FaunaClassifieds - Not Everything Is Food!

A good tip for feeding is called target training. Get a small rubber ball and mount it to a length of wooden dowel. Just prior to offering a food item show the ball first and even tap it on the floor of the enclosure, then offer the food item preferably with long feeding tongs. No ball, no food offered. Soon your monitor will learn and will have a heavy feeding reaction when it sees the ball but remains calmer when it does not. Do not wear gloves while doing this and always use tongs. Let your monitor see your bare hands but keep them at a safe distance.

While handling or doing maintenance with gloves is a matter of safeguarding your fingers monitors see the difference and you will always need to wear gloves. Fingers look so temptingly like pinky rats. After several feeds using the above technique you should be able to handle your monitor with relative safety without gloves. When handling monitors I have found that learning to "scoop" your monitor rather than grabbing from above makes a world of difference in how they respond. When scooping quickly slide your hand underneath their belly then lift up trying to support their feet and catching their tail between your arm and your body. Being supported like this makes them feel more secure when being picked up and less like a predator is grabbing them. Kind of a scary deal for a young monitor. Using your free hand be sure to scratch it's head like you would a dog. They really seem to like this and quickly calm down. Then reaching in and scratching their head in the enclosure continues to reinforce their good behavior. When working with young monitors or when I would receive older ones with sketchy attitudes I learned to keep a syringe filled with hydrogen peroxide handy. I mean real handy. Hydrogen peroxide is harmless but when squirted in the mouth it foams up and a monitor will quickly release a bite. While monitor bites are painful they aren't unbearable and this training is a safe, humane way of stopping negative behavior. I've never had a monitor I've had to do this to more than twice. All of this coupled with target training and you should have yourself a wonderful, handleable pet.

Best of luck and he looks like a real keeper.