Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thanks to all who have helped me so far. My 7" uro has been put in a new 20 gal tank w/ two undertank heaters for 10-20 gal. tanks. She's on wild finch seed for substrate. I've been monitoring the temps. and on the hot side I have a piece of black slate tile; the temp. guage reads 99-105. On the cool side of the tank I can't seem to get the temp. to peak over 84 or so during the day. Over the past 24-48 hrs. she seems to eat less and sleep more. She keeps her eyes closed a lot and just, in general, seems less active. Her eyes aren't watery. We did notice white crusty stuff around her nostrils. We are worried we're not doing something right. We're not sure if this is an adjustment period issue; or if her cool side of the tank should be warmer. I will admit that, out of inexperience, we have rearranged her tank a few times trying to figure out what's best. Should I take her to the vet? Should I get a stronger under-tank heater for the cool side? I've been feeding her kale, collards, sweet potato, strawberries, squash, green peas. Uggghhh. We just had a pacman frog to die and I don't want to mess up another one here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

i am confused about some things:

first, your uro is in a 20 (twenty) gallon tank? that is way too small

second, are you using anything other than the heat mats to produce heat?

your temps need to be like at least 120 degrees in the basking area

try reading this caresheet
http://deerfernfarms.com/Uromastyx_Care.htm

the white stuff coming from the nose is more than likely the release of salt from the body, a substance lovingly refered to as snalt
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vonnie
***The first law of dietetics seems to be: if it tastes good, it's bad for you. — Issac Asimov ***

Hi, thanks for your message. We do have her in a 20 gal. tank...but were just planning on that tank until she got a little bigger. She's small (about 7 inches)and I had read that the tank should be 4 times her length, which it is. I had read that they'd need up to a 50 gal. tank or so. We went back to the store and bought a 2nd heat lamp. She has a spot light on one side where the temp. is close to 110; the new light is on the other side where it's keeping the temp up around 92. She perked right up after we got the new light; so I'm hoping that was the problem. She ate good today, too. We're learning as we go; but I'm an avid reader so I've gotten a lot of info off these web sites and from people like you. So, should we go ahead and move her into a larger tank already; or would this one do for a little while?

usually it is hard to maintain a proper heat gradient with such a small tank. what are the dimensions of the tank? i am having a hard time picturing a 20 gallon needing two lights to make it maintain such "low" temps. hugo and helga live together, but even if hugo were single i would keep him in the 48x18 in cage and he is like 9 inches and i hate that i have the both of them only in a 4 footer

ok i am babbling, but yes i would put you uro in a larger cage
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vonnie
***The first law of dietetics seems to be: if it tastes good, it's bad for you. — Issac Asimov ***

Her cage is 30" x 12 " deep and 13" high. My basking bulb is 150w and did a pretty good job on that side; but w/o a second light on the other side I couldn't get the temp. up past 84. She seems much more active w/ a 2nd light. Thanks for the reference to that website. It's very informative.

Yeah,you definately need to get basking spot lamp and take under cage heater's out,also get bigger cage!I would definately check out that site that was given to you earlier!

Why would I need to get rid of the under tank heaters? Would it be too much? With those on all the time, the night time temp drops to around 74 after I turn her heat lamps off; w/o the heat pads it would be lower, but maybe wouldn't drop below 70. I did check out that other site and found it very helpful. Thanks for your advice.

You could also go to pet store and check into some night bulb's they could keep temp's up instead of under cage heater's.I forget it's cold at night in other states,i live in florida and don't usually need heat source at night.Check into night bulb's,soon you shouldn't need heat at night i would think.But i don't see where they would hurt anything since your keeping the temp. the proper setting's.

Hi. I live in Florida too. I've found that I really don't need the under-tank heaters at night either, now that my day temps are better. We usually turn our a/c to 78 at night, so it works out good.

Oh yeah,what part of Florida do you live in?I live about 2 miles from Clearwater beach.I hear you about the air,i can't believe how hot it is allready!This summer is going to be wicked hot!Hopefully no hurricanes!I may only use night heat bulb a few night's as needed in winter,they usually do the trick.