Think you want a lacey?

[whyme]

Without sounding nasty, if he has plenty of friends who breed the larger monitors, he should know the respect they deserve.

 

[Rogue5861]

To the OP. Please Do not under estimate to power and speed of a Lace monitor. They can cause serious damage to you or your family and are never to be trusted.

If you havent already i would suggest watching "How not to feed a big monitor lizard" on youtube, it doesnt show the aftermath but definately give you a glimpse of what they are capable of.


Rick

 

[ReptiBeck]

To the OP. Please Do not under estimate to power and speed of a Lace monitor. They can cause serious damage to you or your family and are never to be trusted.

If you havent already i would suggest watching "How not to feed a big monitor lizard" on youtube, it doesnt show the aftermath but definately give you a glimpse of what they are capable of.


Rick

his first experience on APS has scared him off haha

 

[Rogue5861]

his first experience on APS has scared him off haha

Well please tell him to return and read what people have written. People have not written things to be nasty at all, it has all been said to make sure he will me making the right choices and to stay safe. No one wishes for him or the monitor to end up disappointed/injured based on the decision to keep such an amazing and powerful species.


Rick

 

[whyme]

Maybe instead of scaring him, he could see it as educational. It's only people trying to look after his/the animals welfare;D

 

[congo_python]

I have a mate that kept a lacie from a hatchy for 6 years, tamed it...so he thought until he moved them into an aviary and went in for a usual feeding and the male got over excited. He went past the tongs and bite him on the thumb and forefinger, he then had too keep the male back with his boot and throwing chicks at him till he could back out of the aviary... closed the door and made it as far as the outdoor setting on his outdoor area and sat down then passed out.
He then woke up with blood still pouring out of his hand onto the floor, went inside and stopped the flow. He was taken to his work [ a hospital] where they flushed the wound, glued it back together and he said this was aganising. To this day he does not trust his tame Monitor anymore!!

Just my two cents.

 

[2.3casper]

I have had them ,but I never trust them, I don't keep now cuz don't have the space but love them. to op everyone here is try to help sure it comes a cross hard some times and its hard to hear i know its happen to me it happens to ever one .but it can sound diff over txt or what ever you call it . So keep using aussie pythons it a very good place for reading and to talk with all types of ppl who love reptiles as much as you and I. You can get a lot of answers on here ,it's like a expo everyday with out leveing the house any how good luck with it all and be safe .

 

[crocdoc]

he never wrote "i let her lick my face" he just said that she 'likes to'.

Look, I know you're just defending your mate (although, it has to be said, the above defence is one of the lamest I've read ). I understand why you'd want to defend a mate and good on you for doing that. This isn't a personal attack. I don't know him, but I would guess he's a similar age to you? He might be a great guy and, as others have said, his intentions and enthusiasm are in the right direction. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that one should never offer advice on a topic one has little experience with, especially when dealing with potentially dangerous animals. There's a reason that lace monitors are class 2 reptiles in NSW, which means that they can't be sold to 15 year olds here.

always keeps a hand on her back in case she did anything so he could grab and pull her away

How long do you suppose it takes a lace monitor to 'do something' and what do you suppose having your other hand on its back is going to achieve?

 

[eipper]

David,

Some people cannot be told. He will learn hopefully without spilling too much blood

 

[insitu]

I know for a fact it gets a little tiring for experienced people like david to explain the same thing over and over to people, we arent having a go at anyone personally but after a while our answers get cut shorter and shorter as its frustrating to try to explain something that generally the person doesnt want to hear, my first varanids were lacies, and i listened when david gave me advice because i asked him for it, iv learnt more than anyone can tell me from my own animals but if i didnt listen to someone that had experience in the beginning i wouldnt be where i am today with my animals, i have some i can handle with no problems at all, some will actually seek attention and climb onto you to say hello when you enter the enclosure and then continue doing their thing when they have had their few minutes on your shoulder, and i am guilty of posting those pictures people look at and think id like one like that, but i also have one that will try to come through the glass at you as you walk past, i can work in that enclosure without any drama though once i have opened it and i have another that will not allow me in AT ALL! its taken me almost a year to be able to feed that animal from tongs and its these two animals that remind me everyday that lacies are the most dangerous reptile we are allowed to keep on an AKL and i keep elapids and perentie also, if you do it right a lacie can be one of the most rewarding animals you could keep but if you do it wrong it can be a dangerous nightmare for the rest of your life......... although unfortunately its those animals that get sold on to the next person to deal with someones mistakes and generally sold on again which is unfair for the animal, if you really want to keep them listen to everything people that have kept them tell you and by all means make your own decisions but we arent personally attacking you we are just concerned and generally more so for the animal than you

 

[turtle]

I thought Chris's advise was quite sensible.

 

[ReptiBeck]

Look, I know you're just defending your mate (although, it has to be said, the above defence is one of the lamest I've read ). I understand why you'd want to defend a mate and good on you for doing that. This isn't a personal attack. I don't know him, but I would guess he's a similar age to you? He might be a great guy and, as others have said, his intentions and enthusiasm are in the right direction. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that one should never offer advice on a topic one has little experience with, especially when dealing with potentially dangerous animals. There's a reason that lace monitors are class 2 reptiles in NSW, which means that they can't be sold to 15 year olds here.



How long do you suppose it takes a lace monitor to 'do something' and what do you suppose having your other hand on its back is going to achieve?

He is 18. Im not exactly defending him, just his experience on APS not sure if i said this before but i dont even agree with some of what he has said and i know most of you guys are exactly right

 

[JAS101]

ReptiBeck I think your friend has learnt a valuable lesson , if you post half cocked advice you will get corrected .

 

[zulu]

Lacies are not that expensive to feed ,just pick up road kill ,always remove the bells off cats .

 

[disintegratus]

Lacies are not that expensive to feed ,just pick up road kill ,always remove the bells off cats .

why? If you don't take the bells off, if you're really quiet you can hear your lacie jingling as he stalks through the house.

 

[-Peter]

Lacies are not that expensive to feed ,just pick up road kill ,always remove the bells off cats .

That is really awful, I hadn't realised the bell could be a problem.

 

[richardsc]

I have less trust in so called tame monitors,once they lose fear of you they can be an accident waiting to happen,they demand the utmost respect

If u want a tame lizard ,get a beardy or bluey

 

[crocdoc]

i have some i can handle with no problems at all, some will actually seek attention and climb onto you to say hello when you enter the enclosure and then continue doing their thing when they have had their few minutes on your shoulder

i also have one that will try to come through the glass at you as you walk past, i can work in that enclosure without any drama though once i have opened it and i have another that will not allow me in AT ALL! its taken me almost a year to be able to feed that animal from tongs and its these two animals that remind me everyday that lacies are the most dangerous reptile we are allowed to keep on an AKL

In my opinion, the first monitor (the one that rides around on your shoulder) is the most dangerous of them all. They all have the same set of teeth, but only one is allowed close to your face.

Early on in the piece I had a routine with one of my monitors whereby I would open the enclosure, he'd crawl onto my shoulder and then ride around there as I did my chores. I understand why you do that and I agree that it is neat to have that sort of relationship with a reptile, but I would never let any of my monitors, no matter how tame I thought they were, anywhere near my face now. It's not that I've been bitten in the face, either. I just know how quickly 'food brain' kicks in with lace monitors and then all rules get thrown out the window. Unlike a dog, which is a social mammal which can be taught the concept of 'bad' (the dog may still bite you, but at least it will show signs of contrition ), it wouldn't dawn on a lace monitor that it might be 'bad' to sample that bit of warm flesh you call a cheek, if the moment arose.

At some stage soon I'll be posting a video of my male lacie, Alex (the one in my avatar) showing some training I've been doing with him (it's an update of an earlier video I have on youtube). When you watch the video you'll not be able to imagine that animal ever biting anyone. He's not a malicious animal by any means and has a great temperament. He's never bitten anyone, yet. However, that animal has an insatiable appetite, lightning fast reflexes and a hair trigger. He's a liability. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

- - - Updated - - -

I have less trust in so called tame monitors,once they lose fear of you they can be an accident waiting to happen,they demand the utmost respect

That.

 

[insitu]

I dont have less trust in tame monitors, without trying to play on words too much i exercise more caution around damaged monitors in certain situations, comparing them to dogs is pointless! there is a high risk a properly conditioned animal that is used to people will eventually cause you some damage but IMO the one that was not conditioned properly and endured a mentally tortured upbringing is far more dangerous and is not predictable, the only thing that is predictable is YOUR actions around them and how you manage yourself around each individual, none of my monitors i actually get out and handle Goblins previous owner Richard had enclosures set around waist height and she was conditioned to crawl over him to reach the floor to explore, if i walk under a branch she is on in her enclosure she will crawl onto my shoulder and down my body to the ground, theres a perfectly fine tree she could use to reach the floor but she chooses to do this which i imagine provides her with some form of enrichment, i dont try to stop her reaching the floor though and try to perch her back on my shoulder as this game is not her intention, Bronsen has such a low and delicate feeding response i could quite comfortably hand feed her a chicken neck from my fingers, but that doesnt mean i do it! Django i can reach into his enclosure with a closed fist and he wont even bat an eye lid, if i tried it with an open hand i would undoubtedly lose fingers as i assume he associates an open hand with a lifetime of memories of being grabbed and restrained by one, conditioning your animals to be what we call "tame" is IMO a necessary part of keeping them though i dont feel its about being able to pick them up and walk around with them as if they are a stuffed tedy bear, its about them living a life in your care without stress and anxiety every time you walk past the enclosure or have to clean and feed them, these days i see countless threads and posts asking for advice on keeping lacies but i also see people disregard your advice if its not what they want to hear and will gladly take the advice of someone that has kept a hatchling for 6 months if it is what they want to hear so now i dont often offer advice unless im actually asked for it, i honestly dont care if your lizard nails you while your doing something stupid i just feel sorry for the animals that are brought up tortured

 

[serpenttongue]

If you havent already i would suggest watching "How not to feed a big monitor lizard" on youtube, it doesnt show the aftermath but definately give you a glimpse of what they are capable of.

That video should be compulsory viewing for anyone thinking about keeping lace monitors.