Lace Monitor Taming

Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum

Help Support Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Crunk369

New Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Hey just wandering if anyone could give me some tips on taming a young bells phase lace monitor, i try to handle him every now and then and it just rips my hands and arms up with its claws. Really want to get it tame while its little so it doesnt gut me when its grown up
 
i got told that if you put there enclosure in the most busyest part of the house were theres alot of activity he will slowely get used to it.
 
just keep handling him. i have a mate that can feed his by hand, while its on his shoulder
 
Totally opposite guys let it come to you try tong feeding and slowly let it get used to you . Don't force it on them
 
i agree with Kupper there, i have no experience in lacies but i have been told by people that do have experience excessive handling when young is not a great idea, besides wether its tame or not once it grows up it will still tear your guts out if it feels like it and you give it the chance :), one thing ive noticed with experienced lacie breeders is they have huge respect and dont really seem to treat them as pets like you would a python or smaller monitor
 
Leave it alone. Keeping baby lacies is like keeping fish - you don't handle them!

Each time you are grabbing hold of it, you are freaking it out, and ruining any trust you may have gained with it. It's like taking two steps forward and one step back.

I don't recommned keeping it in a high traffic area, as you will never see it, and may be waiting even longer for it to become settled. Keep it in a quite area, and give it lots of hiding places throughout it's enclosure. In time it will show itself and start to become familiar with you.

Keeping a lacie whose trust you have gained, is far more rewarding than keeping one that hates your guts.
 
Thats the one.... you have to earn it's trust, though you should never trust it ;)

Yeah, don't trust those puppydog eyes looking up at you, while it basks like a lazy old dog. They can move like lightning and be on you like a pitbull on a poodle within two seconds!:shock:
 
My is taming fast, climbs onto my arm and let's me pat him. Just put heaps of hides in there and left him alone, feeds from a bowl. Spends most of his time out looking at everyone, he has been in a high traffic area since I got him
 
I have had several tame lacemonitors over the years, None of them tamed until they got to full size and were 5 years old.

Leave the juveniles alone and let them get used to you until they feel that they have gained a size big enough to prevent being eaten. Lacies have few natural predators when they are full size so they seem to gain an attitude that nothing scares them and become used to you and your presence.

if you want a tame lacemonitor Do not feed him from your hands or tongs or anything else- Put the food in the cage early in the morning while it is still dark and the monitor is still asleep. If you let the monitor get used to you feeding it, it will associate you with food every time you go near it, and a tame lacey that expects food from you will climb all over you and you end up with scratches and or bites.

By the way, the tamest lace monitor will still scratch the bejesus out of you, They will always want to hold on to you and they have talons. and they never sit still.

To own a lace monitor you have condemmed your self to a life of scratched and scabbed and bleeding arms and hands!

Good luck and enjoy him.
 
I have heard a method used by a few people who claim to have success settleing scrubbies, monitiors and other biting machines,
It sounds gross but seems to make sense?

Place worn or used socks, singlets or undies(?) into the hides or the animal, This is supposed to associate your "scent" with safety or at least get them used to your scent while not being harmed. People who i know have used this system and swear by it,
I am yet to try it over a long period of time ( have started out but never followed through) I believe it is supposed to be done long term and i believ it is used with hand reared mammals like suger gliders ect
 
I have kept and bred lacies for many years now and have found that there is no hard
and fast rule that suits every individual lacey as personality of individual animals
can be very different from animal to animal even within a clutch.
Some lacies are good to handle from young and will continue to handle well for a long time
as others may handle well young and for some reason have a burst of confidence as they
get older and become quite a handfull and be quite intimidating with absolutely no fear of
people at all.
Other people have mentioned that lacies are best left alone when young to get them to become comfortable with you but I
rarely trust these monitors as much as ones which are comfortable when handled young,
as a large monitor that has no fear of people which has not been handled much is a monitor
which I would call "confident" not tame as these monitors will usually have no problem
with people around them and occasionally patting or touching them but when it comes to
picking them up they feel you have crossed that invisible line and can become quite an
unfriendly lizard.
This is just my own opinions based on keeping these fantastic lizards over the years.
I have attached a picture of my kids with a bells which is good for handling which was
handled straight from the egg and has been comfortable to be handled ever since and has
never attempted to bite.
But it is a good thing to trim their claws if you want to handle them as the friendliest
lacie can rip an artery by accident.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN5333.jpg
    DSCN5333.jpg
    83.9 KB · Views: 473
Other people have mentioned that lacies are best left alone when young to get them to become comfortable with you but I rarely trust these monitors as much as ones which are comfortable when handled young, as a large monitor that has no fear of people which has not been handled much is a monitor which I would call "confident" not tame as these monitors will usually have no problem with people around them and occasionally patting or touching them but when it comes to picking them up they feel you have crossed that invisible line and can become quite an unfriendly lizard.


G'day Andrew,

This is actually something that has concerned me. I have some reasonably tame adult males that are great to be around, but they have never really been handled at any stage of their lives. Because of this, I can't help but be concerned about their reaction to handling, in the event that I may have to bag one up and take it to the vet. Because they aren't accustomed to handling, I may be in for a big shock when I try to grab hold of one (especially during warm weather).

I suppose it could be the same as with lacies that hang around bbq areas in national parks. They are incredibly bold and walk around people without a care in the world, but try to grab one and you may be in some serious trouble.

-Nick
 
Yes Nick, this is exactly what I am talking about as I have quite a few large lace monitors
which are quite happy to have me hang out in their enclosure with them to pull some
weeds, tidy etc. and occasionally giving them a scratch or a nudge to the side to get a weed
they are sitting on but if I start handling them in a way they don't feel in control they can
show their true colours.
You are also correct in mentioning the picnic ground lacies as I have had so many people
say to me that they are tame and walk right up to you for food and don't even run away.
The reason they don't run away is that they know that they have the ability to look
after themselves if a mear mortal with no experience handling these lizards tries to
touch them.
I am surprised that we don't hear of more injuries from lacies at camp sites and picnic
grounds as I have seen some people do some silly things around these lizards, one such incident I witnessed was parents giving a group of kids aged from 3 - 5 eggs and bacon to
feed to the lacies which were hot and hungry and it was amazing that a kid didn't lose
any fingers while waving the food around in their hands with lacies very fired up, I couldn't watch and got the kids to just throw their food on to the ground and move away from the lizards.
The whole time the parents were about 50m away with not a care in the world as they were
tame lizards at the camp ground.
 
there is no hard
and fast rule that suits every individual lacey as personality of individual animals
can be very different from animal to animal even within a clutch.
Some lacies are good to handle from young and will continue to handle well for a long time

This is a good point, My tamest ever lacie was an Huge ( i mean huge!) male adult wild caught animal (Pre amnesty days) and it settled down instantly and became a fat porker who would sit at my feet in its aviary and let me give it a rub on the throat and belly with out even a hiss,

My worst a multi generational captive bred that was flighty and scared to the point of being dangerous, even after 6 years in captivity.

you never know what animal will do what, however i will still stick by the policy of less is more when it comes to young monitors.
 
My worst a multi generational captive bred that was flighty and scared to the point of being dangerous, even after 6 years in captivity.
.

I will agree with you here Markars as I know a fellow which got a lacie hatchling from
me which he treated like a pet kitten rather than a lacie and it seemed really
placid and friendly till it got to about 1m in length and decided that it only associated
it's owner with food and became a heat (human) seeking missile everytime it saw
someone, this I found to be more dangerous than any untame lizard which just wants
nothing to do with people at all.
 
I have heard a method used by a few people who claim to have success settleing scrubbies, monitiors and other biting machines,
It sounds gross but seems to make sense?

Place worn or used socks, singlets or undies(?) into the hides or the animal, This is supposed to associate your "scent" with safety or at least get them used to your scent while not being harmed. People who i know have used this system and swear by it,
I am yet to try it over a long period of time ( have started out but never followed through) I believe it is supposed to be done long term and i believ it is used with hand reared mammals like suger gliders ect

drugs must be good up your way :)
 
drugs must be good up your way :)

i disagree. i think this way of getting the animal used to you makes complete sense. of couse if its introduced to its own little sanctuary when you get him, and from the get go his safe place has smelt like you, there would be less of a chance they'd get stressed and agitated when you invade their enclosure or handle them. and as for it being gross.... it takes alot for me to think something is gross, this is just practical logic.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top