by JeffG » Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:20 pm
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