Hi, we just bought a Mali Uromastyx three days ago and he has yet to eat. We have attempted to feed him kale, collard greens, romaine, apple, canary seed, even crickets. He's not having any of it. We bought him at a pet store (he was captive bred) and they said that he was a total pig and he loves being hand fed. We tried hand feeding and just leaving it in his bowl... no luck. Could he just be stressed out from the move? He was at the pet store his whole life (they say he is 1 1/2 years). Also, the tip of his tail looks a bit discolored (kind of dull and greyish but looks healthy otherwise). They said he just finished shedding. Could that be it? We are brand new uro owners and we need some help. Thanks.
Hello! Welcome to the forum, and welcome to the wonderful world of uros! First things first - could you describe your set up? and, if possible, post a picture? Some important information to provide is...1. What size tank is it? 2. What is the temperature in the basking spot? 3. What are you using to measure these temps? - is it a stick on thermometer or a digital thermometer? 4. What are you using to heat the tank - heat emitter, white light bulb, red light bulb, etc? 5. Do you have a uvb bulb, if so, what brand and strength? 6. What types of hides are you using? Its likely that the lack of appetite is just stress...it can take a week or even more for a uro to relax enough to start eating. I would suggest just leaving him alone...no handling, or even constant staring for several days, offer veggies daily - and leave a bowl of seed/bean/pellet combination in at all times, and most likely he will start eating soon providing you have the correct tank set up. The tail is likely about to shed, they shed in "stages" and often the tail is last to go
Thanks for the quick response! Okay, so to answer your questions: 1. Tank Size: 3ft wide, 1.5ft deep, and about 1.5ft high. 50 gallon tank with a sliding screen top 2. Temp of basking spot: our temp gauge reads just over 100 but we can't be positive because of the placement. We placed our thermometer before we knew where it needed to go. Can you tell us the best place to put our digital thermometers? and the hygrometer: do we need a digital one or will the stick-on one we have be okay, and where should we place it? 3. Type of thermometer: We bought one of those stick on ones that we later found out were usually unreliable and will be getting digital 2 thermometers later today. 4. To heat the tank: we are using a 100watt white light bulb during the day and the pet store recommended using the 50watt red light at night, so that's what we are doing. 5. UVB bulb: yes, we are using a UV bulb but I am unsure of the brand or strength since I bought it a couple years ago for my water dragon. I know we need a new one but am unsure of the specifics we need to follow. We will be buying a new one today if you could let us know what to look for, that would be great. 6. Hides: right now we are using a store bought rock hide which he never goes in (i think it might be too small). He uses the top as his basking spot. He currently has no hiding spot in the cooler area. Should he? Throughout his enclosure we put various driftwood which he loves climbing on and hiding behind. On the cool side of the tank is his food dish. He has calcium sand substrate. I wish I could include pictures but I am unable to upload the pics from the camera. Thanks so much for your time.
Hi, Welcome to the forum. The tank will be OK for awhile but adults really need a 4ft x 2ft floor area. Its good you are getting digital thermometers they are far more accurate. Specially if they have the "probe" on a wire, you can then check temps anywhere in tank. If they dont have a probe then place on floor and then you can move them around to check, without sticking them to sides etc. Make sure the lamp you use is a spot lamp rather than just a flood, that way you can get basking temp correct. Basking spot should be at least 120 to 130F, warm end around 100 and the cool end in low 90's. UV lamp should be a 10%, personally I use 2x arcadia 12% but mine is an egyptian. I dont know what brands you have in the USA but I understand that ESU are not very good so go with reptisun or similar. A lot of people use the Mega-ray combined uv and heat, these are ballast lamp and cannot be controlled by thermostats and are difficult to get correct temps with. You need hides at both ends and inbetween as well so they have a choice. Usually the smaller the hide the better they love to feel something touching their backs etc and feel nice and tight in hide. They do take a lot of time to settle in anything up to a month, so best leave them alone and just put fresh food in daily, dont try to handle it. I would also get rid of the Kale as this contains oxylates that prevent calcium being absorbed, jus go with endives escarole and romaine with a small amount of of collards, leave out the apples as they contain too much sugar, but Ok for a treat now and then. Dont feed crickets their system cant cope with the hard shell etc. Let us know how you get on setting it up.
Bruno is correct....you want the basking spot to be higher, i keep mine around 120. You definately need a UVB, for a uro - go with a repti-sun 10.0 or a mercury vapor bulb...i prefer the bulbs from www.reptileuv.com Hides are very important to uros...they need to feel secure...when i first got my uro he was just "not right" until i got the right hides. You want at least a hid on the warm side and on the cold side. The hides should be low and narrow - they like to be secure, the hides should be just slightly taller than their back and wide enough for them to turn around...they really like to wedge themselves in there. Its hard to find commerical hides that suit them - i made some out of paving stones and slate epoxyed together...when i get home toniht i can post a pic of my uro hides to show you. Higher temps, UVB, and better hides will encorage your guy to eat!
Thanks so much for all your help everyone. We now have everything he needs though we are still working on getting more hides. He finally went in his hide and HE STARTED EATING but the thing is he only eats lentils. He won't eat anything else. I'm happy to see him eating but I know he needs his greens. We tried putting greens on the lentils but he just pushes them away and we tried putting the lentils on the greens in his feeding dish but he doesn't eat anything out of there at all. Any suggestions?
Just keep trying! At least he is eating Keep offering a variety of greens...continue trying to mix them with the lentils. Also, you could add a dish containing a mixture of millet seed, rep-cal iguana pellets (for baby iguanas - the smaller pellet), and some coarsely ground 10-bean soup mix...and mix lentils in as well
Keep trying. Hide your lentils underneath the best greens you have. I place water soaked lentils on top of my spring mix, but underneath my Escarole, Endive, and on top Bok Choy. Nines doesn't eat millet, even though he runs around on a thin layer of it. Good luck.
