Update

[JeffG]

Hi Guys,

Just posting some updated pictures of Fatty, and for all who are interested in getting Bosc's prepare yourselves for what comes with monitors, don't buy a cute baby and expect him to be a lap dog and when he eats you out of house and how don't say i didn't know it is your responsibility to know!

Anyways Fatty is a 2 year old Bosc monitor who has a length of 102cm, who has an unpredictable nature but is usually not too bad. He has an appetite like nothing on earth and if given the chance would probably eat himself into obesity in a week if it wasn't for his high basking temps and regulated food intake.

He obviously hates being messed with ( being touched by people) WHICH IS NORMAL! and so has inflated himself with air, this is him next to a 2l coke bottle for reference LOL




Then For Buck, this is the cage i spoke about in my message to you



And a stressed Fatty thinking "Come on Dad put me back, any more of this and you will end up looking like a cutter! You see my claws, they're not just for show, you get what im saying?"


LOL i don't mean to come of harsh it's just that these aren't beardies so don't expect a T-rex looking beardy when you buy one.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Wolf777]

Awesome setup you have! Nice looking bosc too.

[herpitologica]

Do they actually tame down or will they always have a bit of attitude??

[Copperbob]

Very nice Jeff.
I have never kept lizards before and have recently been thinking of one of these guys as a first.
What do think?

[JeffG]

Hi Herpitologica,

They become used to the presence of people and will accept food from you and if you respect them and their space they may allow you to touch them every now and again but force handling will suppress natural activities when around you and rather than trust you they will fear you. . .today when i took Fatty out to take pictures he whipped me and it sounded like i had just stabbed a tire he hissed so loudly but when i keep my distance an work with him on his terms he will accept food from forceps and actualy climb on me to get his food, sometimes i will hand feed him but thats when im feeling brave LOL, they are truly amazing animals and i can't picture living without one, not because of companionship but because of what they are and how they interact with their environment and each other etc. they are fascinating but if you want something to cuddle and hold these probably aren't the guys for you.

Copperbob, i all honesty Fatty was my first lizard not an easy animal to start with, i guess i jumped into the deep end of the pool, but before getting him i read for months about them and read through many european and American forums, i sifted through all the rubbish and did excactly what was instructed by people who have actually bred various species of monitors. I made my mistakes, handling etc but then i realised that i loved Bosc's for what they were not because i wanted a tame monitor, once my point of veiw changed i was hooked. They are in my opinion one of the best if not the best lizards around and if you want one go for it but make sure you can provided it with all its needs. Be prepared to change water dishes countless times a day and have a massive cage occupying space in your house. Read the thread "New Bosc monitor" and if you have read all 15 odd pages and feeel you can give it what it requires then by all means get one. Just don't get one and then when it gets to expensive or time consuming or you should loose interest get rid of it, that is utterly unfair to the animal so make sure you are 100% dedicated to providing for one and if you are then get one!

Thanks,
Jeff

[Copperbob]

Thanks a load Jeff, I will go through the post, do some research and decide from there.

[fredsmith]

Wow! Quite the beast your monitor is growing into...
Putting the 2tlr bottle next to it gives one alot of perspective into how big an animal it'll actually be one day.
Still got my heart set on one of these one day.
Awesome.
Thanks JeffG

[Cerberus]

Beautiful animals, I am very wary of them though.

[Bushviper]

Have you tried him on fruit? I friend of mine says his were "begging" when he was feeding the other animals so he put some in and they eat fruit regularly. I have never heard of this before but considering they eat numerous prey items that would still have vegetation in the stomach it might not be so difficult to believe.

[Buck Rogers]

BV - I tried fruit and mine looked at me like I was mental, I will give it another try and see what happens though, which fruit did your friend offer?

They are extremely intelligent and amazing animals, I love to watch mine but the same as Jeff. She tong feeds and lets me move things around the cage while she's in it but if I harass her she gets mega upset and hisses. I was whipped a few weeks back when I let her walk around the reptile room and she tried to climb behind the cages and I pulled her out. But never being bitten - but suppose because I never put myself in those situations to get bitten. I prefer having an animal that is not a puppy dog, I know that they can be "trained" but because of the intelligence of these animals I would not put all my faith in saying that they can be puppy trained even though people have done this and I have seen this.

[JeffG]

Hi Bushviper,

I have never tried to feed fruit simply for the fact that these animals digestive systems are designed for meat. Im sure if hungry enough they will eat anything but i prefer to stick to more natural food items.

I think of it like Iguanas and animal protien, maybe there is a worm on the leaf they eat or something and its not going to kill them, but to feed them large quantities of animal protien is not a good idea. Same story with Bosc's, just because their food might have plant matter in its gut doesn't mean we should offer them plant matter as a food source, they didn't evolve to eat plants so why risk it? That is just my opinion and to each their own.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Buck Rogers]

I have never tried to feed fruit simply for the fact that these animals digestive systems are designed for meat. Im sure if hungry enough they will eat anything but i prefer to stick to more natural food items.

It's true, the digestive enzymes in the stomach are more than likely proteinases or proteases so although they could ingest fruit I don't think large quantities does them any good. But interesting never the less that they have eaten fruit, I am more curious to see if mine will eat fruit.

[Buck Rogers]

Here are some updated pics of my girl, as you can see Jeff quite a difference in size and this is what I was talking about trying to get some dwarf Bosc's breeding in the future, would be amazing!



And here is a side view of the head which I have noticed the males have that very stumpy broad face and the females have this sharper almost beak appearance. When you see her in person Jeff then you will be able to see the noticeable difference.

[top dog]

grat looking monitors there guys,
@ jeffG that is a big boy, look forward to seing him in a few years.
@ buck how sure are you she is a girl, went is your girl going to become a woman.

[Buck Rogers]

A few weeks back I found a few fragments of egg in the cage after she defecated (haven't fed her eggs in a few months) and then when I saw her defecating in the water bowl I saw the hemiclit. When she was sexed at 8months I was told that she was a male based on the hemipenis but this has been proved that the females also have a hemiclit. The guys at Reptilians found a large female in their group of Bosc's which laid infertile eggs and to the build up of this they also found fragments of eggs around the cage after defecation and when they popped sexed her next to a male there was a huge noticable difference in size between the hemipenis and the hemiclit. So I am basing it on their findings and I am 99% sure she is a female.

She is at breeding age (almost 2 years old) and I am taking her over to Jeff's place to put with his male and we ganna see what luck we have.