He, I am totaLLy stoked on the arrival of my new bestest friend (nile monitor)! Any insider scoops on taming my little frighter? I've heard things like let him bite you (but im not really down with that too much) then I heard filling up a tub and let him get use to me by climbing on me (which I thing is a great idea!) but any other advice for me?

Im no pro here, but I Would Not let him bite you like told, it establishes to him that biting you is a okay behavior. Nile Monitors get HUGE, when a baby bites you, its almost cute, an adult Will do some serious harm. From what I have read, seen, been told, its all about building trust. He should not be threatened by you, or he'll bite, and he should not think its okay to bite. Some people would suggest a watered down vinegar solution, you spritz him when he bites, i dont use it, but i've heard it works well.
Get him used to You. THEN get him used to being handled. reaching in and grabbing him is only going to make him more and more frightened.
a frightened animal bites, wouldnt You?
I also would advise to give him an area in his enclosure where you don't mess with him, His hide box for instance, when he's in his hide box, you don't mess with him. it gives him somewhere to go to "get away" or when he just does'nt want to be bothered.

Have any pictures of his enclosure?

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

Just out of curiosity, do you have any experience with monitors or other large lizards? Niles get BIG and they don't have the reputation for being overly friendly.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

PLEASE refrain from text talk, our site has many members from all over the world and it doesn't translate well.

Welcome to the site, you are going to have a real monster on your hands, tell us about your set up.

Make sure you establish that you are THE BOSS and don't take any lip from him when he's a baby because it is hard to retrain them when they are older.

Don't back down, they are stubborn you have to be more so.

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Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

I really hope that you have the proper setup and experience to deal with him. I have been doing rescue for years and I dont take those anymore, at all for any reason. They make iguanas look like cute fuzzy bunnies.
The size of enclosure you will need for this monitor at full grown is enormous,, you will certainly have to be able to build your own.

with that said,, good luck and welcome to Herpcenter!

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Congrats on getting a Nile. You'll see that we are concerned that you'll be able to care for your Nile longterm. Please don't take it personally, we are just concerned for the health of your animal. It's just that large monitors are one of the species that change hands quickly when they begin to get big.
Anyway baby monitors take a lot of patience to tame, especially Niles. Let him get used to seeing you come and go. If he's darting in for cover every time you appear, don't bother trying to pick him up. You'll just make it worse. Begin by changing his water dish more than you actually have to. Just to get him used to having your hand close by. You should be able to pet him before trying to pick him up. When you do pick him up do so by sliding your hand under him. Don't grab him from above.
Also remember the patience thing. This could take months to accomplish.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

The nile monitors I have worked with tended to be less than agreeable with the whole handling thing.

The biggest one I have seen a friend of mine owns and he is very tolerant of you moving around him, and will let you pick him up and out of the cage but you have to put him away right away or he'll freak out.

You may want to make sure that your local vet will see him too. The friend of mine that has one has to drive over an hour to see a vet that will take him. I think they are awesome animals, but they are very hard to care for, not only because of caging requirements but also their potential to be not so friendly.

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“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ (I found it!) but ‘That’s funny…'"
- Isaac Asimov



TKE:TT:118

I have a great 6 ft glass aquarium for my little buddy to start out with! Two heat sources with a regular 100 watt bulb on the cooler side and a ceramic 150 watt bulb on his side with his rocks and branches... I also know how much they love the water and bought a NEW cat box as his water dish with also a little water bowl (for feeding gold fish) It is really great to get everybodies thoughts and concerns for me (this is a pretty cool site!) AND DON'T WORRY, I am completely aware on there size (that is the whole reason I chose the Nile, among there pure beauty!) I will later on convert a walk-in closit for my little guy!

And yes I am very qualified in this area of expertes, I have breed bearded dragons over ten mating pairs at a time (fire, inland, etc...), I have owned iguanas, fire belly toads, dumpy frogs, ... I now only have my baby/juvenile pinned-strip ball python, and excitiely waitng my BABY NiLE!!! (his names going to be "eL ninO"lol [surf's up!])

Oh and thats good advice on wating for him to get use to you around before trying to handle him, some dude told me that he jus grabs it quick from above (but I knew that wasnt the way to go) I am pretty much taking my little guy n like as if he is a stray dog with alot of patience and slow temperments for him to jus adventually get use to me with gradual handling of him...

glad to know you have experience with herps. post photos of all your other pets!

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.