Lizard isn't that much 'Trouble'

"Trouble," a savannah monitor lizard owned by Danielle Smith, provided a wonderful learning experience for patrons and staff alike when he visited the Lincoln County Library last week. Savannah monitors can grow up to seven feet long in captivity and sprint at speeds up to 35 mph.

"If you want a pet that will sit on your lap for hours and watch TV with you, then get a reptile," stated Danielle Smith, who fell in love with reptiles and other exotic pets when she caught her first snake at the age of 5.

Throughout the years, she has owned iguanas; scorpions; savannah monitor lizards; a redeyed tree frog; lobster roaches; Madagascar hissing roaches, which are about the size of one's palm but are fortunately, very docile; a ball python; Chinese fire-bellied toads; and various kinds of spiders.

"I miss having a tarantula," said Smith. "It's like having an eightlegged hamster. They make good pets. They don't need a whole lot - a small cage near a heat source, a sponge with water in it, and a couple of crickets every week. That's it.

"Tarantulas are very interesting," she continued. "They're great, big, fuzzy spiders - scary-looking and quite intimidating - but actually, they're ridiculously harmless."

Although she loves all exotic creatures, Smith's favorites are reptiles. "I will never be without a reptile - I love them. I know I will spend part of my life defending the reputation of reptiles. Most are as friendly or more friendly than the majority of mammalian pets. Some are very low maintenance. People just don't give them a chance."

Smith's latest acquisition is a male savannah monitor, a lizard which hales from the dry desert areas of western Africa.

As hatchlings, male monitors are about six inches long; when they reach maturity, they measure from one and a half to four feet in length in the wild and grow up to seven feet long in captivity. The average life-span of a savannah monitor is 13 years.

The family of monitor lizards includes the largest living lizard in the world, the Komodo Dragon, which can grow as long as a minivan.

It is believed by some that the native Africans got the name "monitor" from their ancestors who thought the lizard would give warning when crocodiles were nearby so they could protect their village.

Although savannah monitors can be rather "snappish" when young, they are known for their placid dispositions and overall tameness.

Smith's savannah monitor, "Trouble," is no exception. "The first thing he did when I got him (at the age of six months) was to bite my elbow, but that's understandable considering he had been riding in a delivery truck for three weeks because he was sent to the wrong pet store twice. By the time I got him, he was hungry and thirsty and had developed an intense dislike for people."

The biting was actually a good sign, according to Smith. "With reptiles, you always need to get the one that bites. That means he still has spunk and isn't sick."

Trouble further displayed his spunk when he broke free of his "pet store cage" once inside his new owner's car. "He got under the brake pedals and climbed into the drive shaft where he proceeded to defecate. It took 30 minutes to get him out. He then bit me again out of fear and stress."

Now that he is almost a year old, Trouble is a different lizard and will grow even more docile as he ages. "I think they grow more docile with age because they realize that no one on the planet is stupid enough to mess with a seven-foot long, flesheating lizard," Smith stated.

As for the care and feeding of Trouble, he is currently fed a good chunk of chicken livers and/or beef hearts every day. "They grow at an alarming rate of speed," said his owner. "He would eat me out of house and mousery if I let him."

In order to allow them to swallow their food whole, savannah monitors have a protective shell around their brains and a lower jaw that may be unhinged to accommodate larger prey.

Trouble resides in a 30-gallon aquarium filled with walnut shells crushed to the consistency of sand to imitate his desert origins. Using a Zoo Med heat pad and a heat lamp, Smith keeps the temperature in her tropical lizard's abode no lower than 80 degrees at night and preferably as high as 100 degrees during the day because monitor lizards come from some of the hottest places in the world. On the other hand, the humidity has to be kept as low as possible.

As for socializing with human beings, Trouble has to wear a harness whenever he is out in public. Although he doesn't like to be bothered at night, he is generally quite active during the day. He is very curious and will approach anything he finds interesting.

"Trouble can travel up to 35 mph in a sprint," said Smith. "The good news is his stamina is very poor and he can only sprint for a few yards until he wears himself out. Sprints are used either as an escape tactic or a quick run for a kill."

Another interesting feature about Trouble is that his nostrils, which are used for breathing, not smelling, point backwards. "In the wild, monitor lizards dig through sand," noted Smith. "The nostrils serve as shields so sand won't go up their noses.

"These lizards actually smell with their tongues. Using their forked tongues, they bring in scent particles to the Jacobson's Organ which is in the roof of their mouth."

She likewise commented on Trouble's teeth. "They are triangular like the teeth of a great white shark. They are small and serrated and appear crystalline. Monitors have very pretty teeth."

In addition to reptiles, Smith is also into rodentry and breeds numerous varieties of domestic mice and rats. It is not surprising that she is very enthusiastic about the merits of rats as pets. "They make really good pets. They are intelligent, mild-mannered, and love you to death forever. They are like puppies that don't bark."

There are many good souls who are intrigued by the more exoticlooking pets in the world, and there is no doubt that Danielle Smith is one of them. While it may be difficult to understand her passion for lizards, rats, spiders, and snakes, it is easy to admire the fearless and compassionate spirit with which she embraces these creatures.