Here is a pic of my winter cage for three juvenile Mali's. It measures 4x3x2 ft. The substrate is a soil that I picked up at a landscape place, having been inspired by recent posts. My very embarrassing story about that is this:

I diligently searched out a decent, clean soil that looked like it would be good for burrowing. After setting up the new cage and soil, including lots of rocks and hiding places, I put in the three inhabitants with their food and a small water dish. (Perhaps you can guess what happens?) We left for the day to celebrate my sisters Birthday, and when we came home we rushed over to see how happy the little guys were sure to be! Instead what we found were three little uro's with hard packed clay shoes on each foot!!! They had walked through the water dish, then made mud, which dried to a very hard clay which covered their feet as they basked under their heat lamps! What a mess!! We had to soak them and carefully remove the hardened clay without hurting their feet! I hurriedly threw in some white playsand, which was probably a mistake, but I didn't want them to get caked again! Lesson learned: removed water dish, and make sure they get plenty of moisture from their food!

Anyway, they seem pretty happy in spite of my mistakes. Next Spring I hope to build a permanent outdoor enclosure where they can have real dirt and live plants and a more natural life. I live in the desert, so this should be possible.

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