I recently took in a pair of adult Mali Uros (male & female) who, to the best of my knowledge, got along fine. Keep in mind that I was also told that they are basically too lazy to reproduce. My friend was not able to bring them up north so he also gave me an old aquarium (4ft x 1ft x 20in) and stand. This tank is much bigger than the one they were sharing so I have added a stronger basking light (150W) and attached a large heating pad to the underside (below their hide).

Unfortunately, I live in an 80 year old house with poorly insulated wood floors so the lizards spent most of the time curled up in their hide (utilizing the heating pad). I would occasionally see her basking, but the female rarely ventured out as much as the male. He is obviously the dominant one but always seemed more oblivious than aggressive.

Now that it is warming up, he has taken to biting her neck skin and anterior body. I know that this is mating behavior (possibly brought on by the cold snap?) but she seems entirely unwilling. The other day he was pulling her back into their hide by her tale as she struggled to evade him. It is beginning to look more painful than annoying but I can't say that for sure because this is my first experience with lizards. They still sleep in the same hide at night, however, I lifted it up yesterday and he grabbed her neck as if to keep her from leaving. Needless to say I am greatly concerned about the female's stress level and nutritional uptake.

I am sorry for including so many details but I have searched the web for a while now and have yet to find the answers to some of the following questions (ANY and all help is greatly appreciated)...

Can I separate them/divide the tank?

Do uros have a mating season?

If so, can they be reintroduced after the season ends?

Should I just let the biting behavior persist?

Tank you for your time and advice.

Gabe

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