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Smiley the Nile Monitor Lizard

Knuckles

Chief Cat Behavior Specialist
Her story: I named her smiley b/c she bites so damn hard. She was rescued from an idiot who keeps buying reptiles that he can not handle. This particular imbecile buys for no reason knowing nothing about the proper care, habitat, size, temperament, or even feeding needs. He has killed few nice reptiles before I could get to them including a really expensive frilled dragon, an albino boa... & many others. He was so scared of it that he couldn't even clean the cage. He was going to release unless I took it off his hands so here she is. She can be handled with caution after I got through with her but will take a chunk out of you if given the opportunity. lol. Shes also bigger now than in the pic. Here we are watching tv a few months ago:
17866209535_02eebbba76_b.jpg
[/url]20150206_143817 by blu-bear, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Show me a Nile Monitor that doesn't bite and I'll show you one that needs to warm up!
 
Out of curiosity, has this person been reported to the authorities? If he's killed animals or let them languish in his care due to lack of knowledge it can be considered animal neglect/abuse, and there are plenty of penalties for that, not to mention the risks he faces if some of the other people on the web catch wind of who he is.....

On a different note, beautiful animal! There's a couple monitors living in the reptile room I help at, don't remember the species though...
 
I thought there was a serious danger of bacterial infection when Nile monitors bite. I remember a story a few years ago of (actress) Sharon Stone's then-husband playing with the animals and getting bit. I seem to remember there was real concern for his life?
 
Show me a Nile Monitor that doesn't bite and I'll show you one that needs to warm up!

lol. If I miss a few days in handling its as if she doesn't even know me.

Out of curiosity, has this person been reported to the authorities? If he's killed animals or let them languish in his care due to lack of knowledge it can be considered animal neglect/abuse, and there are plenty of penalties for that, not to mention the risks he faces if some of the other people on the web catch wind of who he is.....

On a different note, beautiful animal! There's a couple monitors living in the reptile room I help at, don't remember the species though...

That's really interesting. For someone such as that guy yours may be the only course of action to take in order to stop him from repeatedly doing this. He seems to buy anything that looks "cool" at the moment. Hes an old friend of mine but just seems to call me when he can't handle something or when somethings dying & this cycle is getting very old.

Thx! It looked pretty boney at 1st. If you get a chance take some pics!

I thought there was a serious danger of bacterial infection when Nile monitors bite. I remember a story a few years ago of (actress) Sharon Stone's then-husband playing with the animals and getting bit. I seem to remember there was real concern for his life?

Yes this is very true! Theres even a case of an avid collector being found half eaten in his own apartment after not showing up to work for a while. There is debate over whether or not monitors saliva is also toxic &/or venomous but I do not know. I've been bitten 2x & it took at least 10-15 minutes for her to let go of my arm gthe 1st time & I still have an old scar on my bicep. I had to thoroughly disinfect the wound and scrub it with a sponge which hurt more than the bite itself. No infection thankfully. Good thing it was from 1 yr ago when she was smaller. She would definitely tear out a chunk these days. The jaws r strong enough to bend my metal feeding tongs so I take great care when handling.... even though I don't wear gloves anymore.. lol :lol:
 
Unfortunately didn't take my camera today, so pics of the monitors will have to wait. The healthy one is a mangrove monitor, the other is, unfortunately, what I think they called a "rough-nosed monitor" who is dealing with some neurological issues, among other things......
 
So it was a rough-throated monitor that wasn't doing well, and sadly he had to be put down. However, the mangrove monitor is doing just fine....
Mangrove monitor, Varanus indicus by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

Anything that moves is food to this guy, so the people who clean the cage wear very thick leather gloves, and get someone else to distract him while removing messes....
 
I adore monitors. No space for them right now though. Someday..... When I have a room for I just monitors, and more disposable income, I will do it.

Glad to see other people doing reptile rescue! I have a friend who likewise buys animals she knows will get unsafe for her to handle. A have had a few. Of her cast offs come into my care, thankfully, before any neglect could set in.

Most recent rescue (a boa from last November) was a doozy. Thought he was dead at first, but he wasn't, and the vet was able to get him fixed up. He actually went on his first teaching program today, and is a total darling.
 
I thought that they had confirmed that at least komodos were actually venomous?

Almost every monitor I have seen that the owner claims is "tame" is either too cold, or too sick to be as active as they should be. I did see one impressive specimen (an ornate monitor) that was so well adjusted to its owner that he did not bite. Even when given ample opportunity. The man still had all his fingers, too. It was an adult, in good health. Fed by hand, without gloves or tongs.

It takes a spectacular investment of time and training, but monitors are very intelligent animals, and quite trainable when worked properly. I had only just started working with my baby sav whe. She died during a cross-country move.
 
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From what I'd heard they had discovered trace venoms in the saliva of multiple species, but since then I've heard little in the way of confirmation and the reptile professor at my college seems to still be in the camp that they're not, so we'll see.
And water monitors at least can be rather quickly and easily tamed if started young. Check out Animalbytes TV (or more specifically the show Snakebytes) on FB or Youtube, there was a segment a short while back that focused on a guy who bred water monitors. Incredibly tame his animals end up...
 
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