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#1715829
Shaunauro
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Uro 
ok so.....ive had my mali uro for about three weeks. He doesn’t seem to eat a lot. The temp of the basking area is about 115 when i lay the therm. on the rock. Its on a wire and the therm. part is like a little probe. He sleeps a lot and I dont know if its normal or not. His skin seems pretty wrinkley as well. His enclosure is 36 in by prob 12 in wide and about 2.5 feet high. We are looking for a bigger enclosure with more floor space. Im not sure how old he is. His body without the tail is prob 6-7 inches long We feed him bok choy, dandy leaves, escrole and carrot tops im trying to give him a variety and find out what he likes the most.. besides the fact that he sleeps so much, i was wondering how to keep his food fresh? We leave for work at 7am turn on his lights and put his food in but because he sleeps so long, I think it is drying out before he emerges.
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04/25/08 10:19am
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#1715863
Packer
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Message To: Shaunauro In reference to Message Id: 1715829
Uro
When my class schedule changed, so that I was having to get up earlier, I actually wound up having to change my timer so that the lights cut on at an earlier time in the morning to avoid the greens drying out. Now, I wake up and my girl is sitting in her food bowl waiting to be fed. I believe that your uro should be coming out after about an hour of his/her lights being turned on. Make sure that the night time temperatures are not dropping too low (below 75 degrees). If the temp is dropping at night, you will need to get a ceramic heat emitter as a supplement. Please note that a red or blue night light is not a good heat supplement, as uros can see this light, and it can actually keep them awake. And if you do have to change light schedule, try to do it gradually, although it shouldn’t really need to be by more than an hour or so.
There are a number of other things that can cause lethargy and a lack of appetite in uros, and this is only one suggestion. I would recommend getting in a fresh fecal sample to your vet asap to check for parasites, and upgrading the enclosure size (which I noticed you are planning on) asap as well, to at least a 48x24x24. Make sure you have a good UVB light in the tank also (if you get a fluorescent, it will need to be suspended about 12 inches from the basking surface). Also, make sure that you have the proper temperature gradient during the day. You should be getting a basking surface temp of 120-140, an ambient warm side temp of about 100, and a cool side temp of about 85. An IR temp gun is the most accurate way to measure surface temperatures. And again, be sure to check that your night time temperatures are not dropping too low.
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04/25/08 11:03am
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#1715874
Shaunauro
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Message To: Packer In reference to Message Id: 1715863
Uro
Thankyou so much for not berating me telling me I should already know these things.. your responce is helpful! I am worried because on the weekends, we will turn the lights on at 7am just like during the week and he doesn’t come outt ill about 2 or more!!!! I will take a sample to the vet and that is a really good idea about turning the lights on earlier so we can feed him(if he will come out). The nightime temp def. does not drop below 75 degrees. We have mercury vapour light to provide his UV and heat and an additional one just for heat to get his basking area to the correct temp. How much should they be eating anyway?
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04/25/08 11:16am
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#1715964
Packer
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Message To: Shaunauro In reference to Message Id: 1715874
Uro
I would say if it is taking your uro that long to come out of the hide, then s/he is probably very stressed out, and there is the possibility that your temps are too low/out of whack in some way. S/he is probably also dehydrated at this point, so I would plan on have a full vet visit, as you might need to get some medicine to replace fluids. My girl eats everything nearly everything I give her everyday, which is a full food bowl of escarole and endive (chicory), with blueberries, mango, bell peppers, soaked lentils (about 5-6), soaked split peas (only a couple of these), dandelion greens, bok choy, and occasionally a small amount of mustard greens rotated through each week (sometimes it takes 2). I also feed her quite a bit by hand, so I would say approximately 1 1/2 to 2 full food bowls everyday. Some uros will eat more than that, and I am sure that mine would, I just don’t get home early enough to feed her a second meal.
Personally, my uro seems to need night time temps to stay around 80 for her to really be in any way active the next day. I have tried 75, and she just doesn’t come out, like you said, for several hours, so you might think about boosting the night time temp, just by a degree or two, and see what that gets you as well. However, I would not recommend going above 80-82 degrees at night, as that is probably not actually the issue if you have to raise the temps that high. And again, I would highly suggest that you schedule a vet appointment, sometime early next week if possible, with a reputable reptile vet that has at least heard of uromastyx. I think you can find a list of vets and where they are located, if you don’t have one already, by searching on this site.
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04/25/08 12:58pm
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