Hi all,
i've had my monitor for a few months now and im getting on really well with him, he has never bitten or scrathed me, at least not deliberatley, once but i was wondering if anyone has any taming tips for me. I can pick him up fine but he gets twitchy rather quickly and wants to be put down soon after i have him in my hands, and as soon as i put him on the floor of his viv he buries instantly, i'd love to let him roam about my room a bit but im worried he will disapear as soon as i put him on the floor. Any help would be great.
cheers.
Oh and if anyone can advise on a suitable cage size, type that would also be really helpful as i know they get huge but i dont want to put him in something too small or too big. at the moment he is only 20" roughly head to tip of tail.

hi my boyfriend had the same problem with his bearded dragon,so he started putting his hand in the viv everyday for about 5-10mins gradually increasing the time and closeness to the lizard.so the beardie got used to his hand and with daily handling he soon came around and now will happily sit in the middle of the room for hours,lol.hope this helps

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thing is mate ASW's never really tame down tehy never like being handled and you are away hes goign to need eitehr his own room or a garage conversion for a enclosure when bigger as he will be getting like 9ft long and will ned a huge enclsoure with a pond fitted and branches the lot he will be very dear to look after and a rather dangerous animal

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"Taming" is not really an option. You will have to build up a relation ship based on trust and over time your monitor will realise that you are not a threat and hopefully will become quite placed and manageable. I would prepare for the worst and hope for the beast as there are no guaranties to you having a pleasant monitor and you could be stuck with a 6'+ aggressive and highly dangerous animal.

Tray and avoid handling unless it is absolutely necessary. Try feeding with tongues and get him used to you being around without being stressing him too much. The biggest killer of salvators in captivity is stress. They don’t react well too it and this combined with a few husbandry issues can be fatal.

As far as enclosure size goes you cant really go big enough! As a general rule of thumb a minimum enclosure size for most large lizards should be 2x the total length of the animal for the length and 1x the length for the width. Salvators usually reach about 6-7' if male so 14x7' enclosure should be a minimum IMO.

Rick

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My ReptilesMonitors: Blackthroats, Argus, GriseusBoas: BCC's (Surinams), BCI's, Albinos, DumerilsPythons: Womas, GTP's, Scrubs, Burms, Short tails, Olives, JCP's, Indian pythonsColubrids: Mangroves, Green Cat snakes, FWC's, Hognose

You just can't possibly compare "taming" (hate that word) techniques between beardies and monitors. A healthy salvator isn't really likely to want (ever) to come out and sit on you. Tolerance and trust with a monitor comes from familiarity built up gradually with the keeper doing basic husbandry within the enclosure. It's best really to see it as an interesting captive - never a pet. I wish you best of luck with him - I hope he's not your first monitor.

thanks for all of the advice i've started trying to feed him with tongues, as of yet no luck as he burries himself fairly soon after i go near him lol, one thing i've noticed is that he isn't interested in climbing and only seems to bury is that strange? i was told that they are mainly aboreal at the early ages of thier life.
cheers

I'd agree with Rick and Razaiel in that its much more about building mutual trust between you and your monitor. I know a lot of people, get them out and handle them everyday but to me thats just stressing the animal out. Definatly, just try being around him without touching him so he recognises that you are not a threat.

I'm doin this at the mo with one of my ridgetails (not the smae level as a water I know, but similar principle). She is not aggresive in defending herself but if you move your hands near her she is very fearful and will duck or run away. I just keep leaving my hand near her and sitting with the viv open talking to her. She has come over to me a few times today, climbed onto me, then got nervous and run away. But to me that is really good progress as I don't want her to be afraid of me, I'm not bothered if she doesn't like to be handled (I have Barney for that ) as long as shes happy in my presense...

That was long

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Kate

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