Reptile & Amphibian Forums

sorry to move the post up here but there were so many branches and it was getting down the page, ha ha

ok take a deep breath, inhale, exhale. ok, we are throwing alot of information at you. alot of these are recommendations that work and aren't harmful to the lizard. i will try to condense some of this info for you.

every substrate has it's advantages and disadvantages but you have four options, well that we have been talking about.

millet seed
paper towels/reptile carpet
playsand
soil mix

the best thing is to sit down and think about the pro's vs the cons and then decide what is best for you and your animal. (i can tell you from experience that with the carpet, they will still try to dig, which can become absolutely annoying after a while)

then for your lighting, i have never used the mercury bulbs before, they are just so expensive and i am clumsy and i know i would be breaking them alot. i use a 90 watt floodlight that i bought at the home depot, just make sure it is a flood light and not a spotlight. based on your set up, you might need a lower wattage or maybe a higher one. i keep everything low to the ground because helga has no back toes (she had medical problems in the past), so that is why i need the 90 watt.

if you can create a stable stack of slate or rocks to get the lizard higher up while basking, that could always help you reach the basking temp.

if the rest of the cage is kind of cool, you can always add a lower watt on the other side/middle. i have a 45 watt on the other side of helga and hugo's tank to help maintain the gradient and to make it not so dark over there

there are alot of things to think about and to work out with the cage set up, which is why we always encourage people to read alot and maybe have the set up ready before the animal gets there. but you are learning alot and getting it down, so just hang in there and you will find the set up that is good for him and you
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vonnie
***The first law of dietetics seems to be: if it tastes good, it's bad for you. — Issac Asimov ***

Thank you so much for your help. I'm determined to fix all the issues tonight. Seeing him eat the seeds just as I first put him in there concerned me. I can see dehydration in combination with malnutrition because he'll eat more seeds than food that is more nutritious for him. So I think I may go to playsand and just feed him on a larger slated rock where sand isn't there. Even if he does eat sand there's a good chance that he digest based the sand being natural.

As for lighting, I think I will keep the murcury vapour bulb because of it's high UVB output and long lasting life compared to flourescent bulbs. I will also add another red heat bulb to add to the heat to get to 120 and also have the UV on for 6hrs only. ORRR... I could add a heatpad under the location so that heat is coming from below and above on the hot side. I'm still unsure. I want to cover the top of the tank to prevent so much heat from escaping also. But, I think that you're right.. It's a personal preference and common sense thing. Pros and Cons... so I know I don't want him to eat large quantities.

Thanks again!

Hi Shawn,
I'm the one who sold you your saharan cutie. I agree that there is a lot of info here, that's why I recommened this site. Every uro keeper has a different view/perspective/idea of what is the correct care for uromastyx. My care sheets are based on how I keep my uros healthy/happy and have been doing so for several years with out problems but not everyone will agree. In the end it will be through trial and error that you will learn what is best for your little guy.

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1.1 U.maliensis
2.1 U.geyri
1.1 U ornatus
0.1 U. macfadyeni

Hey Rhonda, thank you so much for the reply. My guy has been in hiding for two complete days and I took him out last night and placed him under the spotlight. He actually ate right out of my hand (bok choy and dandy leaves). Today he was way more active and ate some more. The temps are not what they should be at this point. I have the 40gal tank which is better and have landscaped very nicely. I decided to try the bird seed. It's very nice to look at but I saw him eating it. I'm not sure if it's cause for concern as of yet, but I'm going to continue to monitor him and observe his eating habits and decide from there. If that doesn't work out I will go with washed sand. The lighting I have learned myself that the murcury vapour bulbs are not a good source of heat whatsoever. So I will pick myself up a home depot light as you suggested. I should have listened. I'm hard headed, I know! But, he's the cutest thing ever. He falls asleep in my hand and he is by far the most enjoyable reptile I have ever kept and I haven't seen anything yet! Anyhow, thank you so much for your little guy and I will spoil him rotten and hope he will develop the colours his father has. I know it will take awhile... Anyhow, we'll keep in touch. I'll send some photos. I tried to access your site but it's down.

Shawn

You should try the link to my site again. Unfortunately it was down for several days. I have no idea why! It is working now though.

URO ADDICT

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1.1 U.maliensis
2.1 U.geyri
1.1 U ornatus
0.1 U. macfadyeni

Rhonda, I have some concluding questions concerning my setup. I'm at the tail end of setup and giving my little buddy everything he needs (Actually named him Max!). The 100W heat lamp is working fantastically, actually so fantastic that the basking spot went to 135F. The bulb was approx. 8in from the spot so I've lowered it down almost the for floor level. I have also picked up some play sand to replace the seed (I could hear him crunching away for most of the night. His activity level is doing really well but I think the tank being so large for him is allowing to large of a cold side of the tank. I'll put him under the lamp and then he EXPLODES with energy. Taste testing everything he can in site. He'll then walk to the cool side of maybe only 30minutes of activity and sleep in the oddest positions. Once I found him in his hide with his head barried completely in the seed and the other he squeezed himself between the tank glass and an egyption sphynx I have. Hillarious personality. Absolutely does not care in the world that I pick him up. I put him on the carpet and it's amazing how fast he is at running. Anyhow I have a few questions to ask you.

1. Does the play sand that I bought at Rona (Home Depot I went to didnt have any - out of season), not advertising that it's washed pose a concern?

2. You said you use a heating pad on your care sheet. Do you place that in the basking side of the tank and leave it on 24hrs?

3. Do you use any sort of covering to keep heat in?

I also have another large light fixture (with 11W Murcury Vapour Bulb) in the same area of the heat lamp (side by side). This seems to work well. But the cool area is still to cool. I would like to get the cool area up a little so that if he hides in the cool area he may not even feel the heat on the hot side of the tank. Therefore reducing his activity level. It seems like he goes to sleep as soon as he goes to the cool side. So far I have measured 95 in the hot end (air temp) and 75 in the cool end.

Sorry it's so long, if I can just figure out the last few things, he'll be set.

Shawn

You don't need to add so much fancy lighting/heating apparatus. Your electric bill is going to go through the roof if you keep this up

All you really need is a good halogen flood bulb. 45 watts should do it, as long as you raise the basking spot up high enough. You don't really need the mercury vapor bulb, but since you're going to use it, just simply use it in conjunction with the other bulb. You don't need another bulb for the cool side. What you need to do is cover almost all of the screen top so that the tank holds heat in better. All of your heat is escaping through the top before it reaches the cool side. Heat mats are not necessary....they're actually going to be pretty much a waste of money for the uromastyx. They like to bask on objects that are being heated from above, and as long as they get that in the daytime, they are fine. I turn off all the lights to my uro, my beardie, and my russian tortoise at night. They are all good with the drop in temperature.

Also, leave the lizard alone for a little bit. Picking him up and setting him on the basking site isn't helping him any right now. Give him a few weeks to settle in before you even touch him. This will get him used to a daily routine (of coming out to heat up in the morning, eat, heat up again, and go to sleep again before too long), and then you can start messing with him without messing up his schedule too much. As a general rule though, handling is very stressful to any reptile and should only be done minimally.

Good luck with your uro. Oh, and you should just pick a substrate and stick to it. Changing substrates every few days when you realize a negative attribute will only further stress your uro. I personally like dirt, and my uromastyx loves it.

Just Awesome, so very CUTE
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PHEve / Eve

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