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Will a mali drink from a bowl?

koashmar Mar 17, 2006 09:25 AM

I always keep a small bowl of water in his cage (humidity stays at an acceptable level). I've only seen him drink from it a time or two in the years I've had him. He's approx. 8-9 yrs old and I've had him since he was 4.

Per another members suggestion, I started feeding him the rep-cal adult iquana pelleted diet and he LOVES them. Thing is, it's so dry and he was always eating moist veggies before this. He could very well be drinking from the bowl and I just haven't seen it.

Should I be concerned about his water intake? You'd think I would have seen dehydration by now if there was a problem. He's been eating them about 2 weeks. Activity seems good - actually, better, since I started him on the pellets. I thought about soaking them prior to feeding, but he kind of eats at his own pace and own schedule so I don't want them to mold while he gets around to eating.

Thanks
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1.0.0 Thoroughbred
1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Crested Gecko
1.2.0 German Shepherds
1.2.0 Cats
0.1.1 Birds (Cockatiel and Conure)
1.1.0 Rabbits
0.0.2 Yellow bellied sliders
3 Fish tanks (SW and FW)

Replies (14)

purduecg Mar 17, 2006 10:10 AM

Out of curiosity, are you ONLY feeding the pellets? I had heard of using them as a supplement, or occasional meal, just not as the main food source.

Some Uros will drink from a bowl, mine never have, in fact my mali never drank while he was soaked either. Some people have relayed seeing their uros drink from standing water though. Just make sure it is really shallow since Uros aren't the brightest animals on the planet.

Elizabeth
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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes (May he rest in peace)
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro Zuberi Mosca Khu (Mosca)
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine (RIP)
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin

koashmar Mar 17, 2006 08:24 PM

He's still getting veggies & the water bowl is shallow.
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1.0.0 Thoroughbred
1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Crested Gecko
1.2.0 German Shepherds
1.2.0 Cats
0.1.1 Birds (Cockatiel and Conure)
1.1.0 Rabbits
0.0.2 Yellow bellied sliders
3 Fish tanks (SW and FW)

koashmar Mar 17, 2006 08:58 PM

Should add - the veggies are not daily anymore since I started on the pellets. My intention was to wean him off of the veggies, but I am still feeding them until I'm positive he's eating enough pellets to thrive. The member on this forum said his/her breeder feeds 100% pelleted diet and has extremely healthy uro's. The pictures were good proof of this..
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1.0.0 Thoroughbred
1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Crested Gecko
1.2.0 German Shepherds
1.2.0 Cats
0.1.1 Birds (Cockatiel and Conure)
1.1.0 Rabbits
0.0.2 Yellow bellied sliders
3 Fish tanks (SW and FW)

el_toro Mar 17, 2006 09:40 PM

Regardless of how other people's uros appear, you should make the pellets a portion of a total diet, not a sole source. No one knows exactly what nutrients, vitamins, and minerals are required in a uro's diet - it's never been studied in any detail. The uros on a 100% pellet diet might be fine right now, but 5-10 years down the line, they could keel over from massive organ failure. Not saying they will, of course - but they might.

Keep feeding the pellets, but keep feeding the veggies, too. And add in some dark leafy greens - those are actually what the main portion of the diet should be: endive, escarole, dandelion greens, etc. That's where the water content is found.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
2.1.1 Mali Uros (Spike, Tank, Lilly, and Turtle)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

koashmar Mar 17, 2006 10:28 PM

When I say "veggies" that means dark leafy greens. He's 9 yrs old & going strong, I must be doing something right.
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1.0.0 Thoroughbred
1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Crested Gecko
1.2.0 German Shepherds
1.2.0 Cats
0.1.1 Birds (Cockatiel and Conure)
1.1.0 Rabbits
0.0.2 Yellow bellied sliders
3 Fish tanks (SW and FW)

el_toro Mar 17, 2006 11:27 PM

>>When I say "veggies" that means dark leafy greens. He's 9 yrs old & going strong, I must be doing something right.

Fair enough. I thought you meant literal veggies like the corn/carrot/green bean/pea frozen mix type veggies. I'd continue with that and just add the pellets for variety. I just fear there would be long term health problems with pellets alone - from too much of one thing and/or not enough of another.
-----
Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
2.1.1 Mali Uros (Spike, Tank, Lilly, and Turtle)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

debb_luvs_uros Mar 18, 2006 07:25 AM

"My intention was to wean him off of the veggies, but I am still feeding them until I'm positive he's eating enough pellets to thrive.

I do not believe a uromastyx that lives on a single source diet consisting primarily of ground corn would ever 'thrive'.

"The member on this forum said his/her breeder feeds 100% pelleted diet and has extremely healthy uro's."

I wonder how many other breeder cringed at this statement like I did. Then again, the term ‘breeder’ is often used loosely in this hobby.
I am curious- what breeder is raising uromastyx solely on a pelleted food consisting primarily of corn with some vitamins thrown in to balance it? I would like to know so I can steer others clear of him/her when they ask me for advice on breeders.

and has extremely healthy uro's The pictures were good proof of this..

Pictures are proof of nothing other than an animal possibly being alive. A variety of lab tests to determine things like bone density and blood chemistry values would be better proof an animal is doing well.
I could have raised my son on a daily diet of Wheaties and One a Day vitamins, taken pictures every day for five years, and claimed he was thriving. After all, the cereal is also fortified with optimal levels of vitamins and minerals like calcium and vitamin D just like the claim on some of these pelleted diets. The combination of the fortified cereal with the complete multi-vitamin might have some believing this is a ‘complete’ diet. Feeding this diet and sharing photos of my son would not be ‘proof’ that my son was healthy nor proof that this diet is adequate- although I think you would be hard pressed to prove me wrong on photos alone. I for one, am thankful that we have the FDA and strict regulation regarding the marketing of human food products because when I compare with the lack of regulation in the pet industry, I can’t help but wonder how many kids we might have raised on diets consisting of a few items touted as fortified and ‘complete’.

When I say "veggies" that means dark leafy greens. He's 9 yrs old & going strong, I must be doing something right.

Yes, and you just decided to start converting your uromastyx over to an 'all' pellet diet two weeks ago. Why the change if you feel you have been doing something right for the last five years- less cost- less work?

I happen to use Rep-Cal pelleted food and feel they are one of the best pellets on the market due to a variety of factors including the use of dried fruits. I just disagree with the use of this or any pellet as the only source of nutrition for uromastyx regardless of how complete it claims to be.

HecticDialectics Mar 18, 2006 10:12 AM

"I happen to use Rep-Cal pelleted food and feel they are one of the best pellets on the market due to a variety of factors including the use of dried fruits"

With due regard, you were arguing about feeding uros a pellet that consists primarily of ground corn and then reference a pelleted food that consists almost entirely of ground corn, soybean hulls, and soybean meal. You say you use it because it has dried fruit, but dried fruit on its ingredient list comes after salt, vitamin C, and vitamin B4 meaning that is has less dried fruit than any of those three, which I take to be a significantly tiny amount.

Have you looked at the ZooMed all-natural pelleted iguana food? It's main base is alfalfa meal, doesn't have any "fruit" but has some other foods that I reckon you might be able to consider risky because of oxalic acid and goitrogen content. But soybean also has a decently high amount of oxalic acid and has goitrogens, but is also higher on the ingredient list than any of the mustard greens/kale. I was wondering why you chose RepCal over ZooMed?

HecticDialectics Mar 18, 2006 10:16 AM

No edit function so I have to post again... zoomed doesn't come in fun colors so are uros pickier about eating it? If it's just a taste thing I was thinking a uro's favorite fruit juice could be used to hydrate the pellets.

debb_luvs_uros Mar 18, 2006 02:53 PM

”With due regard, you were arguing about feeding uros a pellet that consists primarily of ground corn and then reference a pelleted food that consists almost entirely of ground corn, soybean hulls, and soybean meal.”

Due regard would have been reading my post more closely. You entirely missed my point then proceeded to turn around and misrepresented what I said. Here was my exact quote:

“I do not believe a uromastyx that lives on a single source diet consisting primarily of ground corn would ever 'thrive'.”

I highlighted some key words for you this time to help you understand the point I made the first time which seemed to fly right by you. I was not arguing about feeding a uro a pellet consisting of ground corn- I was arguing about feeding a uro a diet consisting entirely of a pellet that was primarily corn.

“You say you use it because it has dried fruit, but dried fruit on its ingredient list comes after salt, vitamin C, and vitamin B4 meaning that is has less dried fruit than any of those three, which I take to be a significantly tiny amount.”

Again read a little closer. I did not say I use it because it contained fruit- here is my exact quote with some key words once again highlighted:

“I happen to use Rep-Cal pelleted food and feel they are one of the best pellets on the market due to a variety of factors including the use of dried fruits.”

I specifically pointed out that there were a variety of factors that made this pellet one of the best on the market and listed fruit as one of those factors.

"but dried fruit on its ingredient list comes after salt, vitamin C, and vitamin B4 meaning that is has less dried fruit than any of those three, which I take to be a significantly tiny amount.”

Apple fiber (which many would consider dried fruit) comes before the ingredients you list above so I find your above statement a little misleading.
You mentioned several times in your reply the order of ingredients and while I agree that the items are listed in order of content, the overall picture also needs to be looked at. If you are purchasing dog food and the first ingredient is lamb but the next three are rice, rice flour, rice meal- I would be willing to bet that there is more rice than meat in that product. As I have already pointed out- apple fiber is listed before the ingredients you mentioned above and directly after the ingredients you list is dried mango, papaya, and strawberry. We know that the apple fiber content is higher because it is listed prior to C and B but I have a feeling the combined dried fruits cited above may also be higher than any individual item you listed when you take into consideration that there are three fruits in a row. Anyway, this is off track from the point I was taking the time to make with my original reply in this thread.

Have you looked at the ZooMed all-natural pelleted iguana food?

Yes, a long time ago.

”I was wondering why you chose RepCal over ZooMed?

And I wonder why you do not read more closely and make tons of assumptions.

The thread was discussing Rep-Cal and my point was that although I feel it (product being discussed) is one of the best on the market for a variety of reasons including fruit, I do not agree that it is wise to use this or any pellet as a single source of nutrition in the diet of a uromastyx. You seem to want to take my statement and turn it around to say that I do not use any other pellet and feel that Rep-Cal is the best. I could make the assumption that you somehow purposely twisted around my comments to provoke an argument but that would be an assumption and you know what they say about people that make assumptions don’t you HD? For the record, I have several other pelleted foods in my reptile room (yes one of them is Zoo Med), and I use very little pelleted food of any type in the diet of my uromastyx.

Now, do you have any comments actually directed toward my post which spoke against limiting a uromastyx diet to a 100% diet of corn based pelleted food??

tgreb Mar 18, 2006 03:19 PM

how much of the diet consist of pellets? As you know I am trying to get back into uromastyx after a long time away from them. I know much has changed from the mid 90's when I kept malis and morrocans. What percent of grains and or seeds do you feed? Is it much the same as Wilms describes in his book? Still have not located any animals that I would purchase sorry to say. Also what lighting regime do you use. I see that metal halides are very popular in Europe and with great success but very expensive. I hear so many conflicting stories on uvb output in the full spectrum florescents and mercury vapor bulbs. I freind of mine is supposed to let me borrow a uv meter so hopefully eventually I will be able to figure it out soon. All your help is appreciated. Thanks. Tom Greb

arredondo Mar 18, 2006 09:18 PM

Dang, Deb!! You know how to put it out there. How we've love to compare notes in person with you. Will you be in Daytona?
Dan & Loraine.

debb_luvs_uros Mar 19, 2006 01:54 AM

I am hoping to go to Daytona again this year. I had a lot of fun there last year and met a lot of interesting people.

Arredondo Mar 21, 2006 08:37 PM

A getogether of Urophiles would be a super event if there's an interest to do so.

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