My Boscs are growing!

[Marion]

Hi All

I see with interest that there are quite a few questions and quite a bit of interest in the bosc monitor.

I hope I am doing everything right! I got my boscs about 14 months ago. I was told that they were 4 months old at the time - they were about 25 cm long at the time. I kept them in a large cage in the lounge where we could interact with them and keep an eye on them. When they got too big I moved them into an outside enclosure. I had them in a really big cage indoors during winter but they are now back in their outside enclosure.

About 3 months ago I took them both to the vet to have them sexed and I am fortunate enough to have a pair.I have done everything possible to try and "tame" them but even though they tolerate being touched (sometimes) they don't really like it. So I have decided to let them be as much as possible. The male, Louis, in particular is a real grumpy old sod. Lily on the other hand is much easier and tolerates my attention for a while at least. I talk gently to them and stroke them when I am in their enclosure and even though I have to be careful of the tail whipping and in Louis' case his teeth, they definitely know I am the bearer of food.

As they are both over the 3 kg mark and at least 80 cm long, I take great care not to get in the way of the teeth!

They both spend a lot of time buried under a couple of inches of soil and also love to have a good soak in their tub. Louis climbs up the sides of the enclosure like a monkey so I have introduced lawn on the one half of the enclosure - so he doesn't hurt himself if he falls - and then the usual 30cm or so of compost and playpen sand mix on the other side with a nice big hide. I have introduced a number of huge big branches and stones and they seem to be perfectly at home there. The enclosure also gets a regular spray with the garden hose.

They were both a bit on the fat side when they were in their indoor cage. They are slowly slimming down a bit in the large enclosure and don't seem to eat as much as they used to. I am really hoping that this is not a problem. When they do eat they really tuck in and devour their food in a couple of minutes flat. But I have to make sure they actually eat or they just leave the food. The best way to do this is by putting them in their indoor cage for a while until dinner is over.

They have a good variety of food, chicken hearts, liver, chicken necks, rat hoppers, insects like crickets and the odd unfortunate Parktown prawn. I am also going to start them on garden snails and they do eat a bit of hard boiled egg on occasion. Their food is always sprinkled with vitamin/calcium powder.

Is there anyone that can tell me how to perhaps improve their care? They are really healthy and shed well and as I said before they are both nice and round!! I think Lily may be ovulating but so far I have not seen any romantic signs from Louis!

Any other hints would be greatly appreciated.

Marion

[Groenslang]

Can you please post pics of your outdoor cage? Good to hear they are doing so well!