Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

dirtydozen210 · Contributing Member Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 93

hi, i have a baby bosc at the mo(not sure of sex does anyone know how to tell) he/she is about 7-8 inches long and eats like a pig, at the mo she is a 4x2x2 but obviously will be moved into bigger accomodation when he/she outgrows her present one. I was wondering if it would be ok to put another bosc of the same age in with him/her. I dont feed him/her in the tank so they wouldnt be fighting over food or anything

bearboa · I'm new here... Joined: 11 Jul 2006 Posts: 17

yes you can put them together till they are older but be sure that the two that you are putting together are of the same size as i have seen that if one is a bit bigger than the other they nearly always fight and i have also read that bigger monitors actually try eating the smaller ones.i hope this helps
_________________

dirtydozen210 · Contributing Member Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 93

yeah heard that about them trying to eat the smaller one before but it would defo be one the same size

Rick_Albig · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 10:55 pm Post subject:

Housing two monitors together is OK as long as: they are the same size, they are the same species, they don't fight, your enclosure is big enough for both of them (remember two adults boscs will require a minimum of 10x5x4 IMO) the enclosure has multiple bask sites and hides etc.....

Why don't you feed your monitor in his cage? I would not advise this as the monitor will associate being out of his cage as the time too eat. This could end in a nastie accident!

Rick

dirtydozen210 · Contributing Member Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 93

i feed all my reps in a separate tank as i have substrate in there tanks and obviously dont wont them swallowing it

Rick_Albig · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 9:59 am Post subject:

The best substrate for monitors is dirt. It hold a burrow and moisture well and its also natural!

I feed my monitors in there enclosures. My biggest female black throat always has to make sure her frozen thawed meal is dead (lol) so she thrashes it around for 5 minutes covering it dirt before she eats it! There are no problems with this as long as your husbandry is correct (correct temps, hot basking spot right humidity) Animals like these are opportunistic feeders in the wild (almost scavenger like) and can digest almost anything! If you are using dirt as a substrate (as i would advise you too) then there will be no problems.

Hope this helps

Rick

dirtydozen210 · Contributing Member Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 93

i have him on play sand, i did used to feed him in his enclosure but like you say about yours he thrashes his food around a lot and so it got covered in sand and with him only being a baby i didnt want any riskof impaction

Rick_Albig · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 4:28 pm Post subject:

I would not keep him on sand. Boscs are not from the desert and sand is not good for them. I would get some dirt from your yard or if this is not an option some good quality screened top soil (not with fertilizer and not man made rubbish) I use sandy loam from my local BnQ. You want it as deep as possible so you little guy can dig himself a burrow. Keep it moist but not wet (around 60% humidity ambient) the humidity in my burrows is about 80% and all my monitors spend a lot of time in them.

Rick

Ackie enclosure (50% sand 50% soil)

Black Throat enclosures (very similar to Boscs only much bigger!)
85% soil 15% sand

dirtydozen210 · Contributing Member Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 93

thanks for that mate i will get some topsoil tommorrow, did you say to mix it 50/50with play sand? nice looked monitors by the way

Rick_Albig · Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 12:49 am Post subject:

Cheers! Thanks for the compliments!

I mix 50/50 for my ackies but for a bosc i would say 80% soil and only 20% sand. You Monitor will thrive with a moist soil substrate. He/she should dig a burrow within a week or so, this is when you know your substrate is working. I like to stick pieces of cork bark or plywood for them to dig under into the dirt, they seem to love this!

All the best!

Rick