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 #2080884


Reptamommie
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 Help! My baby uro won’t eat.

Hi. I am new here and I’m desperate. About 3 weeks ago I adopted a pair of baby Mali Uros. They were much smaller than I was expecting them to be(my previous Uro was an adult when I got him). The guy that I got them from gave me very little info on them. He said that one he had bought from a breeder 2 months prior and the other 1 month later. The larger of the two is always active, very alert, and eats greens, carrots, crickets, etc really well. He is a pig!

The smaller of the two is not doing so well. He keeps his eyes closed and barely moves around the cage. He has also been refusing to eat. He can’t be tempted by greens, crickets, nothing. I have tried to force feed him baby food with a syringe but he clinches his mouth tightly. He refuses anything food related. He has not eaten since I got him. He is getting very skinny and I am so worried about him.

Can anyone offer any suggestions? I am can’t afford a vet right now. But, I am willing to do anything I can at home to help him. It feels like I am watching him die and I feel so helpless. Please if you have any suggestions I would be so very grateful!

Thanks
10/06/09  11:09am

 #2080917


Mbwrink
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   Message To: Reptamommie   In reference to Message Id: 2080884


 Help! My baby uro won’t eat.

It would help to give you advice if you could give us details of your husbandry so we can decide if it is husbandry related or biological and a vet visit id needed. Please give details on enclosure, heating lighting, diet, and supplementation. The possibilty that the animal is sick means it should be isolated from the other if they are cage mates.
10/06/09  12:40pm

 #2080939


Reptamommie
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   Message To: Mbwrink   In reference to Message Id: 2080917


 Help! My baby uro won’t eat.

They are currently in an enclosure that measures 48 1/2" X 18 1/2 ". They have heat lamps and undertank heating. They have both UVA/UVB bulbs all made by ZOOMED and purchased 3 weeks ago. They have a basking area that during the day stays at 120-125 degrees, the area between provides a gradual cool down to a 89-92 degree cool end. They have a night temp of 70-75 degrees provided by undertank heating and red heat lamps.

I have been feeding them mixed greens including collard, turnip, and mustard. I have also been finely chopping carrots, smashing peas, and feeding baby crickets. I have been dusting the crickets as well as gut loading them.

Again, the larger is eating. In fact, his belly has grown to twice the size it was in just 3 weeks. It’s the baby that I am worried about. He has not attempted to eat anything. They are both housed together and therefore have the same environment. The smaller one is younger but I’m not sure how much younger. I have several other reptiles and have had a Uro before. I have never had a Uro so young and frail, though. I have stimulated eating in my beardie before (he was really malnurished when I adopted him) with baby food but this one refuses that, too. I don’t know what to do.

Thanks
10/06/09  01:59pm

 #2081001


Troy76012
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   Message To: Reptamommie   In reference to Message Id: 2080939


 Help! My baby uro won’t eat.

You need to separate the baby Uro’s. Give them both there own enclosure. On the baby that is not feeding well make sure you do not handle him. Make sure that his new enclosure is covered on all sides.

If you are using an aquarium cover all 4 sides with a towel. Make sure he has hides on both the hot and cool side of his new separate enclosure. Put his food in before the lights go on each day and do your cleaning before the lights go on or after they go off at night.
Try not to handle your new Uromastyx, Uromastyx are more of an observation pet then a hands on pet.

Make sure both your Uro’s have there own separate cages with UVB lighting and adequate basking, gradient, and proper diet.

Larger cage mate = stress
Handling = stress
Trying to force feed = stress

Stress can cause Uromastyx many health issues including not feeding. Stress can kill your Uromastyx.



10/06/09  04:11pm

 #2081044


Mbwrink
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   Message To: Reptamommie   In reference to Message Id: 2080939


 Help! My baby uro won’t eat.

Reading your husbandry it doesn’t sound like the basics are the problem so I have to occur with the other poster. It is either biological in which a vet needs to examine a fecal and the animal or it is stress related because the older and larger animal is dominating it. Moving it to its own enclosure will eliminate that so if stress related the animal will begin to eat eventually. If it is sick biologically it will also protect the other animal.
10/06/09  05:14pm

 #2081181


Sahells Mom
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   Message To: Mbwrink   In reference to Message Id: 2081044


 Help! My baby uro won’t eat.

Stop feeding crickets to both of them. They are herbivores. You do need to get them separated ASAP. You also need to take the little one to a vet. He might need fluids. It is hard to force feed uro, and almost impossible to do it safely! You might try giving the larger one a cut up green grape or putting a jar lid of water in with him for a couple of hour during the day. It is possible they are both dehydrated. It is also possible, since you are feeding crickets, that you have given them parasites, or damaged their kidneys. They don’t eat protein, and can’t metabolize it well. In the wild they may ingest a bug that is on a flower, but they are seen in only one out of ten uros, and 1% of the scat is protein on that one.

It is possible that the bigger one has traumatized the smaller one. Uro’s are lone reptiles, and don’t play well with others!! How long are these babies?
10/06/09  09:05pm

 #2081213


Jbreddawg
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   Message To: Reptamommie   In reference to Message Id: 2080939


 Help! My baby uro won’t eat.

Quote:

They have a night temp of 70-75 degrees provided by undertank heating and red heat lamps.



If you need night time heat do it with a ceramic heat emitter. Undertank heaters are very bad for uros and can harm them. Red heat lamps will mess up their sleeping patterns. Lizards CAN see red .

Quote:

I have been feeding them mixed greens including collard, turnip, and mustard. I have also been finely chopping carrots, smashing peas, and feeding baby crickets. I have been dusting the crickets as well as gut loading them.



None of the items listed should be a staple diet. Rotational’s at best and even then not very frequently.
Crickets should never be fed to uros . They will only harm them.

Sounds like you have a few things that need corrected. Stress can be really bad for young uro’s.
The wrong husbandry/diet/moving/larger tankmate etc... can all be contributing to his going downhill .
I would get him into another enclosure asap and get everything straightened out right away if you want to see him get better.
10/06/09  10:02pm


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