Posted by:
el_toro
at Fri Nov 21 12:57:46 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by el_toro ]
>>Oh, by the way, for anyone who reads this, would a uro starve itself? That just seems counter-evolutionary to me.
Of course, I'm just going off of my own sense of logic and my own experience here, but I think it's possible. Not out of some deliberate desire to starve themselves would they do it, but if a uro stops eating for some reason (stress, change in enviroment, illness, whatever), he'll end up not feeling well, which in turn will make him not want to eat which makes him feel worse and so on. It can lead to a miserable spiral that can end in illness and death.
When I first got Joe, he would not eat. For weeks he got thinner and thinner, and I offered everything I could think of. I finally found out I needed to move him into a larger enclosure, but he was already well down the spiral. I ended up having to have the vet give him fluid and vitamin injections, plus I force fed him small amounts for several days. This kicked him out of his spiral and now he's eating on his own, though he has a long way to go before he's back to his original weight.
I believe that left to his own devices, he would have starved himself to death - not because he meant to, but because he didn't connect how terrible he felt with not eating. He was stressed by being in too small of an enclosure, and was focused on that.
So I guess yes and no. They do, but not on purpose. And probaby not ever in the wild - but that's a whole different story, I suppose!
Just my two cents.
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Torey
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)
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RE: Problems with my big boy again! (long reply) - el_toro, Fri Nov 21 12:57:46 2003