# Bosc monitor temprature and lighting care



## Barry the bosc (Oct 6, 2015)

Hello, I'm soon to be taking in a new baby bosc monitor , I have got myself a nice set up with a 3X2X2 tank. Now I've been reading up on a few places to get the best idea for the best care for the little one. I see that a large selection of people usually set up 2 - 3 40 - 60 watt bulbs for the best basking cover, however I myself have a ceramic heat bulb set up to a thermostatic connector for day and night control. In addition I have a 10.0 UVB set across the back for its 12 - 14 hour daily light intake

My question is if this will be enough to control the humidity in which is required, the temperature from got end to cool and be sufficient enough for my bosc to bask in.

All advise will be greatly appreciated


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## Jamie XVX (Nov 24, 2014)

Ceramics are more for increasing ambient temperature than for basking spots. They also have a tendency to lower humidty drastically. Humidity is best maintained with a nice deep substrate, which is good for your monitor anyways, as your sav will want to burrow.

With that size viv and that equipment you will struggle with two things:

1 - Temperature gradients. Monitors need a very varied temperature. For my sub-adults and adult monitors I have always used up to 160 degrees for a basking spot. I don't have much experience with babies, but they shouldn't be as hot. You still want around 130 for young monitors though, I believe. Getting a basking spot that hot will raise the viv temperature considerably, so in order to ensure an adequately cool end, you need either a very long viv or a very tight basking spot - i.e. a well reflected heat buld that heats the area directly beneath it well without bleeding out into the rest of the viv. Ceramics disperse heat more or less omnidirectionally (I think it's pretty much a cardioid pattern if we're gonna be super precise abou it). If you've only got three fot length, you're going to struggle with keeping your cool end temps down.

2 - Humidity. Because ceramics heat the whole area around them rather than mostly just the spot below, they dry out the air a lot more than a halogen will. Humidity in this kinda of circumstance is best maintained with a large depth of sand/soil/coir mixed substrate. You want around a foot to maintain humidity effectively.

Now, obviously this causes a problem. In terms of keeping the cool end temperature down, additional venting will help, but this will compound your humidity problem. If you have a spare few hundred pounds, you could buy a mister or rain system to maintain humidity, but if you're spending that kind of money a longer viv or better lighting system would be good.

Ceramics have their place in monitor keeping, but they're mostly useful in keeping ambient hot-end temperatures up in larger monitor vivs.

I would buy a larger viv, personally. Your Sav will outgrow a 3 foot vivarium in a few months anyway, even if it's a baby now. In a year or so, you will need to be upgraded to an 8x4x4 viv. You might as well buy and set that up now and save yourself hassle in the long run.


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## Barry the bosc (Oct 6, 2015)

thank you for this - at the moment funds are a little tight getting everythin i needed for the little Sav to come, my plans have been to start work on a larger tank 6 - 8 x 4 x 4 more looking towards a 8 foot as a project as my dad is a carpenter anyway. The tank i have at the moment is more of a temporary fix until i get the new one built, if i was to set up a seperate 60 watt bulb in that case what would be the best way to controll the temprature of both lamp (Ceramic and 60 watt) i dont want to burn the little dude but provide as great of a basking spot as possible.

again all advise is greatly appreciated, i will try to post a picture of my viv soon,


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## Rogue665 (Mar 17, 2010)

Your not going to get the high temp of the basking area without it increasing on the cool side with a vivarium as small as yours. its not possible, I would put off getting the little guy until your have a full, complete, accurate and large enough set up for him.


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## Jamie XVX (Nov 24, 2014)

Barry the bosc said:


> thank you for this - at the moment funds are a little tight getting everythin i needed for the little Sav to come, my plans have been to start work on a larger tank 6 - 8 x 4 x 4 more looking towards a 8 foot as a project as my dad is a carpenter anyway. The tank i have at the moment is more of a temporary fix until i get the new one built, if i was to set up a seperate 60 watt bulb in that case what would be the best way to controll the temprature of both lamp (Ceramic and 60 watt) i dont want to burn the little dude but provide as great of a basking spot as possible.
> 
> again all advise is greatly appreciated, i will try to post a picture of my viv soon,


Control the ceramic with a thermostat in the hot end slightly away from the basking spot - preferably around the area he most likes to spend time when not basking (if there is one). Your hot end wants to be around 95 degrees. It's hard to stat a monitor basking spot, because a lot of stats don't go high enough. Personally, I put in my bulb and monitor the heat of the surface with a infra-red temperature gun for a few days to ensure I'm getting a consistent good temperature. Then I check it once or twice a day to ensure nothing's going wrong. I don't stat my basking spot. In that size viv, I wouldn't bother with the ceramic, because your basking bulb will probably adequately heat the rest of the viv. Use a dimmer stat on the bulb with the probe in the hot end. Raise or lower the height of the basking spot to regulate the heat there.

Example:

I have a 4x2x3 with a foot of substrate, making it effectively 4x2x2 usable space for my Ackie. With a 75watt halogen, the hot end sits about 96f most of the time, the cool end is around 84f. The basking spot was sitting about 140 quite happily, but I wanted to pump that up a few degrees. I didn't change the stat, I just switched the tank around so the bit of viv decor under the basking spot was a bit taller. Lo and behold, my basking spot surface temp shifts up to 146f. Nice. Be aware of what the basking spot surface is made of as well. Stone gets hot quickly, cork bark etc. gets hot a lot slower. If I put stone under, I get a hotter basking spot, because the wood heats up so slowly, it doesn't reach the maximum possible temperature, whereas stone does.

Hope this makes sense. What you do isn't that important, it's the result you achieve.

Incidentally, do get an infra-red temp gun. They sound pricey, but you can get a good one on Amazon/Ebay for around £10. This is hands-down one of the most important pieces of kit for a monitor keeper.


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## Jamie XVX (Nov 24, 2014)

Rogue665 said:


> Your not going to get the high temp of the basking area without it increasing on the cool side with a vivarium as small as yours. its not possible, I would put off getting the little guy until your have a full, complete, accurate and large enough set up for him.


I've done it. I had my Bosc in a 3x2x2 when I first got him. I regret it because it quickly got too small, but I did manage to get temps right. I messed up on UVB and he got MBD, which was devastating, but I never had a problem with temps. More luck than judgement to be honest. I won't go into the circumstances of my Bosc, but I was sort of just left with him and had no idea what I was doing. He's since been rehomed, which was definitely best for him at the time.


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## Barry the bosc (Oct 6, 2015)

Thank you for the help on this one, last question really , what would you suggest as the best sort of eating regime for the baby , (best food to start on, how much a feeding and how often once a day etc...)


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## Jamie XVX (Nov 24, 2014)

I'm not ignoring you, but it's been a long time since I had a baby Bosc!

Generally I woul go with:

Start with small insects (I think what are often sold as "medium" crickets and locusts are about right, and you might be able to get away with small dubia roaches).
Feed in batches of 3 or 4 insects. Let your Bosc hunt most of these, but feeding a few to the Bosc with tongs (if he'll acept it) will help you build trust without stressing him out. Boscs are pretty opportunistic feeders, but basically feed them as much as they will eat in one sitting. Once they stop eating, they're full, stop feeding them. Feed a batch, then once it has been finished, feed another. Remove any of the insects from the last batch that don't get eaten.
Dust the inscts every other day, or thereabouts. If you have UVB, use a calcium supplement with no vitamin D. I also use a multi-vitamin dust without calcium or D3 for my Ackie.
Switch around the insects each feed. Feed crickets one day, locusts the next. If your Bosc will eat dubia roaches, these should make up the bulk of his diet where possible. They're super highly nutritious.
Feed daily.
If you monitor stops pooping, check your temps, don't stop feeding!


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