MONITOR FEEDING QUESTION

[tegtaker007]

Im new to this forum. Also just got my first red tegu. And i love all the info that i can get. So that i can rasie and keep the most healthy/ happy reptile possible. Im not a real computer person, but when it comes to my reptiles I owe it to them to know the right way to raise them! ( without a attitude!)

 

[Dana C]

I am laughing out loud, really! There is a great video out there showing a keeper interacting with a HUGE Komodo that she has been associated with as it's keeper for a few years. I think the ability to bond is somewhat species specific. Black Throats are maybe among the top three "easy keepers" of Varanids in terms of temperament. However individual specimens differ from what I have learned. I am fortunate that the one I got from Riplee was at first tolerant and now welcoming, most of the time. I think the key is to pay attention. In other words I pay close attention to what they are trying to communicate to me. Hunger, keep your distance, I am ready now, stroke me, don't touch me and what the hell are you doing? seem to be among the things.

What is fascinating is that one minute, Kinabo doesn't want anything to do with me and two minutes later he welcomes and even wants what he didn't before. I have learned that we do the whole touchy feely thing in his time not mine. I have also learned that talking to him is very helpful to get him to relax and to know that it is Dana that is messing around in his enclosure or with him. I do the same with my Tegus.

I have said it before, the whole "it's a wild animal thing and I want to keep him / her that way" thing is BS. The monitor is in a box. Huge or small it is still a box. It is not roaming the wilds in Tanzania hunting for whatever it can catch, find or kill. I don't care how you set the box up it is still a box. My interaction does a few things. It provides stimuli for my V. ionidesi, enjoyment for me, a chance to observe the human / reptile bonding process and it makes it a hell of a lot easier to trim nails, and doctor if necessary.

As for the whole prey vs. the Dana Diet, while the Varanus.net boys won't admit it, Black Throats in the wild don't really get many rodents to munch on. In fact, commercially raised have a much higher fat content than my diet or the turkey, liver etc. diet that is posted on various Tegu forums. BT's are too slow to catch rodents and feed at the wrong times generally. tTey get carrion with missing entrails which are eating on a first come, first served basis. They eat birds during the right season, eggs, and insects. Fatty liver disease has been documented in some species of varanids fed an 100% rodent diet. Of course, what do I know about anything?
Kinabo is not tame, I swear it. In fact I will make him stop putting his head on my hand right away!

Geez, I can be a sarcastic know it all.

 

[Bntegus]

today i tried to i guess you call it spot clean my pair of bt enclosure and the male chased me right out i laugh at him and told him im bigger then you and then he bit me on the foot i had to take my shoe off lol. but then he let me pick him up and put him in a tub lol.

 

[frost]

do you take the black throat out to roam around the house?

 

[Dana C]

do you take the black throat out to roam around the house?

Sure but I have to choose single rooms at a time to make sure he doesn't harm himself. He actually gets a little more wild after free roaming but If I just sit there and and talk to him, he "checks in" with me, crawling over my legs or scraping his cheeks against my hand. He is funny in that he will hiss and huff over things he likes 20 seconds later. He never runs away from my but attention feels it necessary to be pissy from time to time.
As much as I would like to known as the Black Throat Whisperer, I don't know what he will be like at 2 years old and beyond. Since I am semi retired, I spend more time with my Tegus and Kinabo, (the BT), than other people may get the chance to do. The result is a higher level of bonding that is most likely the result of the time spent.
Kinabo gets an hour or two out each day and sometimes more. I sort of gauge it based upon what he "tells" me and how he reacts to my attention. One thing I have noticed is that if he needs to be handled, boldness is a good thing on my part. I talk to him so he knows it is me and pick him up. He can piss and moan but I am going to do what I need to do. Bath time is a great time with him. It is just he and I in the bathroom. He soaks and craps while I sit on the floor next to the bath tub and chill or read.
At first he is a little pissy about it all but eventually parks himself close to my hand which I dangle in the tub. When he is ready to get out, he tells me so by trying to climb up my arm which is tough as he is already 36+" and heavy. When he gets out of the tub and has eaten a bit, he explores, huffs, puffs and hisses a bit and marks. When he is done with that he will check in and usually climb into my lap if only for a short while before he heads out again. Occasionally, he feels the need to explore me which becomes a bit painful with his toe nails. However having him sit on the back of my neck and feel him lick my hair, ears, neck etc. before he relax's is pretty neat.
When he is in a larger room he circles the perimeter and marks every so often. Like I said he gets more bold and flighty but still returns to me to check in. As he cools, he returns more often until he conks out on my lap frequently but not all the time.

Like I said, I spend a lot of time with my Tegus and Kinabo which gives me an advantage over other keepers. I also talk to them very often which while I don't understand the dynamics, it makes a huge difference.

I know this is most likely much more than you wanted to know about his free roaming but Tegu and Monitor behaviors are my passion....as I am sure you have guessed.

 

[frost]

haha actually thats the response i was looking for. i dont have any spare rooms i made a makeshift pen out of a few gates and a bambo mat so they dont ruin my floor. usually when i let my tegus roam around they dont go far. one of my most loving reptiles is my blue tongue skink. she never really moves away from me she just sits my my feet and lays on em. one time she even got out without me knowing it and i felt something rustling around my feet and i looked down and there she was. i was pleasantly surprised.

 

[m3s4]

Quote "Like I said, I spend a lot of time with my Tegus and Kinabo which gives me an advantage over other keepers. I also talk to them very often which while I don't understand the dynamics, it makes a huge difference".

I talk to my tegus as well - and I'm assuming many people do, at least to some extent.

We can all agree that they come to know our scent, as well as every scent around them.

This being said, as intelligent as these creatures are, and as good as their eye-sight is, I think it's safe to say they have exceptional hearing as well.

Since they have at least 3 ways of recognizing us, it makes sense that talking to them helps to solidify and distinguish who we are. I've come to believe voice recognition works quite well with reptiles.

Clearly this alligator has learned to distinguish what a whistle is, and how it is different from a bird or anything thing else around his pond:

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p22oECHzpMo[/video]