The proper Bosc's monitor care guide

[Buck Rogers]

Hi there

i have seen his coming up quite a bit about people asking what to do with their bosc's and when asking them I find that they are doing things really back to front. So I wanted to write this up so to stop confusion and get this out of the way. Please if anyone has done any better than me and has better information please correct me.

I have kept and raised only one bosc's monitor in my life, but I have successfully brought her up from hatchling to adult hood and even got her to ovulate (she is on her second ovulation cycle now) so although I am no expert in the field I do think I have done something right to have got this far, and I have done a lot wrong. Here are a few basic tips to help you out.

Introduction to Bosc's monitors
Bosc's are highly prone to stress and although people think that they tame and make great lap-dog pets this is not always the case. Each bosc's has its own separate temperament. Some will be wild and hissy, others will be calm and others will be timid etc. Monitors are extremely intelligent and evolved animals that rely on physical and emotional well being in order to be healthy, this includes the correct diet, interaction with humans, and environment. Remeber one thing your Bosc's is a wild caught and harvested animal and at the end of the day it is a wild animal not a yorkie.

Cage
First step is setting the cage up correctly, supply at least 20cm in depth (or as much as possible) of playpen and top soil mix (50/50 ratio) and add some water to the mix. Bosc's come from an area that is savanna grassland to coastal bush so they have extremely high humidity in the rainy months. (see here for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savanna). They are not desert dwelling species as people would have you believe. Humidity is vital in their mental and physical well being. You are only keeping the soil moist (not damp) to create humidity. It should not look like a swamp but should be wet enough that if your bosc's digs a burrow it should hold it and not collapse - daily misting also helps.

Temperatures
They need to have a variety of different temperature gradients in their cages, they need a hot spot that can be as high as 40+ and a cool spot to drop down to low teens (mine is at 16 degrees). A bosc's should be able to choose where it wants to sit and not just a choice between one side high and one side low, I'll explain how I do this next.

Hides
Bosc's need a variety of hiding spots to choose from although they will tend to use one specific spot, but young bosc's need plenty of hiding spots, they will usually dig burrows to hide in to escape the heat and for safety at night to escape predators. This is where the moist soil mix comes in to help them dig burrows. What I do is have pieces of drift wood that the monitor can dig a burrow under neath the drift wood to feel secure. I also have a roof tile which i bury in the sand at a 45 degree angel and let the monitor create its own burrow under there. These are great because at the base of the tile it gets really cool (mine is at 16 degrees) and at the entrance it is really hot as well as if they bask on top of it.

Water
Obviously they need a huge water bowl that they can fit into and submerge which I am sure you know.

Handling
Handling your bosc's. This is the debate, some say you force handle your bosc's like you do to an iguana to get it used to you. For me and the people who have raised successful healthy animals do not handle them at all! Introduce yourself in the cage. They come from an area where food is important for them to survive and become the strongest in the chain, offer food where the bosc's can see you first. Put in crickets so he/she can see that you are the hand of food. Work your way up to offering food on tongs but never by hand (bad association to have). When your bosc's is taking food off of tongs he/she trusts you enough and recognises you no longer as a threat. Now you can slowly start interacting with your bosc's; start by touching the sides of the body, legs, and tail. Avois touching the back, head and base of the tail in the early stages as these are all dominant positions which another bosc's will use to dominate or pin or for sexual courting.

Your bosc's does not need a weekly bath! If your humidity is right then there should be no lose pieces of shedding.

Food
Lean food is only good for getting Discovery Vitality points and is not good for Bosc's. Supply a lot of insects in their early stages, take advantage of this because their diet consists mainly of insects in the wild and when you have a 60cm+ eating machine you will not be able to supply it with enough insects. As it grows add whole prey, food items with bone as this supplies calcium. At adult hood I feed chicken necks, hissing roaches, rat pups, liver, heart, kidney, snails.

Complications
Stress and obesity are the killers of monitors. Ignore everything I said about their caging and you will slowly kill your little baby over a few years. A healthy bosc's can live up to 20 years easily, but the average captivity life span is less than 7 years (usually 3 years) because they die of stress slowly over this period. Do not over feed your bosc's or it will become over weight and die of liver failure. Never put an over weight bosc's on a crash diet, rather start reducing food slowly over a few months. Watch the toes and tail tips for incomplete shedding, it is hard to see on their skin colour, but as I said if the humidity is correct this will not happen.


You have chosen to bring this animal into your house, it is your duty to raise this animal to adult hood in a stress free life and allow it the right to live. Bosc's are rarely bred in captivity and are mainly wild caught harvested animals. One day there will be no more to bring in and it will be our responsibility as the higher life on this planet to learn how to keep these correctly and breed them in captivity.

If this is too much of a hassle for you or too much responsibility then please do not get the animal.

Darryn

[ReptileCorner]

A few months ago Darryn helped me with my Bosc's set up and I now have a much more active monitor...he also has not lost any more toes since I changed his cage around on Darryn's advice. He has had a massive growth spurt in his cage and is now 50cm long. Jynx has always been an extrovert but now even more so. He just seems to be much happier, and has grown into a routine.

Your bosc's does not need a weekly bath! If your humidity is right then there should be no lose pieces of shedding.

and just to add, his water bowl should be big enough anyway. He can decide on his own when to bath. He does not need your intervention.

Anyway, thanks Darryn. Jynx is a very happy monitor thanks to you.

[Buck Rogers]

That's what this forum is supposed to be about, sharing combined knowledge and information. I have just seen over this past year that more and more people are asking the same questions about bosc's and there is so much conflicting information out there that people don't know what to do and are scared to try something different (like using the sand), and something as simple as changing that in a set-up will make the world of difference.

p.s. Sorry for the double post mods - internet connection problems.

[top dog]

two thumbs up Buck

[zululand]

Cheers BR,will download this when I get back home tomorrow.with a few adjustments I'm sure
this will make the remaining Bosc a much happier chappy!

[fredsmith]

Well done Buck!

[Quintin]

Great care sheet Darryn! Thanks for posting this.

There is however only one problem!!! - I DON'T OWN ONE YET lol.... I am looking at getting one soon and all this info will be very handy indeed!

Q

[Urucone]

Something I can add on your sheet is on food, Mine eat a goldfish now and then and a egg once a week.

[Buck Rogers]

Oh yes, completely forgot about egg, mine loves hard boiled eggs (not ideal nutrition source but nice as a treat) and quail eggs. Pretty much any eggs you can put in there but obviously it shouldn't be larger than the animals head.

Goldfish are great but $$$$$$$, normal freshwater crabs are also great from time to time.

[JeffG]

Hi Buck,
Great right up, it's about time something like this was posted! Im a bit weary of goldfish, i heard they are full of parasites but they cost a fortune aswell. When i go to the cost a throw net for mullet and other small fish and those go down very well with the monitors lol.

Eggs are nice treat for them but shouldn't be a staple diet. Buck i don't think there is a monitor that doesn't like eggs. . .all the species iv had have eaten egg, right now though the avairy is producing a constant supply for the monitors to indulge in on weekends.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Iggy]

The wild monitors living here are lekker fat because of all the tortoise eggs they poach from our tortoises
Thanks for the care sheet BR, I was actually worried our humidity was too high but now my mind is at ease. Ours came minus most of her toes and also tail tip, but sheds very easily now, so I guess that explains it! I have started including mackerel in her diet as well, otherwise mainly mice, chicken hearts and gizards and the odd egg. Question - we normally feed every 2nd day, 1-2 mice would be a normal size meal - she has a huge enclosure (approx 3m x 2m x 4 m high with rock walls and boulders to scramble so is quite active)...yet she is still quite rotund. Does this sound like too much food?

[Buck Rogers]

Hi Iggy

What are the temps in the cage? In theory a bosc's can never be over fed if they are supplied a basking spot that is extremely high (over 40 degrees), but are you varying the diet besides feeding mice?

[Iggy]

The temps range from around 18 degrees at the very bottom up to around 45 degrees under the basking spot - she usually sits slightly to the side of the basking light unless it is a very cold day. Diet includes mice, mackerel, egg, chicken hearts...and going on your caresheet, I just bought some frozen crabs to try as well.

[Buck Rogers]

Could you try post a pic so that I can see how "fat" she is? The food and quantities sound spot on so if I can at least see a pic I can tell you of the weight. Also be aware that if she is actually a female then she may be ovulating, usually this will take place for a few weeks and you can spot it by looking at her sudden girth increase around the lower abdomen (close to the back legs) and if the base of the tail looks slightly larger than usual. If this is the case I would take advantage of it and introduce a male for a few weeks to see what happens - you may get lucky

[Iggy]

Aargh, managed to delete the best photo, but these maybe give an idea - would appreciate your input into whether is is overweight, getting that way, or "just fine" ":)