I have recently purchased two mali uromastyx. I only planned on buying the male but when I brought him home he seemed very sad and wouldn't come out of his hiding place, so I went back to the pet store and bought the female that had arrived with him. Both mali's are wild captured which I did not know until after I purchased them and I realize that was not the best idea. I have had them for less then a week and neither of them will eat for me, I've tried all kinds of different foods and even tried feeding them baby food trough a shringe but they won't open their mouth. They have also not descreted any waste. They live in the same 100gallon mesh enclosure with 2 hiding spots on each end and sand on the bottom. The heat sources I use is one 150watt sunglo lamp and one 100watt ceramic light which produces atleast 120degrees each day. I also provide them with UVB lighting.I provide no water because I've read its better not to provide water because they get it from their food they eat but they aren't eating anything for me. Neither of them like to be handled, they are very squirmy and try to run from you everytime I walk in the room. The male is more shy then the female, and the male is larger in size then the female. I am very new at this and unsure of what I should or should not do. Maybe they are just getting used to their surroundings I'm not sure but I am very worried. Any information will be greatly appreciated!
<sigh> First off, they should be seperated. Secondly, lose the night heat, they need a 12 hour day cycle of heat and light. Basking spot max 120, cool side, 80ish. How big are they (specify if overall or nose to vent)? Have you tried feeding superworms? That's what most pet stores feed, although its not good, so you might try a few. I hope you'll get more replies but if not, send me private message and I'll put you in touch with uro experts.
Your Uro's are stressed by there new home. That is one reason they are not eating. They need to be left alone! Except to put food in the cage or to remove fecals. Do not try to tube feed them unless they are very skinny and dehydrated!!!! Also if you tube them wrong you will inject the liquid into the lungs. You can put a shallow dish of water in the enclosure. They will drink from it if they need to. Mine drink water from a dish nearly everyday. Stop handling them you are adding to there stress. Just let them be so they can de-stress and acclimate to there new home. Next you need to go the the following web site and read the care page for Uromastyx's. This is one of the best care sheets on the net and will tell you all you need to know. http://jason.creager.com/uros.html Your two need to be seperated it is not good to keep them together except for mating. Joining a Uro group is also a good idea. Yahoo has a UroZone2 group that is a great place for any and all Uro issues. I would put a divider in the enclosure until you can seperate them. They will be fine just don't panic. Uro's can go for weeks with out eating. They store food and water in there tail for survival. Just read the care pages and get your temps up and let the de-stress.
The Uromastyxlist is another good group. The Urozone2 board is just busier. But that is not to say that either board is lesser than the other. I belong to both and they are great groups. Just join a group or two and read all you can. The new the information the better from what I have found. I have several books from the late 90's and alot of the information has changed so much since then.
True, zone is busier but that's at least partially because the urolist is in the process of being switched from a majordomo style list to a yahoo group. Less than half the members are on the new one so far. It'll pick up.
I'm glad to see the list change over to a yahoo group the majordomo had to many issues. The group is growing daily and I expect it to be better than it was. Especially now that all the post will go thru.
I agree, majordomo is a pain in most cases. Personally don't care for yahoo either, like google groups better but the icomm.ca server was hosed so any change is for the best!
