He also told me to buy a cricket once or twice a week feed the cricket for 24hours and let Dino have one once or twice a week.. He said they have to have it least once every two weeks..

And he pulled out a vet book and even showed me..

I actually have 3 different care sheets on uromastyx and all them say to feed a uro a cricket once every two weeks..

Im not too worried.. Like I sad he gained two pounds

He did eat some Bok Choy today but thats it

I do agree with everyones opinions but it seems like there are no facts anymore when dealing with this type of animal..

My father resided in Mali, Africa for several months, along with Algeria, Nigeria, Niger, and Mauritania (he was a traveler growing up) and witnessed uros in the wild eating what they can.

I’ve only recently taken an interest in malis and studied my own juvenile for the past several months. I did a small experiment to see if she would eat the cricket, and she hunted them down and caught them successfully. Now this is an opinion of course, but if they have the instinct to hunt, as juveniles at least, does that not mean that they are capable of eating prey and will do so if given the opportunity?

but if they have the instinct to hunt, as juveniles at least, does that not mean that they are capable of eating prey and will do so if given the opportunity?

But after studying my own mali and reviewing other resources, I’ve come to my own conclusion that as long as it is very varied, sparse and far between, there is little to no damage.

” As adults, Uromastyx species appear to be exclusively herbivorous, feeding on a wide range of desertvegetation. Young animals in captivity, at least, readily take insects and other invertebrates (Gray,undated; Pough et al., 2001; Schleich et al., 1996).

I know of multiple people that have studied these animals in the field for years- not months but years. Their observation (not casual but intentional) suggested that the species they studied did not intentionally consume insects as adults or as juveniles.

I agree that animals will do what is necessary to survive and the diet may sway based on what is available during difficult times where preferred food is limited. However, I do not think that what happens infrequently out of hardship should determine common practices/principles. If I were stranded in a desert and had to drink my own urine to survive, I would do so. I hope that if someone saw me doing this they would not conclude that I need urine as a regular part of my diet.

I have no issue with you concluding that very sparse and infrequent insect matter would cause no harm but I do not agree with your conclusion that an animal accepting items thrown in a confined space with limited choice validates the benefit or necessity of that item.

If the logic of acceptance = benefit/no harm is flawed, wouldn’t this invalidate both of your examples at once?

Okay so instead of you two arguing about diff insites can I just get my original questions answered..

Now when the vet weighed him and gave me his weight he stated that he was at a good weight because I asked.. Then you said he is less than a pound so I asked your OPINION on if it was a good weight..

all I asked was a question and the comment was thrown at me, if you dont want to answer it then dont say anything at all..

I answered my own question and decided I am giving my uro a well fed cricket once every two weeks or even three, I fell no harm will come from this and I dont even know if he will eat them anyways so I for now on will just do my own thing...

I’m not certain in your utililzation of the term ’intentional’ stated above. ’Intentional’ as in they accidentally consumed live prey without notice? Or they were sparse on anything else to consume?

This would be assuming I starved my uromastyx and then placed a cricket in her enclosure in the hopes that she would eat the first thing available to her, of which I did no such thing.

In her enclosure was her normal diet of endive, shredded zucchini, and a couple blue berries (a sparse treat).

However, Urofan, I not once mentioned that it was any sort of necessity within my statements, for juveniles or adults to partake in hunting live prey. Just that it is not harmful between sparse and varied proportions nor is it completely out of character.

And the people who have had the opportunity to view them in the wild...I can safely assume that their space was not ’confining’ in any way.

Not if my logic was acceptance = won’t kill you

You stated that your uromastyx gained 2 pounds and I simply pointed out that your uromastyx did not even weigh a pound so your claim was impossible.

you jump in and told me to stop the discussion I was having on a topic and demand that I answer the question you just told me to ignore if I didn’t want to answer.

Well I am glad to see you are basing your actions on well thought out reasoning with data and credible backing showing a benefit to your action rather than following blindly just because someone told you to do something. Maybe you can throw a little scrambled egg in too?

I guess I figured you would have got what I was trying to say.. But next time I know now I have to be specific down to the T!

I am basing my actions on well thought out reasoning and I have researched everyday since I got him and no where in any book or paper that I have seen does it say " A cricket once in a blue moon will do sufficient damage to your uromastyx".

Hmmm the scrambled egg comment is pretty hilarious.. I never gave him eggs that is just what someone suggested and I thought Id share it on here but as I know now I have to watch everything I say because you seem to go back into the past to pull up anything you can that someone was wondering about.

You should just start a new post...

I’m not certain in your utililzation of the term ’intentional’ stated above. ’Intentional’ as in they accidentally consumed live prey without notice? Or they were sparse on anything else to consume?

Both have stated to me that they have not witnessed any young or adult uromastyx chasing or lunging at insects.

I just realized that I used the words ’intentional’ and ’intentionally’ in the same statement. I explained the use of the word intentional as you requested however, I am now thinking you might have been referring to my use of the word intentionally so let me explain.

Sort of like dogs that love to drink sweet antifreeze? Want to try placing a small lid of antifreeze in with your uromastyx and test your theory that if she accepts it that it won’t kill her?

I disagree on the necessity to feed animal protein to an herbivore and the reasons (acceptance and weak internet data) you posted as reasons for feeding.

Go back and look at the iguana video. If this iguana is fed mice regularly as a part of its diet, the animal has a very good chance of dying an early death. If someone decides to feed their uromastyx insects every week because acceptance=won’t kill, their uromastyx has a very good chance of dying an early death.
Acceptance should not play a role in captivity on whether or not an item has benefit.
Data should be the key influence on what to feed and what not to feed. Anyone taking the time to research will discover that insects do not need to be fed to uromastyx and that routinely feeding based on personal interpretation of what ‘might’ be a harmless proportion of the diet is a little like playing with fire. Unfortunately, it is likely that it will be the uromastyx that gets burned.

I also agree that it is not needed as part of their diet however that it will not be damaging.

I believe what the OP’s vet’s original point was that she suggested the OP to feed her uromastyx a cricket due to the fact that it was not eating and that perhaps the cricket may be stimulating enough for it to consume.

My points seem to be just as weak as yours however. For one, I’ve given you at least one example. We’ve both stated that we know people who have witnessed opposing things. However, I’ve come across more information stating the opposite of your stance.

Me stating that my father has seen them eating in the wild is just as weak as stating your acquaintances have seen the opposite. Why? Because my father never took video footage at that time period and you have yet to also provide any type of footage or credible resource also.

Data is key, correct. But like I’ve previously stated, you’ve only made mentions of people out in the wild. Have they made print outs, articles, research papers, magazines, footage?

Because as unreliable as the internet and book resources are, so is the word of a forum user.

By your logic, everything published is incorrect and/or falsifying unless it is backed by actual researchers that have spent their lives taking notes in the wild.

I personally would love to talk to your over seas acquaintances and/or request to read their notes. Data with proof is key.

And I’ve viewed the video of the boy feeding his iguana a live mouse. I’m not certain as to how this pertains with the debate at hand.

I’ve just given Dr. Mader a call but he is unfortunately out of town until the 9th actually. I’m in the process of writing him an email at the moment and will await on his opinion on this as well.