Monitor video

[skinheaddave]

Q1: What do you do when your P.imperator dies?
A1: Stick it in alcohol.

Q2: What happens when your P.imperator dies and you already have a few dozen P.imperator in alcohol?
A2: Feed it to your monitor.

So now, for your viewing enjoyment, I present Mohamed the V.exanthematicus eating a P.imperator. Sorry, no sound -- but I assure you that there was a most impressive crunching noise.

Video part 1
Video part 2

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Malkavian]

Wow! That's awesome, and beautiful savannah (I think im recognizing that latin name properly..) as well.

Do you regularly give it dead scorpions? It seemed to be pretty enthusiastic about getting that one down.

 

[skinheaddave]

This is a first for me. Usually I preserve my scorps, but I have way too many emps in alcohol right now.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Lycanthrope]

I've given mine a variety of dead inverts, a couple obts, emps, millipedes, and even a centipede.

 

[petitegreeneyes]

Your monitor really seemed to enjoy that meal. That was nice video by the way :clap:

 

[becca81]

Very cool!

What do you usually feed your monitor?

 

[skinheaddave]

What do you usually feed your monitor?

Rodents, chicks, shrimp, turkey, beef heart, crickets, superworms, mealworms, cockroaches, silkworms .. all sorts of stuff, basically.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[mimic58]

Do you need a permit to keep a monitor? ,,,I wanted a crocodile but the local authoritys wont let me have one

Im now thinking Monitor ,Are they very hard to keep? ,Iv heard they can become tame if kept properly?? not that id trust one with my fingers...

 

[skinheaddave]

I don't know what the situation is in the UK, but there are no regs here. Asking what its like to keep a monitor is roughly the same as asking what its like to keep a bird. One one hand you have something like a crocodile monitor -- fast, defensive, incredibly intelligent and very capable of landing you in hospital or killing you outright. For those with copious amounts of experience. You also have nile monitors, which are commonly available around these parts and also quite the handfull. These are the raptors of the monitor world.

Then you have some of the smaller monitors that are somewhat like finches -- not really for playing with, but nice to look at. Black tree monitors and the various small monitors (ackies etc.) fall into this catagory.

The "cuddle on the couch" monitors are the savannahs, blackthroats etc. The taming is far from certain, though, and their care requirements are still fairly demanding. People don't fully realize what they are in for before they start. I'd recommend gettign the book on Savanah Monitors by Daniel Bennet and Ravi Thakoordyal and reading it cover-to-cover and back before you even look at monitors.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[mimic58]

From first hand experience would you say they are worth the time and effort And most importantly the risk?? , I know very litle about them accept there big and can bite REALLY damn hard, are they as dangerous as say a caiman ?

Im fasinated already

 

[skinheaddave]

Some are dangerous, others aren't. Since you aren't even going to consider something you don't find "dangerous," you are liable to get yourself in over your head fast. Since the larger monitors are the dangerous ones, your ability to provide them a good quality of life is reduced. This isn't like your fixation on dangerous inverts -- you can't just stick it in a box and use 24" forceps to accomodate whatever particular brand of machoism it is you are going for. If you just want something dangerous then no, it isn't going to be worth the effort.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[mimic58]

sorry my invert post gave this impresion i just dont consider scorps to be a risk unless you stick your hand in with it or do something silly..

A large reptile that is powerfull enough to drag you off and EAT you is a diferent story...

I was under the impresion some monitors could be considered tame or atleast parcialy?? ,And that "some species" where of a size you could manage without a team of people ??

 

[skinheaddave]

Yes, the vary in size from less than a foot to the Komodo dragon.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Kali]

my late savannah, morrissey, ate basically anything, was very hardy, leash trained and lazy. really good at escaping until i learned more about him. great video btw.
thanks to my late morrissey, i may no longer keep monitors if i wish to keep my boyfriend. (boy will i miss him).
if this intrigues you, enjoy monitors....
morissey had escaped while i was on vacation and my brother was pet sitting. he did not properly lock the enclosure. when i came home, i had a 3 foot savannah under my huge, solid oak armoire. this was an unmovable piece of furniture with a crawl space of only a couple of inches. i never imagined that fat lizard could squeeze under it! anyways, a few weeks later, after many bribery attempts with food, etc. i was spending some...quality time with my boyfriend when morrissey decides to come out from under the armoire and stand next to my bf's head hissing, steaming, and grumpy. i was thrilled to see him, returned him to his inclosure, fed him, and am still consoling my bf. i plan to get a new baby monitor this spring since it has been a couple of years since the incident. good luck!

 

[mimic58]

Does the savannah monitor carry the same deadly bacterium in its mouth?

I have been reading Quote "95% fatality rate to comodo bites!"

 

[Kali]

only one person was ever bitten by my monitor, and he was fine after some soap and water. (don't let juveniles track your finger because it's cute or you want to see what happens!) plenty of bleeding however. i have no doubt that they have bacteria in their mouths, but what kind or how harmful it is is another story :? .

 

[Kaulback]

Only Varanus komodoensis carries any "medically significant" (in venom terms) bacteria...sure other monitors have bacteria in their mouths but honestly what animal doesn't

 

[zeus2030]

So I have a baby nile monitor and I was looking for some advice as I thought it would be the same as a water monitor but now realized that it isn't do any of you have any advice on how I could socialize it before it gets out of hand I've fed it with tongs and make it climb my arm as it follows the food but I'm not sure if that really helps with socializing and no I haven't force handled it.