hello everyone, i'm new to the site and wanted to know if it is normal that my uro will shake his head when he eats or drinks anything. he is very active. i have finch bird seed for him to eat, and i always chop everything small before i feed him. it looks like he is almost choking, but hes not. i don't know if i should be worried or if this is his own little qirk.
First of all, he should not have a water bowl in his enclosure. Uromastyx are very sensitive to humidity, and even a water bowl's evaporation can cause the humidity level to be too high. They get enough water through eating greens, and sometimes I will spray the greens with water just to add a little more, but that is it. Uros cant live off of bird seed solely. They need their greens. Collards, kale, turnip greens, stuff like that. I do not know if this is just a quirk or not, but maybe your pieces of greens are too big? try making them smaller if you feed them greens at all. If you do not, start feeding greens soon.
i try to feed him greens, but i find that the greens will go bad so fast thats its hard to keep on hand for him. i was also told i can feed him different kinds of beans as long as they are not canned and cut up very small. we also have a bearded dragon and there are pellets you add water to and feed him, but i can't find anything like that for him. so i have been putting water in there to make sure he can drink water if he needs it. its a small amount of water in a very big cage, i have been watching to make sure he doesn't also walk in it. should i still take out the water?
It would be best to take the water out and maybe offer it to him one day a week if he is used to having it and drinking from it, there are some commercial foods that are moist that you could offer him to eat on top of the seed. But nothing is better than fresh veggies, if you buy like a squash, some carrots, broccoli , and maybe a zucchini squash, and get a food processor, cut each in half and put them in and chop it up, once its done put it in a tupperware container, and it keeps for 4 days, while keeping the other unchopped veggies in the fridge they will keep better since they aren't chopped, and when you run out of its time to throw it out, chop the other and you have more, a little trick i learn where i work.It chops it small enough for even baby beardies if you want, and mixes it well enough they can't pick out what they like better.
okay, i'm not sure of everything i can feed him. but thats a good idea. thank you. i think i have a mali and i was told they live for 50 years! so i want to make sure he lives a very long and good life. also what about him shaking his head, his mouth will open wide but then hes okay. i don't know if its his thing he does, but he acts normal. i just don't know.
Not feeding your uro greens on a daily basis is not an option, it is their staple diet. Not feeding him greens every day b/c you find it difficult to keep fresh greens on hand is not OK. Greens do go bad a lot quicker than commercial diets, but this is one of the reasons that uros are a more difficult reptile to keep. All uros need a fresh salad daily. I purchase my greens once a week and I wash and wrap them in moist paper towels in order to keep them fresh longer. This is the best system I have found so far. Millet and lentils can be offered as a treat once a week or so, but they are not a staple diet. If you cannot get fresh greens, you should not have a uro. I just want to add the the pellet diets are not a a good staple for bearded dragons either. Dragons also need fresh salads every day. The pellets are good as a salad topper or as a treat, but salad and insects are the main diet for a dragon.
