I'm new to the forum and to owning uros. I've been doing a lot of research on husbandry and care. I found these two uros for sale in my town (no easy task). The person who owned them had them for at least a year and did not know what species they are (or anything else about them). They were kept on calci-sand, no basking light, etc. It looks like the larger one had it's leg broken at some point because it does not bend right. You can see how it sticks straight up in the pictures. The uro uses it and gets around fine and it doesn't seem to cause it any pain. They were happy to get warm and eat a field greens salad. I have them on paper towels right now and will most likely be buying the millet for substrate tomorrow. I did not take many pictures because I don't want to stress them too much. I am wondering if any of you can give me a guess on their species and sex. The larger one's coloring is yellow and the smaller has more grey and white.
Hello Courtney, and welcome to the forums. I'm not really a uromastyx expert, and their colours look a little dulled, probably from stress, but I'd say they are probably Mali Uromastyx. The first and second pictures look like a probable female, and the third and fourth look like a male. You could probably get a more accurate sexing on your own by looking for hemipenal bulges by lifting their tails up. (See here for examples.) Unfortunately if you do have one male and one female (or both males for that matter), it would be best to separate them to prevent the male from breeding with the female at too early of an age (or to prevent two males from fighting). It sounds like you already know what you are doing, but if you have any questions please feel free to ask. I'd say the most important thing right now is getting them up to proper temperatures and making sure they have a UVB bulb. It's worrisome that they went so long without one and is probably the cause of the messed up leg on the one individual. Once again, welcome to the site and let us know if we can help with anything. =)
Thank you for your welcome and reply. It's confusing because the larger one with the more defined coloration has the duller looking pores. The smaller one has the darker, more defined pores.
Welcome to the forums And congrats on your new mali uros! I'd second with what Cammy said about the 2 pics on the left being a female and the 2 pics on the right being the male.... As for the size difference it could just be that one is younger than the other or that they were having competition over the food and obviously she had been winning. I would definitely suggest separating them just in case until you have both of their health under control... Good luck and keep us posted on their progress! Also if you need any help!
I changed their lighting and bought slate and bricks to make them more suitable basking and hide spots. They have blossomed in the last 48 hours. Their colors are much brighter, and they are active and eating. The larger one doesn't mind contact and will eat out of my hand and let me pet him. The smaller one, which I believe is female, is a complete spaz. I'm hoping she will come around with time. I don't expect them to be handled and picked up often, but it would be nice if she didn't run around like crazy when I walk by.
Aw yeah, it takes quite a while for them to become accustomed to us and stop running away like we're there to kill them.... It might help to cover at least 1 (3 would be better) sides of the tank with a background or paper. Just to make them feel safe for the next couple weeks while they acclimate to their new home Oh! And it's best not to try to pick them up or stress them out for the 2 weeks or so after moving them in to a new home. Good luck and keep us updated on their progress!
I did put a background on the back side of the tank and that helped. I changed my mind about the substrate, because I don't want them eating too much of it. I read that a block of coco bedding + twice as much peat moss+ half as much sand is good for them. What do you guys think?
Hm, that's an interesting choice.... personally I only use coco bedding and peat moss for enclosures with a lot of humidity (ie for my crested geckos and chahouas....) I wouldn't recommend using it for your Uro... might hold too much humidity for them. That sounds like a good substrate for his "den" if you want to put one in his tank.... New research is coming out with info that most uros, although they live in the rocky parts of the desert they like to borrow into the rocks/clay to make dens that they sleep in at night, these dens are much cooler and more humid than the hot dry desert air. That being said, they do not live in their dens all the time, during the day they are used to running over rocks and hard packed clay and some sand to find food and a nice basking spot so they can digest correctly. Some ways I have seen people make the dens are with a Tupperware full of the peat moss/coco bedding/sand mixture with a hole attached to a dark tube (like the tubing you use for your dryer). If you scroll down to the "nest box" section of this link you'll get a better idea of what I'm trying to explain... just fyi - that link is also the best care sheet on the internet for Uros. I have tile as my bedding for my uro, it's pretty, it's cost effective, its SUPER EASY to clean, you know he'll never eat it and get impacted, and you never have to spend money on the bedding in the tank again! Lol. The tile in my avatars tank is actually a pretty natural slate tile I got from home depot for like $2....
