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Slow growing uro??? HELP

AlteredMind99 May 10, 2006 10:48 AM

I need some help....my Uro scuttle...who i bought in october '05 will not grow! What am i doing wrong?!

Set up:

40 gallon breeder tank, basking spot of 130-135degrees, ambient temp in the high 80's, cool end temp around 80 (temps measured with a digital thermometer mounted in the cage and double checked with a temp gun). His cage is decked out with a variety of hiding spots and basking sites. He has a brand new Repti-sun 10.0 that is mounted inside the cage about 6inches from one of his basking sites.

Diet:

He has free acess to a mixture of white millet, ground bean mix, pretty bird finch food, and rep-cal iguana pellets. He also gets a full dish of feild greens every day (sometimes twice if they dry out)...his greens include dandelion, turnip, mustard, collard, endive and escarole. I supplement his veggies with calcium every day and a multi vitamin once a week. He also gets bee pollen granules roughly once every week or every other week. He also eats the occasional super worm....maybe once a month i will give him 5-6 small supers.

He looks happy and healthy to me, fat and alert and responsive. He zips around his cage like hell on wheels, eyes are open and alert...and as far as i can tell he looks like a perfectly healthy happy lizard. But he WILL NOT GROW!!! When i first got him he weighed 24grams, now he only weighs 30grams.

Im bringing a fecal in to work to check on saturday. The only other thing i can think is maybe the cage is too big? I know with baby beardies sometimes they get freaked out with too much space, and he does seem awful nervous (runs and hides whenever you go near him).

Does anyone have any tips or advice? Am I doing something wrong? Please help me and scuttle!!

Here are some pictures of his current set up:


-----
0.1 Bearded dragon (Hannabil)
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake (Morticia)
2.1 Leopard Gecko's (Pogo,Jeffrey Nothing, Louise)
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn (Autumn)
1.0 Blood Red Corn (Virus)
0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx (Scuttle)
0.1 Bullmastiff (Asha)
4.1 Cats (Poe, Tucker, Abhid, Felicity, Emmy)

Replies (4)

el_toro May 10, 2006 12:45 PM

It sounds like your care is quite good - diet, enclosure, etc. The one thing you *might* try in the cage is add a small extra heat source in the middle. The basking and cool end temps sound great, but a large part of the cage (middle) should be around 100F, otherwise they have to keep ducking into the basking area to keep their body temps up. I seriously doubt that would have anything to do with the size issue, but rather just a suggestion.

The cage is definitely not too large - that shouldn't be a problem.

I suspect your best bet is the fecal check. I have a smallish uro that has had a couple of clean fecals, but a similar situation - seems healthy, but small. Just got *another* fecal done and they found coccidia this time. I'm hoping clearing that up will solve his problem!
-----
Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.1 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, Tank, and Lilly)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

kich4theanswer May 10, 2006 05:32 PM

In regards to el toro, I wouldn't get worried about coccidia and I really don't think that that is the problem with growth rate. Coccidia lead to weight loss, failure to eat, nutritional disoders, diarrhea, etc. Having a few coccidia isn't a major problem, but it can get to be one if not taken care of. A reptile vet can take care of that though. Fecal samples are great because its like taking a blood sample from a human, Vets can find out if anything is wrong. I highly sugest getting fecal samples done every couple of months with any reptile.
again hope this is usefull!

-Paul

kich4theanswer May 10, 2006 05:16 PM

Just by observation, I knoticed that you have your main lighting by the right side of your tank, closest to the basking spot, which is a good thing because your UV output is within a foot of his basking spot and your temps are fine. Is the other side of the tank always that dark? Your really should have a UV strip running the full lenth of the tank, for optimal UV/ D3 absorbtion and its also very benificial. Also with good lighting it aids in his appetite and activity. That being said overal that side is fine if it is around 80 degrees, it seems like you hit the bulls eye with your thermal gradiant! Other then that your setup looks very nice and about the growth rate of your uro, it seems normal to me, my baby mali uro is growing at a slow pace also. Hope this helps!

-Paul

AlteredMind99 May 11, 2006 12:09 AM

Well, i feel a bit better now I will get that fecal done saturday and double check all that.

You are right, the far side of his tank is a bit dark, i will invest in a longer UVB bulb and run it all along.

Thank you so much, i will keep you posted!
-----
0.1 Bearded dragon (Hannabil)
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake (Morticia)
2.1 Leopard Gecko's (Pogo,Jeffrey Nothing, Louise)
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn (Autumn)
1.0 Blood Red Corn (Virus)
0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx (Scuttle)
0.1 Bullmastiff (Asha)
4.1 Cats (Poe, Tucker, Abhid, Felicity, Emmy)

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