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Ackie monitor bit me, need advice

2K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  murrindindi 
#1 ·
So I got an adult ackie a couple weeks ago and he’s super friendly and I’ve been allowing him time to adjust to his new home. The other day I was messing around in his enclosure and he came over to me and seemed very interested in me. I held out my hand and he placed his front legs on me and started digging like he was looking for something. I felt him open his mouth like he was going to bite me and I pulled away. He was still trying to check me out so I held out my hand again and he climbed on it again and bit my finger!

I’m fairly certain he didn’t want to harm me and must have mistook my finger for food. I had just offered him a roach with tongs which he refused but I was holding the roach at some point and I’m thinking he smelt the roach on my hand. The problem is now I don’t trust him at all and I’m worried if I try to handle him again he’ll think I’m food and bite again. Has this happened to anyone else and is there anything I can do to avoid this? I’m not even sure if that’s why he bit me but he wasn’t mad or scared but seemed very curious like he was looking for something.
 
#2 ·
Its all part of owning a reptile.
If you shy away now, you will always be worried about it, and it will also learn you are wary of it. Need to brush yourself off and persist.


If you are worried its because he thought you were food, make sure you are washing your hands properly before handling, and avoid handfeeding, it will associate your hands with food.
 
#4 ·
Ok, washing my hands to remove any scent of food is easy enough I’m just curious cuz I’ve had a beardie for 3 years and I’ve never been bit or had any issues. But could he really have gotten the scent of the dubia if I had been holding one recently? I have been tong feeding him but I haven’t fed him straight from my hand. Also I’ll attach a picture of his enclosure, it’s 5ft long 2ft deep and 4ft tall with about 10 inches of substrate. He has two main basking spots that are about 150-155 Fahrenheit with an ambient temp of about 90-95 and cool side temps are about 75. The air humidity is around 60% and the substrate is a mix of top soil and play sand that stays humid.
 

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#5 ·
They (varanids) have extremely sophisticated chemosensory abilities, far more than Bearded dragons and most other lizards, so yes, he would definitely pick up the scent from the roach.
Can you say what type and wattage the basking bulb is and is the enclosure sat on top of something? I ask because it looks from the photo that it is, if so there would be no way to get any depth of substrate other than a couple of inches? The temps etc sound o.k. I do like the setup very much, although you need to cover the large vent near the top, if you do want a vent have it low down near the top of the substrate, that way you won`t lose much heat or humidity.
Do you have a reasonable size estimate of the monitor (without forced handling)?
 
#6 ·
Ok that would make sense because I feed him with tongs but I pick up the roach with my hand first and then grab it with the tongs. I’m using the par38 halogen floodlights for basking I believe they are 90w but they are both on dimmers so I can adjust them for the right temps. I had those vents for a beardie that was in there previously but I covered them up with acrylic to retain humidity. The enclosure is on a stand but goes about 6 inches deeper than the doors and I have it piled higher in the back which comes to around 10-12in deep.
 
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