Wolfjewel...no, my group of them pretty much all hate me. They re roughneck monitors from Indonesia and the Malay peninsula. This species is very intelligent, even for monitors(who are considered amongst the most cognitive of reptile families)and also very secretive, they're forest ninjas, pretty much.
For at least the last 50 years they ve had a reputation in the pet trade for being naturally tame and never biting. Well, in the course of effectively acclimating the first few of my current group I saw a very consistent pattern amongst them as they went through the 4-6 month process, ending with an equally consistent outcome...what went in as a seemingly mild mannered if not docile lizard came out as a shy, secretive, flighty, crafty, fast as all heck lizard with little tolerance for humans. Far from the naturally tame pet store lizards.
Over time I figured out that this species is a poor choice to withstand the rigors of the Indonesian export system, where over the months long journey from the point of capture to the exporters facility, they're kept in bare holding pens which offer no hiding or security, which for a secretive and highly intelligent creature is months of 24/7 torture via complete exposure, which eventually drives them into a stress based shut down/insanity where they just no longer react to things like a normal monitor would. It's so pervasive that every imported specimen shows the signs of this stress response, and by what I figure, 50+ years ago, in that they all behaved in this manner, the importers back then could easily have thought this must be their natural state of being, which was reinforced by the fact that no one on this side of the process had ever seen a sane one to go by. Not to mention the thought of lizard cognition was largely laughable back then. Of course the pet trade ran with it, never questioning if there might be an alternate explination.
I figured this out back in in 2018, and have been trying to spread the awareness of this with limited success. Most folks don't like the idea that they've kept their pet in a virtual zombie state just so the can have a tame big lizard(5-6')
While not as overtly bitey as some other species, these guys will give you a couple "keep it up monkey, and you'll have an instructional/corrective bite coming" style warning if you know what to look for, and they will indeed follow through with it. This species puts on a quite impressive threat display when confronted with something they find offensive, and they start their drama classes at an early age. With a baritone "Die, monkey, die" hiss and an uncannily accurate whip of the tail, they let you know where you stand in their eyes. . I have some I acclimated back in 2018 that still hiss at me when I walk by their cages. Come feeding time they transform into bold month-starved velociraptors, leaping half way across the enclosure, mouth wide open. Some will actually leap out after the food I'm holding if I take a couple seconds too long in giving it to them.
Moral of the story? Don't ask guy about this species of monitor unless you have a good while to get through his unfailingly long replies! Sorry about the ramble!