New bosc monitor

[joef_conner]

Hi guys,

Well I just got my first bosc monitor and was wondering who else has or has had one in the past. Keen to hear stories and experiences and of course any lessons learned. What you should or shouldnt feed, substrate ideas etc...

I'll post pics as soon asap.

Cheers.

[hunter1]

Hey,
I have a bosc monitor, he/she is awesome!!!
Always entertaining!!For substrate i use that cyprus mulch, I put some torn up news paper in as well cause he /she seems to prefer hiding under it instead of his hides(always buries himself under it. When bosc was a hatchling I fed him crickets, meal worms, super worms, and finch eggs, and pinkies,most dusted with a calcium powder. I found when i was feeding him to many pinks he got a big gut so rather mix his diet. Think pinks put pressure on his kidneys and liver, if offered exclusivly. Becare full not to hold mice by the tail when feeding as they are furious feeders!!!!!!! Once he realises theres no food he is very tame, loves to come out and check my rock monitor out... U have to have a uv 10.0 bulb for him and a basking spot, I find my guy under his basking spot in the mornings.. Anyway enjoy him, hope this helps! they tame down really well if handeled alot/..

[joef_conner]

Oh really ,mulch? I was thinking sand or wood chips? But I'm definatley going to give mulch a try. Thanks.

[JeffG]

Hi,

I have been keeping Bosc monitors for awhile now have found them to be very forgiving lizards husbandry wise and i have found them a pure joy to keep. One of my observations i made when i first started out with them was that with constant handling they become very nervous and flighty of humans to the point where they will refuse to eat infront of you, so i stopped handling my monitors completely and just fed them and changed there waters after a month or two they realised i was not going to hurt them and they became more trusting of me. I refrained from handling them even though they showed interest in me and let them get familiar with me on there terms. I found with them that it is all about earning there trust they are very intellegent animals and submisive handling wont make them tame, it takes longer to earn there trust but i now have a bosc monitor that can walk freely around the reptile room while i clean and he wont flee or even flinch when i walk up to him he just investigates me and will walk up to me and i then feed him and put him back in his cage.

If kept in the right environment they cant be over fed for the first year or so, i fed mine as much as they would eat every day and when full i left them. this can only be done if kept optimily, remeber there is surviving and then theres thriving. basking temperatures ranged from 35 to 40 degrees SURFACE TEMPERATURE wich allowed them to bask and digest efficiently and naturaly, rememder these animals come from hot environment in north africa. obesity is only a problem in animals with insufficient basking temperatures and/or animals that have past the year and a half optimal growth period.

These monitors are very opurtunistic and will eat anything and everything meaty. THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT IS ALL GOOD FOR THEM. Animals should be fed whole prey items such as mice, rats, day old chicks and entire insect feeders. Lean meats lack the calcium from bones, vitamins from organs and bacteria from digestive systems found in whole prey items. Chicken necks are a good staple diet for OLDER animals as they have muscle, bone and oesophagus tissues wich are a balanced food intake, not just pure protien or calcium or vitamins but a whole package.

In the wild bosc monitors are terrestrial and like to burrow, a suitable burrowing medium should be provided, my animals are kept on a 50/50 mix of topsoil and play pen sand, ORGANIC. Juveniles especialy like to burrow and females will lay there eggs up to a metre underground, adult males dont sem to burrow as much and are therefore easier to house. Water should always be availible and humidity should be at around the 60% mark, these are not desert creatures.

They are alot of work and not always cheap to keep properly but if kept optimaly they make excellent captives that are truly a joy to keep and are well worth the effort.

Jeff

[Buck Rogers]

well put jeff, i have followed other peoples advice about handling for 10+ daily and found it to 'forceful' and they become timid and hide from me. Now i leave handeling to mornings or late evenins and just for a short period and his behavious has not changed. True what you say about the humidity, this is often over looked (me included) and can be problematic, what do you do to keep up your humidity??

[joef_conner]

Speaking of humidity, mulch does hold water well and I'm worried its too humid. What do you guys think? Should I rather try river sand.

I'm definately going to give my monitor some 'space' and see how he reacts. I also find he/ she doesnt like eating in front of me

Besides the basking and uv lights is it beneficial to have a heat pad on 24/7?

[Buck Rogers]

joef_conner - you in Durbs right?? Then no keep the heating pad off. I have my spot light set on a timer because my place gets too hot at midday but my UVB is constantly on. in winter a put on a heating pad at night. But you will have to play it by ear what happens with the temps, some houses are colder than others and will require a heat sorce.

[Axel]

There is a really excellent book on Bosc monitors, which unfortunately is now out of print. It's called: The Savannah Monitor Lizard: The Truth About Varanus Exanthematicus, by Daniel Bennett and Ravi Thakoordyal. If you find a copy I would grab it.

[JeffG]

Hi Buck,

I never realy have a problem with humidity, as stated i use a subtrate consisting of a 50/50 mix of play pen sand and topsoil. The size of my enclosure means that i use about 40 to 50 kilograms of substrate. With that amount of substrate i find that pouring about 5 litres of water mixes in quite well and the depth of the substrate prevents the water from totally evaporating yet provides enough humdity for my animals for a long time. For a water bowl ,if you want to call it that, i use an 11l addis tub but i am thinking of a bigger "bowl" as my animals cant lie in an 11l anymore. Generally Bosc's dont lie in water if humidity is correct but during shedding periods they may lie in water for extra moistore.

I dont recommend a heating pad for these animals as juveniles and females as i send enjoy to burrow. this is for security as well as for thermoregulation, they go down to escape the heat of the day. your heating pad will warm the burrows thus the act of burrowing is fruitless for animals in terms of thermoregulation. For my monitors i use four 60 watt spot light lined up in a row so the animals can bask its entire snout to vent length without the risk of burning from heating just one spot of the body constantly, in summer these can be turned of from about 9 o' clock and turned back on at about 3 o' clock depending on the weather of the day.

Varanids are by nature extremely intellegent animals, by handling them you enforce their fear of humans. Rather gain there trust and once they learn you wont hurt them then you can interact with them ie removing sheds, touching legs and feet as well, touching tail and stroking the neck. They do not like to be touched on the back and head as this is how domination takes place in this species, by rubbing the subordinate animals on the head and back. they also do not like to have their feet off the groung as they are extremely terrestrial and are built neither hieghts nor water deeper than there own bodies.

Jeff

[Buck Rogers]

jeez that setup must be huge to have that many spots & sand. What are the measurements and how many do you have & keep together?? Do you have any pics of your setup??

[JeffG]

Hi Buck,

My enclosure is 1800x700x700 (length x width x height). At the moment i have three bosc monitors but only two stay in the enclosure i have described, the bigger of the two is about a metre long. Currently i do not have pictures of the setup and animals but i will take some tonight and hopefully post my first pictures since becoming a member.

Jeff

[joef_conner]

Please do. I'd really like to see.

[Buck Rogers]

that is a nice fair size enclosure. I'm housing my male in a 1.3m x 400mm x 400mm he is about 10 months old and measures nose to vent about 20cm, im in the process of 'redecerating' the enclosure to make it a bit more appealing as soon as i find the perfect water bowl i'll snap some shots and post as well possibly in the next week or so. I was in the process of getting a female but all the money is gone to studies this year.

Its good to have a discussion about monitors a lot of people don't appreciate them and there is a lot unknown about them. I have learnt a lot from you today Jeff thanks!

[JeffG]

hi Buck,

What good does it do for the animals we love if we dont share knowledge about them? Nothing.

Alot of knowledge is based on trial and error but someone has to get out there and try to keep his/her captives happy and then let others know what works not only for the keepers sake but more so for the captives sake.

Monitor lizards are near impossible to sex until the secondary sexual developmentle stage takes place. For simplicity you could call it puberty.During this phase the males hemipene grow to the point where bulges are visible and the male will also broaden, meaning the fore limbs will thicken and the facial features will become more bulbous compared to that of the females. They all start life looking like females, no bulges etc. Probing monitors can lead to internal damage of the sexual organs which might even cause them to be sterile. the tail base of a monitor is also very strong compared to that of a snake and many people attempt to pop monitors, the monitors fight of the person popping them by contracting. Forcing a contracted muscle can damaged it and this can lead to hemipenal prolapse in males and injuries in females.

Females will cycle and lay infertile eggs whether a male is present or not, the frequency of these cycles is dependant on the females health and environment suitability. If kept well females in captivity may cycle 3 or more times a year but this is an individual attribute aswell and some females may cycle more often than others.

I would be weary buying a so called definite female monitor unless you have proof that it has either cycled and layed infertile or fertile eggs before or has been x-rayed and been determined female by a vet after the x-rays have been examined for hemipenal calcium deposits, which are lacking in female monitors.

Jeff

[JeffG]

Hi,

Unfortunately the camera battery hasnt been charged since we left on holiday so its stone dead and i have put it on charge. I did however manage to find one interesting picture of my bosc's saved to the computer. I cant seem to paste the picture here, how do i go about posting a picture?

Jeff