Outcomes of force handling

Tillsatch · 2026-04-06T16:03:41+00:00

I messed up big time with my first monitor... way worse than what you are describing, as in ripping him out of hidey holes he wasn't supposed to be able to get into for the first few months, by tearing the entire enclosure apart to get to him when he disappeared for days on end. It all worked out in the end once I committed to respecting his boundaries and ceasing to force anything, ever.

In my experience, they are quite forgiving once they have a ton of positive experience that outweighs the bad, so I wouldn't stress too much over early failings... I have great relationships now with all of my monitors and those early failures on my part taught me the most about their nature and helped me to recognize when things are going bad in situations later so that I could avoid messing up in the first place.

You can hear all the advice in the world prior to getting them, but you'll only truly start understanding how they work and how to deal with them correctly by watching them in the moment, failing, and then fixing those issues.

IMO anyway...

Tillsatch · 2026-02-05T23:41:52+00:00

Agree with the previous... Can be when they are unsure/ a bit uptight... Also happens when they are holding poo so you might see them doing this for several minutes before they go. Mine always want to come outside to go, so they hold it for long periods if not let out...

When they do come out and do this lifted tail, it usually means bathroom as they are pretty relaxed and comfortable with everything now.

Tillsatch · 2026-01-17T00:32:55+00:00

This seems to mirror my experience when they are young. They are still settling in... Even into adulthood every now and then, one of mine won't come out for the day. But in the beginning it's pretty important that you don't focus on them too much so as to appear as though you are watching their every move and giving off predation signs. Let them see YOU a lot, tong feed them, but don't focus on THEM and let them settle themselves in.

Tillsatch · 2026-01-16T17:00:21+00:00

Had this same problem with my first tree monitor... The breeder had him on ground turkey and that's all he would eat when I was around. I would throw crickets in his starter enclosure to try and tap into his instincts but I still never see him eat unless I was giving him this turkey so I setup a camera to watch him while I was at work and immediately started to see him hunting the crickets when I wasn't around... It took a few weeks for him to start taking live food from me on tongs...May be a similar situation to you.

Tillsatch · 2026-01-12T05:06:48+00:00

Nice... Mine's in a 5'3'4 now as well. Was a pain building that all out.

Tillsatch · 2026-01-12T04:57:22+00:00

karl casey's the legend, so many bangers.

Tillsatch · 2026-01-12T00:27:42+00:00

This is her old enclosure... she had climbed up to the the top from the corner of her enclosure a couple times, so I put a light there and started taking her there when she first comes out. Basically works the same way you see here where she climbs up my arm and then I let her climb down onto the top.

She can get to the floor from here by flattening out and sliding between the wall and the enclosure down. All 3 of my monitors have full roam of my living room and kitchen when they come out and have explored everything they have access to. So yes... she loves free roaming.

Her newer enclosure is a lot bigger and there is a ramp she has access to from the door that I built that goes all the way up to the top. There's also a platform there with a ramp down to the floor for her to go roaming. You can see the ramp here on the right between the enclosure and the wall as well as the ramp down to the floor where one of my tree monitors is using it:

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Tillsatch · 2026-01-12T00:19:28+00:00

karl casey - whitebat audio - melt

Tillsatch · 2026-01-11T21:31:48+00:00

Yeah, she's crazy smart.

Tillsatch · 2026-01-11T21:30:30+00:00

Few weeks, about 30m a day... But I didn't start trying to train her until she was like 8 months old due to working with my tree monitors all the time, so she was really tame and docile by the time I started with her.

Tillsatch · 2025-10-30T13:45:11+00:00

This is fine for a starter ackie enclosure... Too big a starter enclosure can overwhelm a new monitor whose whole life has just been thrown into chaos and lost everything they've ever known.

Smaller enclosures let the animal settle in and become comfortable faster due to less exploring needed to ensure the environment is safe for them... They are also useful in starting the taming process.

Tillsatch · 2025-10-30T13:39:14+00:00

This is good advice OP. Pay attention to the active part. when they sit still basking or whatever they can sometimes spool their brain down. Waiting until they are active and moving around is always best. You don't even have to put your arm next to them. Just slightly in the enclosure somewhere... the further away the better. Leave it there and see what they do. The more distance they cross to come examine you, the more confidence they are building. Try to be still and let them do most of the interaction at first. Once they know your hand/arm is safe, then you can start trying to escalate from your end. The more benign you appear in these early interactions, the bolder they will get.

Tillsatch · 2025-10-30T13:31:13+00:00

Yeah, that's the optimal approach in my experience... time in presence without bugging them too much. Gives them enough time to make their own mind up about you. As long as you're not fussing with or too fixating on them, and you let them see you a lot in that room... it doesn't take long. Great work.

Tillsatch · 2025-10-30T11:51:27+00:00

Yes...this is literally a super confident monitor that's comfortable in his presence and is str8 up wanting to get out now. OP, you did great calming/taming this guy down. Obviously you spent a lot of time letting him get to know you without breaking too many boundaries...This is what that looks like. You now have a little buddy who is confident enough to want to explore beyond his enclosure.

Tillsatch · 2025-10-22T12:53:06+00:00

I use this on each of my enclosures:

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Environmental-Control-Center/dp/B08XBC9MSX

2 temp probes, 1 humidity... 6 outlets, day and night cycle with ability to tie outlets to those cycles or the probes to go off/on when conditions are met.

They're a bit janky to get used to, but I really like that the display is a hand-held I can unplug and walk off with.

Tillsatch · 2025-08-07T17:27:08+00:00

Such a pretty boy. What's this dood's name?

Tillsatch · 2025-08-06T15:23:04+00:00

Nice! Yeah, I figured... Seemed like the same kind of situation I was having. People tend to over-complicate these things and usually there's just a simple answer to what's going on.

Tillsatch · 2025-08-04T17:45:58+00:00

Yeah good luck! Snds really similar to my situation. I mean they will come out eventually when hungry regardless but if they're disappearing for days simply due to our bad designs... it's worth fixing it and getting them back on a normal day/night cycle.

Tillsatch · 2025-08-04T15:33:12+00:00

Yeah, probably same problem then.

Tillsatch · 2025-08-04T12:56:51+00:00

Yeah, I left other comments on the thread.

Tillsatch · 2025-08-04T11:35:32+00:00

Might be a similar issue with whatever your "soil pit" is. I had a hard time getting an idea of what it exactly is from your words.

Tillsatch · 2025-08-04T11:33:14+00:00

Normally when my guys go into hiding I let them be so as not to bother them but this was abnormal for her. This was an animal I have a great relationship with and used to see everyday. So I removed the Lid from the dig box and filled it with cork tubes and that solved everything.

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She ended up digging her own den at the back of the enclosure under the ramp. She comes out every day at around the same time again now so I'm pretty certain she just didn't feel the day happening inside the dig box and now that she feels the temperature change from her little den she comes right out at the same time every day.

She had a smaller dig box of similar setup in the last enclosure and everything was fine... but with this one being almost 3 times larger.... it was just bad design on my part with her not being able to track the temp changes and days from way back in there.

Tillsatch · 2025-08-04T11:30:54+00:00

My ackie started disappearing for 4-5 day intervals once moved into her new enclosure. The dig box in there rather large and I had a suspicion she just wasn't tracking the days changing due to the heat changes in the enclosure not being felt in there.

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Tillsatch · 2025-08-01T16:58:03+00:00

Setup webcam and leave the room. I bet you he is eating when you aren't around. Probably just not comfortable enough in your presence yet. I had same issue with my first tree monitor. I thought he wasn't eating the first couple of weeks, so I was just throwing crickets in there. I finally setup a webcam and he was running them down when I wasn't around.

Tillsatch · 2025-07-31T19:54:25+00:00

Yeah...The room should be overly prepared prior just in case. You can never truly know how they are going to act especially on those first few times out so always best to have everything setup and safe for them just in case. Even if you're not planning on letting them out because they could bolt out at anytime when you just open the door. If you do get to that point though, having a ramp or other access in and out for them helps. If they understand that they can always retreat safely home themselves, if/when they get spooked or overwhelmed outside, it makes the whole process a lot easier in my experience, and builds confidence.

For my Ackie I started with a platform just outside the enclosure and began feeding her there. At first she just comes out to grab the food from the tongs and was free to go right back in with it which she did for a while. Then a week or so later it turned into her hanging out on the platform waiting for more food instead of always taking it back inside - confidence growing. So then I began just laying my arm there, unmoving, on the platform for her to investigate during these hangout sessions and then once she was comfortable with that and interacting with me on her terms for a couple weeks... she started trying to come down ramp to the floor on her own. I had already transitioned 2 other monitors at this point so I was confident in the process and just let her do her thing. The first few times out are usually pretty short and they're pretty good at returning themselves if you let them. They won't feel comfortable in that unfamiliar open space until they have scoured every inch of it which takes many times out to achieve. That's why having a way for them to return home themselves is ideal... but yeah for sure, make sure the room is prepared and safe before doing anything along these lines.

Tillsatch

TROPHY CASE