RE: Re: RE: Substrate So what should i tell them to use? multivitamins every other day, and calc w/D3 on those in between days or what? And should do they need just pure calcium?
RE: Re: RE: Substrate no you want the muti-vit and the calcium with d3. Then just alternate each time you give them fresh greens, just sprinkle a little bit on each time.
Re: RE: Re: RE: Substrate Dragonguy, this echoes what my Emails to Douglas Dix at Deerfern Farms says. He recommends Miner-All I (indoor) and Uro Dust also. Basically alternate every other feeding. He's also mentioned to me ways to bulk up Uro's. He Uses Tortise pellets, that are ground up in a coffee grinder, and then sprinkled along with the supplements. This is supposed to give extra calories and protein. Nines is addicted to lentils, so I am not doing this. I figure he gets enough Protein from his lentils, and there is also some protein in the Uro Dust. Like I said, Nines has almost doubled in weight over the last 7 months. He's now about 13 months old. The main thing is a proper diet. The Petco had him on Iceburg lettuce. He now thrives on Bok Choy, Endive, and dandelion greens, as well as his lentils and other treats. Also, even though he has a millet box, he does not eat his millet, at least not when I'm watching, which is pretty often.
RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Substrate I personally use the straight calcium instead of the calciumD3 mix just to be safe, and use the uro-dust on the next day, then once a week I don't use either and just give a little rep-cal herptivite. So I technically use 3 products a week, but I use them lightly, as not to over dose. I try very hard not to give them to much D3 or vit A, so I use carrots with every feeding to give them beta carotin and also calcium to convert (more natural that way.) On days I don't have fresh produce (thanks grocers!) I give them HBH Iguana pellets (All natural, and pre-moistened), I could be wrong but I thought tortoise pellets actually have alot of meat protein and not plant protein in them? I might be wrong though, but I think either kind of pellets would work. I will have to try his method of bulking up, I have a female that I need to gain some weight before I breed her. I want her 50-100g above what she needs to be to breed. which with female malis is supposedly only 250g, but thats not that much if you ask me, I don't know how there bodies can take that. Ugzy (my avatar) is addicted to peas, I use them more as a treat for him, but when they are in his food bowl he digs them out and makes a huge mess of everything else, non of my other uros do that. He is just a mali, but very stout and almost 500 grams. If he is eating his millet you will be able to tell by his feces, but I wouldn't worry about it. So how long is little nines now, I remember your post from when you first got him, thats a very awsome thing that you did. What really great is that petco and petsmart don't sell Egyptians anymore!
Thanks Dragonguy When I got Nines last February, I was completely ignorant. Thanks to this site and Douglas Dix, I'd like to think I've learned something. You're right, our neighborhood Petco and PetSmart don't even have Uro's. Was mine the last one sold? I was told by the guy that sold him to my wife and I that he was about 7 months. He was also a hair over 11 inches long. He's an Egyptian, as you know, but to tell you the truth, I have no idea when his birthdate is. My 8 year old son decided that 7-7-07 was a cool date, so we have given him an unofficial birthday of 7-7-06. He's 13 inches now. He's also fattening up. All the pictures that I can find of Uro's make me believe that they may be right about his birthday, even though they were wrong about basking temps, food, thermometers, calc sand, walnut substrate, and a whole host of other Uro offenses. I think he's still a juvie. There is a shop, where I now take my business called Critter Cabana. It's a fantastic Mom and Pop type store. The type where birds fly free, where you have to watch out where you step because there is tortoise at your feet in the aisle, and the staff always have something exotic clinging to them. They have a 3 year old Mali, that I think was a rescue. It has some markings on it's back from being 'soaked in water' to long. It's about the same length as Nines, but it looks much older. He's also fatter. That again is why I believe Nines to just be over a year old. I can only guess at how long Nines will get? About the tortoise pellets having meat protein in them, I don't know. I think the brand he had was Mazuri, or something like that. I'm partial to the Herbivore route. Hey, in an earlier thread we were talking about enclosures. I'm going to have to upgrade Nines pretty soon. You were talking about something called a T-30 or sommething. I never found anything on it, and then forgot about it until now. Can you recommend a site to me? Thanks in advance. And thanks for sharing your knowledge base with me. Nines is certainly living a better life now.
Yes that was at www.apcages.com animal plastics makes great cages, they don't have anything in between the 4ft and the 6ft, so look at the 6 for nines. Also stay away from the fold down acrylic doors. The sliding glass is way better and won't scratch. But yeah I think that the T-30 would make an awesome egyptian enclosure. 24" is most likely going to be to small in the depth, so that limits the choices, but you might be able to get away with something like the T-20. These cages cost a lot, but sometimes when you call you can get a scratch and dent, stuff like that. They are very sturdy yet simple cages.
My manager refuses to order any except the malis. I don't quite know her reasoning except that they're really expensive. And get big.
Malis are awsome, be sure to get a male they are much prettier. They shouldn't be to expensive though. Whats your price on one.
I have no idea if this one is a male or female. He's about the same size as my leopard gecko, roughly 7 inches. ..or slightly smaller. The one at our store is priced at $99.99. I'm hoping I can find him a good home. I'm not looking to get one by the way. I ran out of room. I filled the last spot today with a juvie gecko. I'm just looking for info on them so I can be sure to tell the people who end up getting him can give him a healthy life and home.
$99 isn't bad, importers sell them for $30-40 to distributors, distributors turnaround and sell them for $50-70 to stores, and stores then need to make a profit.
