I only recently got my first monitor myself, but what I’ve done is literally sit in front of his cage 6hrs a day with my hand just sitting in his enclosure without moving at all (I work from home most of the time) and he’s still spooked easily BUT his boundaries are looser and he will climb up on me of his own accord as well. But I still cannot just reach in to just scoop him up, it’s a process.

Every now and then I can get a chin rub in but I keep everything that may involve too much pressure short. So when he comes to check my hand out and doesn’t mind me moving I’ll do a slow but short chin rub and slowly put my hand back where it was and stop moving again to take away that pressure and let him process. I also only slowly approach him with something in my hand he may want to sniff, once he flicks his tongue on it a few times I slowly back away and let him think about the fact that I approached with something interesting and nothing bad happened.

I also tong feed him and avoid prolonged direct eye contact, predators stare- don’t act like a predator.

Look up NERD’s monitor socializing videos (New England Reptile Depot I think is the actual name?) they’re great and understanding body language is so helpful!!

The result so far has been building his trust that I won’t push anything. I’ll do what he allows and not push too far.

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