11am-12.30pm. Goes to bed between 4.30pm-6pm. When basking she seems to be very relaxed. Appears to be most tense when she first emerges from the hide - doesn't take much to get her to poke her head back in.


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## Smittiferous (Apr 5, 2016)

*Calming or &quot;Taming&quot; Monitor Lizards*

Progress is good [MENTION=41840]Oshkii[/MENTION]! I've hit a wall with all of mine, I'm hoping where they're individually at is not where they'll stay. My tristis is definitely the problem child of the five though. Contemptuous looks all round from him, completely comfortable with any human or feline observers (actively tries to taste the cats through the glass) but exceptionally cage defensive (even offensive) and a dangerously fierce (read: explosive) feeding response make me actively nervous while changing water/cleaning. I'm glad to see you're having luck!

Edit: twenty minutes after posting that, this happened:










Purely accidental, Jones (the grumpy gouldii) came rocketing out the front of his enclosure going for a pinky rat as he often does, realised he was leaping out into the abyss and caught the track with one hind talon, flopped out and landed in my hand... Small bit of hissing then he just sat and stared, then sat and sniffed, and finally just sat. No restraint on my part at all. Refused to eat though until returned home, and then allowed me to slowly reach in and give his back a small scratch before lumbering off back under his tile.


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## pinefamily (Apr 5, 2016)

Is that your flavi, Smittiferous? Good catch by the way, lol. Our suspected female flavi does the same regularly, scratches at the glass, and then falls out when I open the door, not realizing the glass isn't there.


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## BredliFreak (Apr 5, 2016)

Wow, is that some strange luck or what?


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 5, 2016)

Wow, Smittiferous, that's great news! 

My monitor doesn't appear to have the notorious feeding response that most monitors seem to have. She needs a lot of encouragement to take from the tongs. She prefers to run and hide, or sit stark still while sometimes hissing and puffing out her throat, instead of attacking defensively when I do things in the enclosure. It's interesting how they have different personalities.


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## BredliFreak (Apr 5, 2016)

Off topic, but how many monitors do you guys own?


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## pinefamily (Apr 5, 2016)

We have 2 Mertens', 2 flavis, 4 ackies, and one freckled monitor.


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 5, 2016)

BredliFreak said:


> Off topic, but how many monitors do you guys own?



I have one _Varanus tristis tristis_, although soon I may be getting more.

Pinefamily, absolutely envious of your Merten's Water Monitors. It's a shame they can't be kept in WA.


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## Aussie_monitors (Apr 5, 2016)

Every animal is different and everyone has their own techniques and goals. But I go with the "let it come to you" method. I rarely handle my monitors and when I do they hate it, so I wouldn't recommend monitors as a pet to handle. Saying that, I only keep small sized monitors. The majority of mine tong feed with no problems and they all go crazy when feeding. They can be skittish but generally they are all fine as long as I don't make any sudden movements. They tend to be skittish when young but over time they grow and get use to your presence and don't mind just hanging out. If I dangle my fingers in front of the enclosures they'll run to the glass hoping there is food. I've recently been able to tong feed some hatchlings, so I'm pretty excited about that. I guess the point of my rambling is that it depends on how "tame" do you want your monitor to be? For me, tong feeding is the peak for me. I don't need them to do anything else and I'm just happy watching them and occasionally feeding them from the tongs


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 5, 2016)

Aussie_monitors said:


> I guess the point of my rambling is that it depends on how "tame" do you want your monitor to be? For me, tong feeding is the peak for me. I don't need them to do anything else and I'm just happy watching them and occasionally feeding them from the tongs



The type of "tame" I like is where they don't fear you and are comfortable enough to do their thing while people are around, and also tolerating handling with little fuss for quick inspections. I've been itching something bad to take my monitor out and measure/weigh her.


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## Smittiferous (Apr 5, 2016)

*Calming or &quot;Taming&quot; Monitor Lizards*

[MENTION=38465]pinefamily[/MENTION] Jonesy (pictured) is a regular sand monitor. His typical behaviour at feeding time is to propel himself up and out towards the front of his enclosure and snatch his dinner from the tongs whilst airborne. Sometimes he overshoots, so I was sort of ready for it. My flavi (George) behaves the same way you describe, but tends to retreat as soon as he hears the glass sliding now (oh no, now the pink thing can reach me!)
[MENTION=41799]BredliFreak[/MENTION] One gouldii, one flavi, one ackie, one itty bitty mangrove and a male tristis tristis with a female tristis tristis on the way. 
[MENTION=41199]Aussie_monitors[/MENTION] personally, my goal with mine is simply to have animals that will accept my presence and occasional interaction without absolutely losing their marbles and me my fingers. My larger two (sandy and flavi) I would love to give a regular (controlled and supervised) wander outside their enclosures, which they already have had to an extent in my office a few times, and also be able to service their enclosures without a fuss on their behalf. I have cats and a python if I want to be relaxed upon. The majority of my attraction to monitors (and attachment I have to all my current ones) stems from their staunch, challenging demeanours and the sense that while I'm watching them and figuring them out, to an extent they look like they're returning the favour(well, they sure look like it anyway). American-style lapdog monitors don't really seem to do that.
[MENTION=41840]Oshkii[/MENTION] your beautiful little tristis is wild caught if I recall? Maybe has something to do with it? I remember somebody on here saying that progress with monitors' temperament isn't often linear, and well I guess a few hours ago I was worried about my own progress yet it seemed to make a big jump a bit later on...


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 6, 2016)

Yes, she is wild caught, according to the previous owner. I always seem to end up with the wild caught ones.


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## Aussie_monitors (Apr 6, 2016)

Don't get me wrong, I wish I was able to handle them. I just don't see it happening with mine just because of what they are, small sized reptiles. I can usually take out their water bowls and do some spot cleaning without too much of a fuss, but once I try to pick them up then it's game over and I've accepted that. With larger monitors it can be different, I think it just takes time and perseverance. Haha Smittiferous I know the feeling, sometimes I worry if my hand will come back out of the cage with all my fingers! Just to be clear, I'm not arguing or saying it can't be done. Just my thoughts from my own experiences.


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## Smittiferous (Apr 6, 2016)

Interestingly enough the young female tristis I have incoming was quite calm during handling/inspection, as was her sibling, and even spent some time sitting on my head (shaved head seems to make it a nice warm spot for reptiles, it often happens). It'd be awesome if this amicable behaviour persisted with the individual.


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## BredliFreak (Apr 6, 2016)

That would be awesome!


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## pinefamily (Apr 6, 2016)

I'm hearing you Smittiferous a lot of our pythons like to rest their heads on my shaved head.
Are your two tristis unrelated? You might need to keep an eye on them if you keep them together, monitors sometimes can turn on each other.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Smittiferous (Apr 6, 2016)

*Calming or &quot;Taming&quot; Monitor Lizards*

[MENTION=38465]pinefamily[/MENTION] yes. My male is also an adult whereas the inbound female is a juvenile, and I'll be housing them separately when she gets here at least until she matures more. I'm acquiring the female with breeding in mind so there'll be interaction at some point.


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## kingofnobbys (Apr 7, 2016)

Is it easier to "calm" / "tame" a smaller insectonivous monitor IF you get it very young than as a larger more mature sub adult or adult ? Just wondering.


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## Smittiferous (Apr 7, 2016)

*Calming or &quot;Taming&quot; Monitor Lizards*

@kingofnobbys Start with a young one, it will probably start out quite skittish but will settle down over time, but as far as I am aware the smaller species tend to be more flighty anyway, though I've really only had much personal experience with my adult tristis tristis. He was also purchased as an adult. He is very defensive and hisses a great deal if I am accessing his enclosure, and used to put on quite a fierce threat display but that has since ceased. In saying that, last week I went and inspected a prospective girlfriend for him who was a lot younger and she was an absolute sweetheart while being handled and checked over.

I guess you could look out for a sub adult/adult that does indeed show a more relaxed temperament though, the downside would be you likely wouldn't find out much if any of the animal's history unless you acquired it from a keeper rather than a dealer.

That's just my personal experience but I hope that helps.


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## pinefamily (Apr 7, 2016)

The younger the better. It is easier to get a juvenile used to you.


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 13, 2016)

I've noticed that as my largest Tristis has become slowly accepting of tong feeds, which are done mostly while on the perch, that she appears to be climbing up there more often. Once warm she will sit there with her head up, looking at me, and after 5 or 10 minutes she will turn around and look at me again. I'm interested to see if this is a learned behaviour in regards to food, or whether it's just a response to the colder weather. Her feeding response is still nowhere near as enthusiastic as most monitors tend to be, however. Also, whether I'm imaging it or not, there's something about her expression that doesn't appear to be so much as "please go die in a fire, immediately, if you'd be so kind" (Smitti's words, haha), but perhaps there now seems to be a tiny bit of curiosity? But most likely I'm just being too hopeful and I'm just imagining it. Nevertheless, she does seem to be getting more comfortable just wondering around. Mostly just freezes now when I move, and doesn't shoot off into the hide.


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## CrazyNut (Apr 13, 2016)

Nice! Everyone has some nice animals lol. I have one Mertens, one ackie and one storri.


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## BredliFreak (Apr 13, 2016)

Awesome! I love the storr's they are so cute and I'm not sure which spp. it was but one of them have gorgeous pattering! Any pics of the storr's?


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## CrazyNut (Apr 13, 2016)

Was it a dwarf species? And yeh I've uploaded photos before.


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## pinefamily (Apr 14, 2016)

That's a great shot, CN!


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 27, 2016)

Just recently I have begun to observe my largest tristis "dozing", where she'll close her eyes for a couple of minutes when basking or curled up on the stack or on a branch. How a piece of wood can be comfortable, however, is beyond me.  It also appears that she has fallen asleep a couple of times with her head poking out of her hide. I'm hoping that this is a result of her becoming more relaxed in her surroundings. Anyone else experience this?


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## BredliFreak (Apr 27, 2016)

Very nice Oshkii! Good to know she's doing ok

CrazyNut I meant sub-species lol. Is yours an ocreatus or storri?


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## Smittiferous (Apr 27, 2016)

[MENTION=41840]Oshkii[/MENTION] I've seen this too, all mine who are used to me do it. George dozes anywhere, head resting on random logs/twigs/rocks, even whilst immersed in his water bowl, or with his head IN the water bowl. Seth (tristis) is almost always dozing in a manner you describe, when he's not crawling all over. If he notices my presence he just slowly opens one eyelid, stares at me balefully and then goes back to his nap. I'd hazard a guess and say your little darling is becoming more comfortable and at-home.


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## pinefamily (Apr 27, 2016)

Our ackies sometimes rest partly in the open. The two flavi's are the funniest; they will sleep/rest in all sorts of positions, sometimes only opening one eye of they hear something. Very chilled. I tong-fed them both on the weekend, which was very enjoyable.


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## Nero Egernia (Apr 29, 2016)

That's good to hear. All three appear to readily feed from the tongs. The smaller ones took to it much quicker in comparison to the largest. Although the largest one appears to be not as secretive or shy.


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## pinefamily (Apr 29, 2016)

Most of our monitors will tong feed, apart from our red ackie and our tristis orientalis. It's just that we don't always have the time to do it, except with our Mertens'.


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## Nero Egernia (May 27, 2016)

My largest tristis now appears to be comfortable enough in my presence that she doesn't appear to be too bothered when I spot clean or walk by her enclosure. There's no puffing or a mad dash into the hide. This has been going for a while now. I have also been getting some pretty exciting feeding responses where she'll lunge to seize the food item, still nothing as explosive as some other feeding responses I have seen. 

Today, I decided to present my fist to her (sheltered in the sleeve of my thick jumper in case she did decide to bite) while she was basking, to see how she would react. She tilted her head at me and stayed still for a couple of minutes, while occasionally slowly blinking her eyes. She then investigated my fist with her tongue and walked over my fist and down the stack to kind of circulate up a branch and back to the basking spot where she stretched herself out for a bask. It was quick, however, and soon she was back to checking out my fist. This time, the movements were a bit fast and jerky, and when she went down the stack to circulate back to the basking spot I slowly withdrew my arm, as I thought she was beginning to become stressed or excited, I'm not quite sure. I sat back and watched her and for almost ten minutes she continued to pace back and forth checking out the area where my arm was. 

I don't really know what to think of this, I think she may have been a bit stressed towards the end of our interaction. Has anyone else experienced something like this?


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## CrazyNut (May 28, 2016)

Haha awesome! That is a great sign! She is beginning to feel more confatoble and trusting with you. I reckon a few more weeks she will be a conpletely different monitor to what he was like when hou started this post!


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## pinefamily (May 28, 2016)

I don't think your tristis was stressed, probably more curious where your fist went. One of our flavi's is next to the hallway, and "she" sits there watching as we go past.


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## Sheldoncooper (May 29, 2016)

I don't think the forced approach is a good option for u or the monitor as they are opportunistic animals so they are more likely to bite to try and get away plus they will never feel comfortable in there surroundings.
I think the right approach is to give them time once there comfortable things will start to happen. Ive found putting there enclosure in a traffic area in the house will get them use to seeing people in there surroundings and then like pinefamily said get them use to u being in there enclosure once they've accepted them 2 things they will be more tollerent. And might be more likely to let u touch it once they comfortable with u touching them they will be more likely to tolerate being picked up. It took me around 3 mths to get one of my lacies to a point were if i put my arm in his enclosure he would climb onto it. Others might never do it


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## Evil_Birdy (Jun 11, 2016)

Yeah . . . So my monitor taming took about a thousand steps back since I last posted. My little ackie escaped (which made me so sad I nearly cried) but it's okay because I found him under my bed a week later (I danced around the house like a lunatic with him in my hand after I found him). However, since he came out from under my bed he's been different. Something changed him down there (please read this in a joking way) and the last time I handled him, he bit me! He's like the tiniest lizard in the world, but he still managed to draw blood - something that astounded me because he had never before tried to bite. You can't even see his teeth! I had gotten him out many times before, and never had that response from him. 

Now that I am unable to take him out without this response, my monitor taming technique has changed considerably. I now will just leave my hand in there for long periods of time. One of two things may happen:
1. He may ignore my hand and go back to sleep
2. He will continue foraging and may come over and taste my hand and, if he deigns to do so, may bless my peasant self by putting one foot on my hand, tasting me some more, and then walking away. 

He he will usually let me lightly pet his tail, and when trying to pick him up, I can put my hands on either side of him and start to cup him in my hands before he skittles off, but he will just lie there for a while and stick his head to the side, as if saying, "what do you think you are doing?" before he runs away. Today I had to move him to add more sand, and he let me pick up the rock that he was sitting on and move it without having a spaz. Progress. ������


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## Murph_BTK (Jun 26, 2016)

Hey y'all.. reaching out for some monitor peeps here.. need advice and or help.. i have the opportunity to pick up a Yellow Spotted Monitor..and want to knoe what people think of them as A:a good reptile to own B: temperment and sizes tbey grow: enclosure dimensions, things i should consider..basically the Pros n Cons of owing a larger Monitor.. i have held reptiles of all types for over 20yrs (monitors are new too me) so i have the correct understanding and requirements to take on such a specimen.. i don't want to how ever get over my head and not treat her correct.. as the saying goes happy herp happy life


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## pinefamily (Jun 27, 2016)

As a "noob" monitor keeper, you need to get hold of Danny Brown's "A Guide to Australian Monitors in Captivity"; it's a must for all new monitor keepers.
Is the panoptes a juvenile or adult? Only a very experienced monitor keeper should take on an adult large monitor. Monitors are very intelligent, and, especially the larger species, get to know their keepers.
The varanus panoptes grows to an average length of 140 cm. As such, you have pay due respect and care, even if you have had it from a hatchling. Unless you have a massive area inside, you'll need to keep an adult outside in a large pit or enclosure. Depending on where you live, you'll need to provide heat for it outside.
As a juvenile, it can be kept inside, but the enclosure needs to be deeper than for other reptiles. Monitors love a hot spot from the 50's up. From our own experience, juveniles tend to like it a little cooler, say low to mid 50's, although there is nothing in any literature to confirm this.
I hope this helps.


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## Murph_BTK (Jun 27, 2016)

Piney cheers mate.. i have heaps of stuff ready for a indoor enclosure. I have two basking spots one at 50+ degrees another at around 40+ degrees, plus the cooler areas aswell.. Many hides and places to explore.. i have many different materials to climb/run on. Sand, rocks and pebbles to scratch around in. I work for a steel merchant so im in the process of building a bigger "walk in" cage with the same things as my indoor enclosure (just on a bigger scale)....when i start my new project i will be showing the progress through the welding stages... thanks gain piney for the info and i will grab that Book..


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## Smittiferous (Jul 4, 2016)

Progress update regarding one of mine:

Lately my flavi George has been coming out daily, whereupon he will perch on my shoulder or head and chill while I do house things, watch Netflix or whatever, sometimes disembarks to explore the room or the couch. Odd little half-hearted hiss here and there but overall seems quite ok with hitching a ride on his large pink scaleless steed. I'm bloody stoked. 

Jones on the other hand (the gould's) is just as standoffish as ever. Sad face.


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## zeke (Jul 4, 2016)

Jealous of the pics of the monitors been held calmly..
I'm still working on my Ackie she doesn't care if I walk around her or be near or at all but pretty well everytime I take her out I get bitten by her 
This is the funniest and most painless bite yet


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## Smittiferous (Jul 4, 2016)

[MENTION=4285]zeke[/MENTION] That's bloody hilarious! Unfortunate but hilarious. My ackie did that to my jumper yesterday, held on for about twenty minutes.

George riding some hoomans:


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## zeke (Jul 4, 2016)

I know aye hahaha it bled like all hell and I even God Afew short vids of her on my ear haha. I've worked out I can get lucky if I take her out in the sun she tends not to bite (as quickly as if I don't)


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## pinefamily (Jul 4, 2016)

I've had 2 ackie bites. One when I held one up in front of my nose, it bit the end of my nose. The other time I was picking one up to move it, and it bit the fleshy part of my hand between thumb and forefinger. That one bled a bit.


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## Nero Egernia (Jul 6, 2016)

That's awesome progress, Smitti. I've had little progress so far. In fact, with my two smaller monitors it appears that I've taken a couple of steps back ever since the smallest had the rectal prolapse. Visiting the vets and constantly checking on him for a week to make sure all of his bits were where they should be has really affected him. It seems that his stress has rubbed off on the other one, too. But they're coming back around again to my relief. It shows that in this case forced handling can be very detrimental. It may be worse as they are wild caught too. The largest one is still the same, although lately it has been making sleeping on branches look extremely comfortable. 

I've only been bitten by two monitors thankfully. One bite on the finger from my largest tristis when I first received it, and one from an adult Heath Monitor on my hand when I was removing it from a backyard. That bite sure bled but the worst part was the swelling and stinging that came after. It was still throbbing days later if I remember correctly. It was really riled up as it had got in a fight with a dog and the tip of its tail had been bitten off. Poor critter. But that was a long time ago. Monitors certainly have some mighty bites.


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## Stompsy (Jul 6, 2016)

Oshkii said:


> The largest one is still the same, although lately it has been making sleeping on branches look extremely comfortable. .



Haha! They look ridiculous at times! Such entertaining critters though. 


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## Nero Egernia (Jul 7, 2016)

Stompsy said:


> Haha! They look ridiculous at times! Such entertaining critters though.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



They may be top predators in their particular niche, but monitors can be such goofballs! My smallest tristis likes to "swim" in the substrate when hunting woodies and when you just see a head randomly poking out of the substrate, with substrate also piled on that head like a pointy hat . . . I really need to get a picture of it one day.


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## Stompsy (Jul 8, 2016)

*Calming or &quot;Taming&quot; Monitor Lizards*



Oshkii said:


> They may be top predators in their particular niche, but monitors can be such goofballs! My smallest tristis likes to "swim" in the substrate when hunting woodies and when you just see a head randomly poking out of the substrate, with substrate also piled on that head like a pointy hat . . . I really need to get a picture of it one day.



Haha, sounds so much like one of [MENTION=32194]Smittiferous[/MENTION]'s Gouldii's! One of the first pictures he took of him was with a literal mound of substrate on his head. And the more time I spend with his, the more I want one of my own.... 






This isn't said picture but I just came across it while trolling my own Instagram! [emoji14]

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## Murph_BTK (Jul 10, 2016)

Just picked up a female Yellow spotted Sand Monitor.. she is a tad nervous and has hidden much of today (got her y/day) hopefully she settles down well and is able to be handled and not kick up too much of a stink..


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## pinefamily (Jul 10, 2016)

Just let it settle in for a day or two. He/she will come out looking for food. Photos are a given, too.


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## BredliFreak (Jul 11, 2016)

Panoptes are awesome monitors, so overrated and arguably just as pretty as flavis. Are the Pilbara panoptes in captivity?


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## Smittiferous (Jul 12, 2016)

*Calming or &quot;Taming&quot; Monitor Lizards*

Panoptes are awesome, you have to share some photos! While I was working FIFO the camp in South Hedland was full of them, they'd hang around in the morning snacking on the grasshoppers that would drink from the AC condenser overflows behind the rooms. Brazen little critters. I wish we could get them in Vic


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