Posted by:
jaffar311
at Fri Sep 15 09:33:49 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by jaffar311 ]
I wasn't trying to bash your vet's but just inform you that they might be giving you outdated info on the insect matter.
This from Doug Dix
"While most Uros consume the occasional insect in the wild, these generally cause more problems than they are worth in domestic specimens. On very rare occasion, we may offer an occasional superworm (Zoophobia sp.) to individuals that are slow to settle in. These are a great way to tame your Uros. Many are easily addicted to superworms and will go to great lengths to procure them. Conventional wisdom suggests gravid females fed a slightly higher than normal amount of insect matter produce better clutches, but we have not found that to hold true. Most commercially available insects are excessively high in phosphorous which causes the body to excrete calcium into the feces. Be careful to supplement w/ calcium whenever you feed insects and never feed more than just a couple per sitting and only a few per week at most. Hatchlings in particular easily develop metabolic problems if fed too many insects. All in all, we strongly suggest you avoid insects in the diet except under special circumstances (for example for individuals that are refusing to eat or refusing to tame down)."
From Audrey Vanderlinden
"Uromastyx lizards are primarily herbivorous. An occasional insect feeding is OK, even on a weekly basis. However, overfeeding with insects can cause health problems such as gout and kidney failure. High quality, gut loaded crickets and an occasional zoophoba or superworm are an acceptable insect choice. You may choose to "dust" the insects with a calcium and vitamin supplement prior to feeding. Young uromastyx should NEVER be fed superworms. These worms are extremely hard for young animals to digest and can wreak havoc on their digestive systems and even cause death. Baby uromastyx do best with small crickets. Stick to a primarily vegetarian diet for optimum health."
Even though she thinks the occasional insect is ok her last line is telling..."Stick to a primarily vegetarian diet for optimum health."
There is also a website called uronature that did studies in the wild and they checked feces to see what they eat in the wild and there were virtually no insects in thier diet. There were small traces that they said were prob from the flowers but not enough to show they ever eat insects intentionally.
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1.1 Ornates (Lindsay Pike)(Doug Dix)
0.0.1 Mali
0.0.1 Egyptian
0.1 Weimaraner
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RE: Best beginner Uromastyx? - jaffar311, Fri Sep 15 09:33:49 2006