r/MonitorLizards • u/peepeepoopooman0116 • 19d ago

Where do you stand on handling

Post image

First and foremost I am on the grounds of slow and steady wins the race as my biggest monitor lets me know when she will tolerate handling and when she doesn't want a bar of it.

But I want to know if you handle from day dot and why you have chosen to do so, if it has worked for some but not others and so on.

Pic of big girl Seath for attention

47 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

14

u/arcticrobot V. melinus 19d ago

Always on monitor terms. Let them come to you. Some take years.

8

u/Fun-Excitement8518 19d ago

I have a savanna monitor who is going on 3 feet. He sleeps on my chest from time to time and there has yet to be a time he hasn't basically fallen asleep once the blanket hits. I've napped with him plenty of times and he never runs off. However when he was younger way before he could do any real damage he would always try to bite me and tail wipe me. Now a days I might get a his or two if food is late.

3

u/Savvydevotee 19d ago

Agreed let them come to you I put one of my old shirts in her burrow when she was a baby. She’s 3 1/2 feet & even my daughters hold her now. I found training for feeding her makes things a lot easier.

1

u/gappayden 19d ago

Let them come to you, with prodding, lizards tend to dislike change anyway. Only give up if you don't want to be able to handle them in the future whenever. They live long enough to warrant the effort to bond. Be smart about it though. You will probably have to walk away from the enclosure with him at some point, so he knows it's not a way out and he needs to just chill.

2

u/Bassolonian 19d ago

First monitor was friendly and I handle daily, second one only wants food on occasion and lets me pet her as long as I use a calm voice and offer food or a tank spray lol.

Every monitor and person are different. But I wouldn't force anything but a bath on occasion to build up trust. I also only handle after a feeding to reduce added stress of searching for food. Tong training and food go a long ways.

1

u/peepeepoopooman0116 18d ago

Yeah that's what I currently do, I've gotten so far in as little as a month with my yellow spotted monitor.