JacobK,
You sound like you are at the beginning of being are very responsible reptile keeper and I respect that. I too have learned the hard way with monitors and more than once. I have had a lot of accidents with crocs and sometimes I have abandoned keeping them because of it. When I realized what they are is when I have had good experiences with them. Like everything and all hobbies, there are risks. Once a person is prepared themselves of the risks is when positive experiences come to them. Trust me, I am not condemning or trying discourage anyone from wanting to have there own experience with crocs, but why not take real world advice from people that have been through it with these guys. Talk to NERD, Reptile Ranger, Pro Exotics, LLL Reptile, myself, and we will all tell you that these guys shouldn't even be sold in the pet trade. When I was a kid I ordered a 5 foot croc from Zoological Imports. It was $450 plus shipping and I was so excited to get a large, rare monitor for a reasonable price. Luckily for myself when I received him, he was very ill. When I opened the box he was limp, dehydrated, very thin, and listless. He could barely move and to me that is heart wrenching. Once I nourished him back to health, he was a monster. If you have ever seen a 5 foot croc with his mouth reared, you'll know what I mean!!!! If he would have been in good health when I opened the box, he would have caused serious injury. The first place my monitors want to go is on my shoulder or on top of my head and a croc is definitely capable of opening up your carotid artery with ease. I had a croc that was like a baby and I could walk around with him cradled in my arms for 3 years and one day my daughter screamed, like girls always do when excited, and he latched onto my arm like a cobra strike. The croc immediately went back to a relaxed mode sitting cutely in my arms while I tried to remain calm as I saw my arm in stringy gory slices of flesh mixed with muscle. The best way I can describe it is if you took a scalpel and sliced my arm about 1 1/4" deep slices. I believe it is their top teeth, the ones about a third of the way back in their mouth that does most of the damage. They are like fangs. I lost a tremendous amount of blood and the doctor was unsure what to do with me. He wanted to call the police because he claimed I was assaulted with a straight razor. I lost mobility of my arm and could not work for a month. I have dabbled with a lot of animals in my time and I was a Navy Diver and then a commercial diver occasionally seeing sharks and I once had a 3 foot nurse shark in a custom 1200 gallon aquarium. A friend has had a 6 foot green moray. You name it I had it....like a lot of animal lovers, I am like a little kid and I want it all. Out of all animals, even a cougar as a pet, nothing gets my utmost respect, and yes fear, than a croc monitor. And with all of that being said they are quite an investment. I build room size, zoo like enclosures and they cost me a fortune. If you want to get to a level of trust with your monitor, regardless of species, you need to build a room sized. You must be able to walk into their environment and prove to them they can trust you and never allow anyone else that isn't acclimated with your monitors to come close to them. You would then be violating the trust that was gained between the two of you. I know a lot of people will say that room sized for all monitors is crazy and that is simply further from the truth. All monitor keepers know that getting them out of their cage is the worst, they are aggressive, they are defending their home. With room size that reaction will eventually fade and is greatly beneficial to stress levels on you and your animal. You can still never violate their "security blanket", they still must have areas that they can retreat to and feel safe. You must strive to them allowing you to enter into that area with them feeling comfortable. I have that with my monitors and I do feel almost completely comfortable with them. Believe it or not, they come to me. The other key thing is to have elevated perches or branches,they never feel safe when on the ground. They are most relaxed when they are above you. This is why they always want to go on your head or shoulder. It isn't because they love you, it is because they are retreating to a safe haven. I have a 6 foot water monitor that climbs on branches most of the day and I will only interact with him when he is elevated. Of course the branches are really trees that I have cut down and they have a diameter of 10 inches and they almost killed me mounting them in the room. Instead of the natural look with trees you can very easily build shelf like areas, sturdy enough for them to climb onto. You will be amazed by the change in their behavior. So forget hides and build perches. Hides only allow your animal to hide all of the time and they will never acclimate to you and when you go into their hide to try and interact with them, they will not be happy. And forget dirt and all of these fancy substrates. I know I will hear an uproar when I say that but it is true. I know they love digging, but the bacteria that will spawn in these messy substrates will later prove a problem. When they are babies I give them a substrate they can dig in but when they are older I use a substrate that can clean easily. If you get frustrated with their care it will reflect in your animals. In my rooms I use linoleum or tile, it is cheap and cleans easily. Go to Cabela's or Petco and buy the Lectro Kennel dog heat mats. I buy the large mats. They are safe and they have a lower heat level than the other mats available for reptiles. They are extremely durable as well. The cost for a large mat is about $80 and they are about 2' x 4'. If you were to buy a reptile mat that size it would cost you $200 at least. A reptile's behavior is a direct reflection of their temperature. For perches I see people using nets, NEVER, their legs get caught in the nets and injures or dislocates their limbs. I know I'm not some well known reptile dealer, but I've been doing this for a long time and my water monitor is sitting on my lap right now and he looks pretty happy. His annual blood tests at the vet always come back perfect and I believe his favorite show is Sponge Bob!!! I love him like one of my kids too, but if he was sometimes aggressive it wouldn't be like that.
Good Luck! We always need to realize what we are getting ourselves in to.
