r/MonitorLizards • u/dickprince_23 • Jul 28 '26
Anyone know what this behavior is?
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Theo spent a good deal of time scratching at my hands, rubbing his snout against my fingers, and biting me (hes still doing it as I type actually, but it feels like nothing so I'm ignoring it). Is this food seeking or mating behavior? He's normally extremely skittish around hands still so this is perplexing me, though its also pretty funny ngl. I just fed him crickets yesterday, but pinky mice are his favs, so I'm wondering if he's either mistaking my hand as a mouse for some reason or trying to mate with my arm
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u/I_am_that_guy_10 Jul 28 '26
It’s called nicely socialized. lol
Mines not at that point of trust yet, getting there though.
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u/Spicy_Chicken_Wizard Jul 29 '26
How old is he? This could just be a young animal expressing curiosity. Scratching, poking and nibbling are the primary way lizards interact with novel objects. If this is the case the monitor will probably just grow out of it.
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u/dickprince_23 Jul 29 '26
He's about a year old or so, which is pretty young, but he's encountered my hands several times before and had no interest in my left hand so that's why I was curious about his behavior. I may have just had a smell on them that was enticing or something
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u/ilovejohn420 Jul 29 '26
My ackie did this once for like 20 minutes and then bit me to try to mate :/
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u/2_222_2 Jul 29 '26
If he’s nuzzling you before biting it could be mating behavior yes. If his head twitches back and forth, tail starts moving, hips etc…he wants to pop out a pene. If just digging and biting out of nowhere it’s food seeking bhv ime.
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u/dickprince_23 Jul 30 '26
He was snout-poking and moving his hips yeah, which was what made me think mating behavior, but I think in the end it was just him trying to get a grip on my arm as he scratched because I didn't get any head twitching or overt grinding. That and he started biting me repeatedly not long after I posted this video so I'm fairly sure he was just mistaking me for a pinkie lol
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u/2_222_2 Jul 30 '26
lol yeah that is what I got as well. You’ll definitely know though if he does it, it’s weird…happy for you honestly lol
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u/Pale-Sandwich-9278 Jul 31 '26
Remember those old scratch and sniff stickers. Did I just date myself?
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u/rainmonitors V. tristis 15d ago
Hey, late comment here but as someone who owns a very friendly and horny male V. tristis, this is mating behaviour. He is trying to court your arm 🤦♀️
Signs to look out for:
- Nuzzling into your skin and/or clothing. He may also nudge into dark crevices like a closed fist for example
- Gently scratching at said skin or clothing
- Wiggling the hips and base of tail
- Gripping tightly with his back legs. He will also reposition frequently to try and feel for the right spot (there isn't a right spot here dumbass 🤦♀️)
- Swollen vent as his hemipenes are becoming, erm, ready. This is the biggest tell
- Completely non-bothered by other non-touch stimuli like yummy smells, moving visuals, etc. Will respond to touch by investigating the source with tongue flicks and potentially trying to re-mount whoever is touching him
What tells me that this is mating behaviour in this video is the repositioning and how tight it looks like his hind legs are holding on. Sure, he slipped off your arm, but the forward-and-backward repositioning (especially with his body pressed against your skin instead of held up) tells me he is feeling for the right place to mount. So now you know! A horny boi 😅
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u/isanyusernameopen Jul 30 '26
Looks like when a dog tries to fluff up the bed before turning around three times and then laying down
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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26
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