perhaps some of you can share some insight on some odd behavior we have seen with Uros...



VERY BRIEF HISTORY we have our Ornate Uros (nearly yearlings) set up on 2 ft of soil substrate. we feel we have had terrific success so far, and great feedback from the animals themselves.



they do a lot of digging, with long, multi chambered tunnels and burrows (i have measured tunnels up to 12 ft long). here comes the weird part...



at the entrance of the main burrows of a cage, you will always find a pile of small rocks. these are stones that are a part of the decomposed granite that we use.



i used to think that this group of stones was "wash off" from adding water to the soil twice a week. we just dump water in, and it tends to pool and run down the burrows as it soaks in. i figured it must be washing away the finer, "siltier" parts of the soil, and leaving the heavier stones behind, kinda like gold mining



but Chad would be the one adding water, and he started pulling the stones out from the entrance of the burrows...



and a few days later, more stones appeared...



so he stopped adding water in that area altogether, and still pulled stones, and yet they kept reappearing. apparently, what is happening is that the Uros are excavating the burrows, and actually carrying stones out of the burrows, dropping them at the entrance.



keep in mind there is NO evidence of excavated soil, no piles or throws of excavated soil, just these dumb stones



we have never actually seen a Uro bringing out stones, they must do it in private (at night?) and i have no idea whether they are carrying them in their mouths, pushing them with their nose, or levitating them with some super advanced, space age, Uro ray gun, all i know is that in EVERY Uro cage, there is always a new pile of stones outside the entrance of the main burrows. give it a week, and there are lots of stones



i have included a couple of pics i just took, for visual reference...



i think it is pretty fascinating, and seeing as i am more of a monitor guy than a Uro guy, i thought some folks might be better able to explain this behavior. for all i know, it is as common as Uro poop






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robyn@proexotics.com



Pro Exotics Reptiles

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