# Bosc monitors feeding?



## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Just curious as to what you guys think is okay to feed bosc monitors, mainly insects throughout their lives or mainly rodents. Mu thought was mainly insects and one rodent every week? Just curious as a lot of websites say different things 
Regards
JB Owens


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

If you can manage a diet of 100% inverts then your onto a winner and a very healthy Bosc.

Boscs are massive eaters though so for most keepers this is very expensive, There are lots of alternatives you can feed your bosc, they will eat prawns and fish, ground turkey, snails etc. If you are feeding rodents/turkey/prawns/fish do it in as small quantities as you can and keep the bugs flowing.

I would say get a large roach colony going with somehting like madagascan hissers, dubias, lobster roaches, death heads etc to try and keep a steady flow of cheap inverts. 

If your willing to put the work in you could easily set up a locust breeding scheme too.


----------



## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

Related question if you don't mind...

How many, standard tubs of crickets, would an adult bosc. eat a day? it must be a lot if rodents are the cheaper option (though roaches _are _expensive)


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

em_40 said:


> Related question if you don't mind...
> 
> How many, standard tubs of crickets, would an adult bosc. eat a day? it must be a lot if rodents are the cheaper option (though roaches _are _expensive)


I couldnt give you an exact figure but I bet an adult could do a 500 bulk bag in a day without a problem. 

The initial outlay for roaches is expensive, but over time you recover the costs.

For example, I keep 3 roach species, Dubias, Turkistans and Australian roaches. My initial outlay for dubias was £120, I have had them for over a year continuously breeding, these have fed ackies, 2 leos and a crestie.

Turkistans, initial outlay was £25... I left them for a few months to breed, now I have a thriving colony that can feed my reptiles with minimum ease, just feed the roaches cheap veg and cheap dog biscuit and keep them on a low watt heatmat.

Australians £15 initial outlay.. they are still establishing a colony but they are doing well and I hope to be feeding off them within the next 6 months.


----------



## JakeySnakey (Jun 3, 2012)

I feed mine (6 month old) a box of 5th (large hoppers approx 12 per box) or large crickets (approx 25 per box or more) every 2 days, a boiled egg once a month and fuzzy mice (2-4) once every 2 weeks. The thing I've learnt with mine is it will eat and eat and eat until there is nothing left but as with anything over feeding can lead to obesity and laziness. This is what I feed mine and he's active, digs, climbs and is a very happy chappy, not aggressive because he wants more either. I am however considering setting up a roach colony for when he is older. Alot of people have said to me to not feed the same time, periodically as in the wild they won't be being fed say, bang on 11a.m every 2 days. I was advised to feed at different times and vary the gaps between feeding. This is working fine for me so far but as with anything, it's peoples own preference and every animal/owner is different


----------



## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Thankyou all for your quick replies  should be getting one in the next few weeks fingers crossed. Im thinking of a diet consisting mainly of live food as I have a colony of dubias and I breed mealworms  I think Il considet getting some other faster breeding roaches though. I think Il add rodents, prawns etc once a week on the same day I feed my snakes . How many rodents for example would they take in one sitting?
Regards
JB Owens


----------



## Metzger (Oct 18, 2009)

As Mr.Wheels said really - if you can afford to offer lots of insects - perfect.
More realisitically, offer as many insects as possible - Crickets, Locusts, Roaches, Mario worms, Pacnoda grubs, Snails. Then supplement with Prawns, Mussles, Fish and the odd rodent.

We do this, using the fish etc as their sunday 'treat' feed with a day of digestion after. they're in great shape. 

I thinks its about finding the balance, if you think they're looking a it fat, lessen the feeds - a little skinny, then up the feeds, but perosnally I would stay away from a heavily rodent based diet with boscs. : victory:


----------



## Metzger (Oct 18, 2009)

jb92 said:


> Thankyou all for your quick replies  should be getting one in the next few weeks fingers crossed. Im thinking of a diet consisting mainly of live food as I have a colony of dubias and I breed mealworms  I think Il considet getting some other faster breeding roaches though. I think Il add rodents, prawns etc once a week on the same day I feed my snakes . How many rodents for example would they take in one sitting?
> Regards
> JB Owens


Bosc's if you let them are realt dustbins, they will eat non stop and eat anything - rodents they will happily eat until massive in size. When we feed mice, we only give them the one and this is very occasionally, the seafood aspect of the diet we tend to give them more - 3-4 prawns, 5-6 mussles, 3-4 sprats. we mix it up a lot, lean weeks, a larger sunday treat meal here and there. keeps them guessing and active :2thumb:


----------



## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Im getting the impression that these guys are very much like my bulldog if they enjoy their food lol. I think Il stick to a very varied diet consisting of about 80% insects  if giving fish such as sprats do you have to worry about bones or are they just like rodents?  thanks again for your replies  
Regards
JB Owens


----------



## JakeySnakey (Jun 3, 2012)

jb92 said:


> Im getting the impression that these guys are very much like my bulldog if they enjoy their food lol. I think Il stick to a very varied diet consisting of about 80% insects  if giving fish such as sprats do you have to worry about bones or are they just like rodents?  thanks again for your replies
> Regards
> JB Owens


Going by some of the videos I've seen (especially when adult) bones aren't even acknowledged when boscs are eating. But double check as sometimes it's a funny subject (i.e dogs can't eat chicken bones but can eat others)


----------



## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

all bones are fine as long as they are raw, that includes chicken for dogs.... The only thing with fish bones is that they are small and hair-like, and go brittle in contact with air... so if you are feeding whole it's fine as they don't come into contact with air, but if you feed half a fish one day and the other half the next, it could cause trouble, (thouigh it's not really likely.)


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

JakeySnakey said:


> I feed mine (6 month old) a box of 5th (large hoppers approx 12 per box) or large crickets (approx 25 per box or more) every 2 days, a boiled egg once a month and fuzzy mice (2-4) once every 2 weeks. The thing I've learnt with mine is it will eat and eat and eat until there is nothing left but as with anything over feeding can lead to obesity and laziness. This is what I feed mine and he's active, digs, climbs and is a very happy chappy, not aggressive because he wants more either. I am however considering setting up a roach colony for when he is older. Alot of people have said to me to not feed the same time, periodically as in the wild they won't be being fed say, bang on 11a.m every 2 days. I was advised to feed at different times and vary the gaps between feeding. This is working fine for me so far but as with anything, it's peoples own preference and every animal/owner is different


You are seriously under feeding your bosc in relation to inverts. At this age you should be feeding him 4 times or more what you are. All feeding turns to growing at this age, you want nice high basking temps to ensure all this food is digested. As long as you are making your bosc work for its food let it eat however much it decides. Get a roach colony going ASAP would be my advise so you can keep up with its eating. My juvenie ackies at 4 months would eat more than what your feeding your bosc.

Im not trying to have a go here, but any experienced Bosc owner will back me up. Where are you buying your livefood from? you can get things like morio worms in bulk which works out cheap, 1000 crickets for around £10-£15.

I can guaruntee that as soon as you increase the food you will see your bosc grow rapidly and healthily, only when it is fully grown do you need to be concerned about overfeeding.. and even then this is only an issue of most of the food is dead prey.


----------



## JakeySnakey (Jun 3, 2012)

SuperSpeedyWheels said:


> You are seriously under feeding your bosc in relation to inverts. At this age you should be feeding him 4 times or more what you are. All feeding turns to growing at this age, you want nice high basking temps to ensure all this food is digested. As long as you are making your bosc work for its food let it eat however much it decides. Get a roach colony going ASAP would be my advise so you can keep up with its eating. My juvenie ackies at 4 months would eat more than what your feeding your bosc.
> 
> Im not trying to have a go here, but any experienced Bosc owner will back me up. Where are you buying your livefood from? you can get things like morio worms in bulk which works out cheap, 1000 crickets for around £10-£15.
> 
> I can guaruntee that as soon as you increase the food you will see your bosc grow rapidly and healthily, only when it is fully grown do you need to be concerned about overfeeding.. and even then this is only an issue of most of the food is dead prey.


That's fine I don't take it offensively anyways as he's my first bosc so any advice is appreciated : victory: I'm going to start ordering live food as you say it's alot cheaper than buying in-shop and I have the bosc, a beardy and a leo to feed. I will also start a colony of roaches and worms (worms I've been wanting to do for a while as my leo is quite fussy with insects). It's astonishing how fast the bosc is growing already tbh!!!


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

JakeySnakey said:


> That's fine I don't take it offensively anyways as he's my first bosc so any advice is appreciated : victory: I'm going to start ordering live food as you say it's alot cheaper than buying in-shop and I have the bosc, a beardy and a leo to feed. I will also start a colony of roaches and worms (worms I've been wanting to do for a while as my leo is quite fussy with insects). It's astonishing how fast the bosc is growing already tbh!!!


Thats good, variety is the spice of life with them.. a good mix of anything and everything, with roach colonies check out the clissifieds.. I got 2 established colonies for £120 or thereabouts. They are bottomless pits and will just eat and eat... but as long as it goes into growing then its all good : victory:

Just for anyone who picks up on this thread during research, the 3 essential things in keeping healthy and happy Bosc monitors are...

1. Deep and damp substrate to create burrowing spots and high humidity throughout the entire viv. If when you open the viv door your not getting blasted in the face by warm air (like opening an over) then your humidity and temps are wrong.

2. High temperatures with a good gradient. The temperature of the surface of a basking area (measured with an infra red gun) should be around 145f .. air temperature here should be about 115-120f... this gradient should go right down to about 90f in the coolest spot. Your bosc will use this basking spot after eating for a few minutes then move to a cooler area, if your bosc spends all day basking then your temps are too low.

3. Lots and lots of food, ensure that your bosc eats as much as it wants but ensure it is not becoming overweight, try and make your bosc work for its food.. make it think, and make it chase... hide worms in the soil, get fast red runners or crickets for it to chase and throw them all around the viv.

If youve got those 3 things covered then the rest is just trivial... : victory:


----------



## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

SuperSpeedyWheels said:


> You are seriously under feeding your bosc in relation to inverts. At this age you should be feeding him 4 times or more what you are. All feeding turns to growing at this age, you want nice high basking temps to ensure all this food is digested. As long as you are making your bosc work for its food let it eat however much it decides. Get a roach colony going ASAP would be my advise so you can keep up with its eating. My juvenie ackies at 4 months would eat more than what your feeding your bosc.
> 
> Im not trying to have a go here, but any experienced Bosc owner will back me up. Where are you buying your livefood from? you can get things like morio worms in bulk which works out cheap, 1000 crickets for around £10-£15.
> 
> I can guaruntee that as soon as you increase the food you will see your bosc grow rapidly and healthily, only when it is fully grown do you need to be concerned about overfeeding.. and even then this is only an issue of most of the food is dead prey.


 
Just wondering on average what you feed your ackies per day? im guessing it's similar to a bosc but not as much.


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

TommyR said:


> Just wondering on average what you feed your ackies per day? im guessing it's similar to a bosc but not as much.


One ackie per day would take about 10-20 red runners, 5 dubias, and tonnes of crickets..

I would leave crickets in the viv at about 20 at a time and they would hunt and demolish them throughout the day. My trio would take crazy amounts of food between them even when young.


----------



## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Thankyou all for your replies they are soo helpfull  what substrates would you suggest as being the best for them. I was thinking of the lucky reptile desert clay stuff? Weird that they need humidity being from savanahs lol
Thankyou again 
JB Owens


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

jb92 said:


> Thankyou all for your replies they are soo helpfull  what substrates would you suggest as being the best for them. I was thinking of the lucky reptile desert clay stuff? Weird that they need humidity being from savanahs lol
> Thankyou again
> JB Owens


Best substrate is a good 2ft+ of soil and playsand mix. 

Although a savanna is hot there is still plenty of humidity due to the heat evaporating all the moisture from the ground. This is what will keep your monitor hydrated.
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/savanna.htm


----------



## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Ahh yer didnt think of that lol so Im guessing the occasional water mist would be fine then  
Regards
JB Owens


----------



## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Also forgot to ask is any soil okay? 
JB Owens


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

jb92 said:


> Also forgot to ask is any soil okay?
> JB Owens


Any soil will do.. as long as it can hold a burrow and isnt full of pesticides or pollution then its good.

In regards to humidity the best way to do it is to absolutely drench the substrate every few days, spraying will create local humidity quickly but it doesnt last for more than a few minutes, you want humidity up in the 80% regions or more.


----------



## adamholtom85 (Nov 27, 2007)

Go to homebase you can get 3 bags of top soil for a tenner. But top soil is the safest.

And then go to Argos and get children's play sand.

The best ration is 1 bag of soil for 1 bag of sand


----------



## JakeySnakey (Jun 3, 2012)

What I first did was bought the soil 'bricks' from my local reptile shop as they were reasonably priced and 2 bricks was ample enough to do a 3ft x 2ft tank about a foot deep. With the bricks you have to soak them in water for them to break up into usable substrate. That provided enough water to keep a good constant humidity in the tank.


----------



## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

Can buy eco soil from surrey reptiles online you get 3 packs of it for about 4 pound and can get playsand from argos and tesco for 2/3 pound also so very cheap really.


Thanks speedy


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

TommyR said:


> Can buy eco soil from surrey reptiles online you get 3 packs of it for about 4 pound and can get playsand from argos and tesco for 2/3 pound also so very cheap really.
> 
> 
> Thanks speedy


Eco earth is expensive and not too good at holding a burrow, it doesnt stretch far enough either. What all the monitor keepers on here do is use the stuff you buy at bandq  But each person will have their own methods so if you want to use eco earth then go ahead : victory:


----------



## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

Okay well I think I will try the b and q stuff and see how it goes, all about trial and error till you get the right conditions. Thank's 


Edit: what's the stuff from bandq called? Also wondering how often you clean out your substrate? thanks


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

TommyR said:


> Okay well I think I will try the b and q stuff and see how it goes, all about trial and error till you get the right conditions. Thank's
> 
> 
> Edit: what's the stuff from bandq called? Also wondering how often you clean out your substrate? thanks


Top soil.... 

Most of us clean substate umm.... never :2thumb:..

Occaisonally we will take a couple of bucketfulls out and put fresh in, but the best thing to do is to get a load of leaf litter, the natural harmless bacteria in it will break down any waste such as poo and dead insects.

Or buy springtails and let them loose in the viv to clean the substrate out for you.


----------



## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

Where can you purchase these? Getting moaned at that it smell's after two week's :/ hmmm. Thank you for all the help though


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

TommyR said:


> Where can you purchase these? Getting moaned at that it smell's after two week's :/ hmmm. Thank you for all the help though


www.rickslivefood.com or co.uk not sure which. 

Just take an inch off the top layer, mix it around a bit and add fresh every 2 weeks to keep the smell down.


----------



## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

SuperSpeedyWheels said:


> www.rickslivefood.com or co.uk not sure which.
> 
> Just take an inch off the top layer, mix it around a bit and add fresh every 2 weeks to keep the smell down.


Nice one


----------



## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Thanks for being so helpful guys  guna get the viv set up
In the next few days and test temps humidity etc  
Regards
JB Owens


----------



## SuperSpeedyWheels (Jun 23, 2011)

jb92 said:


> Thanks for being so helpful guys  guna get the viv set up
> In the next few days and test temps humidity etc
> Regards
> JB Owens


Theres an unwritten rule on here... whenever you get a new reptile or make a new setup you must put pictures up... look forward to seeing them :2thumb:


----------



## jb92 (Apr 24, 2010)

Haha I dont mind following rules like that  hoping to do a thread soon of pictures of all my guys  
Regards
JB Owens


----------

