Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a cheeky pic of Louis my baby bosc, I got him at 5 inches long and he was so thin the skin was hanging off him and all his claws did not exist, he was dehydrated, hungry and in desperate need of vetinary attention! he was a mess!

Why do Exporters/Importers let there animals go for sale in this quality? Surely there must be THOUSANDS of these animals die every year when they arrive in this sort of condition and end up in inexperienced retailers/keepers hands!

Anyway 2 months later he is 14-15 inches long, his claws are almost completely regrown. He is now perfect healthwise except his tounge doesn`t work properly but that does not stop him feeding!

I have a pricelist from one of several places that offers them from a wholesale dealer at $1 each if you buy 10 or more. This price makes a profit even after paying the importer whose made a profit also at a much lower price. I have a few pricelists that have them at $1.50-$2.00 each wholesale. At prices like that there not worth much effort.

You see thats wat messes up the whole market with the gaddamn wholesalers. Listen people if u dont have the money to buy a certain monitor then dont get that one or just save up for it so that in the future the market on that animal doesnt get [bleep]ed up because some people want to get the animal as cheap as possible. I mean 1$ monitors come on no wonder Savs are a waste of time to breed

Lots of people should because pressure comes off the wild caught.

i just wanted to say that this sav was not cheap, overall it cost me around £50 here, so in dollars that`s $78 i would never give wholesalers $1 for any wild animal its not worth killing wild stocks for $1.

No offence ment, just making a point.

I just am wondering one thing. Why did you buy a monitor in such poor condition for that amount of money? Were you merely paying to rescue him, in that case that is great. Also if his claws are barely starting to grow back, I would recommend taking him off that astroturf you have there. Just a suggestion, and good luck pal with all future monitor expiriences, they are great animals when given the oppurtunity to be a monitor.

Yes he was bought purely and somewhat foolishly out of sheer sympathy. I have spent a fortune on literature and vet bills to get him right again. I was going to sell him on again but i have grown very attatched to him.

As far as his claws go they are fully grown again except for one on his back leg but that is showing promising signs!

What would you recommend to use on the bottom of the cage? He is in my main room so newspaper is not an option, he just completely covered himself like a doughnut when i used Calci-sand, and on bark he trampled most of that through his water dish!

I would welcome any suggestions

Youll never go back to anything else. It holds humidity, burrows, and is good for them to walk on. It also helps heal torn out claws (not sure why but they heal faster in dirt).

Forgive my ignorance but what do you mean by "Dirt"?

Do you mean like soil from a garden centre?
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1.0 Chameleo Calyptratus
1.0 Varanus Exanthematicus
1.1 Liasis Fuscus
0.2 Python Regius
2.1 Morelia Spilota Cheynei
1.2 Antaresia Maculosa

I found a red dirt along a creek bank strained it and some dirt from in a forest nearby as well as some backyard top soil with some sand added (50lbs to hundreds of lbs of dirt) and they tunnel dig etc.

is it possible that you could post a picture of exactly what you are using so that i can get a better idea?

Thanks
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1.0 Chameleo Calyptratus
1.0 Varanus Exanthematicus
1.1 Liasis Fuscus
0.2 Python Regius
2.1 Morelia Spilota Cheynei
1.2 Antaresia Maculosa

This is a mix of dirt from the woods nearby and a reddish dirt from a nearby creek bank with a very small amount of sand in it.