Meet the new family memberw

[Alisa-D]

I thought I would introduce Yogi and Koko to everyone, our new boscs.
They are living in a 4x2x2 at the moment but will be getting a bigger viv very soon. You can't see in the pic very well but they have 3 inches of soil at the front and in the middle of the viv at the back it is 10 inches.
I have put a lot of work into the viv thos week redoing what the shop owner said. We got them from a pet shop that had a few reps in the corner and he said to keep them with no humidity, wood chippings and a 4x2 and once they get to a year old a 6x2 which he would get in for us when needed.
We got 2 because he said most die at this age so he always recommends two so atleast one should survive.

I've now been to the garden centre and picked up topsoil, moss and a few fake plants and been to the local woods and picked some decent size branches they love climbing on.

Pic of them is a rare one of them under the basking light yogi is the bigger one at the back.

They diffinately are happier now.

[Alisa-D]

Koko looking out his hollow log. Yogi was to fast to get a photo

[EL Ziggy]

Congrats on the beautiful new additions Alisa.

[sharthun]

Congrats!!!!

[murrindindi]

Hi, can you give some details of the ambient and surface temps plus the humidity level and how you measure them, also info on the wattage and type of heat/lighting?
How long before you can build a "proper" enclosure, one relatively large that will afford them room to retreat well away from each other, as there`s no doubt there will be domination issues almost from the start, which will be extremely stressful for both animals? No disrespect, these are very important considerations.

[Alisa-D]

Thanks for the replies.

At the moment they have a ceramic for keeping air temps and a basking bulb for the basking area.

I don't have any way of measuring humidity at the moment but do spray 2 times a day and the moss is always damp.

Pics of the basking area and the cool end temps

[murrindindi]

Hi again, thanks for more details. You haven`t said what the surface temp is at the basking site or how you measure it or what the wattage and brand of the basking bulb is?
You absolutely MUST get a digital hygrometer with a probe, here`s an example:
Digital Thermometer & Hygrometer Combined Gauge with remote probes Max/Min | eBay
The humidity needs to range between approx 50 to 70%+, the lower figure will be around the basking area, it may be higher than 70% in the hides/burrows, that ensures the animals will remain hydrated. Spraying them/the enclosure a couple of times a day is not enough considering the setup you have right now.
It`s most important you understand that their health suffers from day one, not at some point in the future.
I cannot see a basking area, what are you using as the surface object?
Edit: I do think that there are some good points, at least you`ve offered plenty of cover which is extremely important, and though you have some substrate it looks to be fairly loose, is that the case, if yes, it needs tamping down very firmly, as if you`d literally walked on it ( I know that isn`t possible unless you`re very, very small)!?

[jpsteele80]

Congrats on your new additions, have to agree though that I would start that cage now, there suffering for that entire year that they are waiting for it. Monitors are diggers by nature and you should have a minimum of 2 feet of dirt for them to dig in.

[infernalis]

Forget everything that shop owner said.....

Savannah Monitor Housing

Infernalis1 - YouTube

Captive Monitor Health!

[infernalis]

[infernalis]

when they get bigger....

[Pirarucu]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Hi again, thanks for more details. You haven`t said what the surface temp is at the basking site or how you measure it or what the wattage and brand of the basking bulb is?
You absolutely MUST get a digital hygrometer with a probe, here`s an example:
Digital Thermometer & Hygrometer Combined Gauge with remote probes Max/Min | eBay
The humidity needs to range between approx 50 to 70%+, the lower figure will be around the basking area, it may be higher than 70% in the hides/burrows, that ensures the animals will remain hydrated. Spraying them/the enclosure a couple of times a day is not enough considering the setup you have right now.
It`s most important you understand that their health suffers from day one, not at some point in the future.
I cannot see a basking area, what are you using as the surface object?
Edit: I do think that there are some good points, at least you`ve offered plenty of cover which is extremely important, and though you have some substrate it looks to be fairly loose, is that the case, if yes, it needs tamping down very firmly, as if you`d literally walked on it ( I know that isn`t possible unless you`re very, very small)!?

In the pictures she posted, the basking area is being measured with a temperature gun, and is at 151F.

Alisa is not going by what the shop owner said, she was until she found sav.net and has modified their cage as much as she could accordingly. For that I say kudos, in most cases people know that changes need to be made but because _________ they won't be able to make changes right away. Good job making the changes right away.

[Alisa-D]

I am going to hopefully start the big cage soon.

They seem really happy at the moment, been watching them chasing crickets and running round the viv. They are still very shy, koko the smaller one is a little more confident and allows photos but Yogi runs a soon as he sees you.
I've not even handled them yet, as I doing the hands off approach.

Here is Koko looking for mealworms in the moss

[Alisa-D]

I had to go to the pet store I got them from today as my livefood order never came through the post yesterday. He still had some left from the same group I got mine from (I asked) mine are a lot bigger now than the ones left., they haven't really grown at all. Mine must be growing an inch a week

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by Alisa-D

I had to go to the pet store I got them from today as my livefood order never came through the post yesterday. He still had some left from the same group I got mine from (I asked) mine are a lot bigger now than the ones left., they haven't really grown at all. Mine must be growing an inch a week

Hi, most petshops don`t keep their Varanids in particular at what these days are considered supportive conditions (sufficient basking surface temps, a decent humidity range, etc), therefore their animals may not grow at the average rate many well cared for captives do (not to suggest there actually are that many well cared for)!
This species, like many others will average around 5 to 7cm+ per month (2 to 3 inches+) for the first year or so.