Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have posted several times asking for help, I don't understand why none of you are willing to help me! I see you replying to everyone else's post, I have been begging for help and only gotten one reply, which did no good.

Please, someone care enough to help me!!!!!

I have 2 Mali Uros, one captive bred, the other wild caught, this was an accident, I was led to believe that the wc Uro was not so by the online store I bought it from and they encouraged me to go ahead and house it with my healthy cb right away. My whole reason for doing this was because my Uro would not eat except for the occasional meal worm.
I was told this additional Uro was eating well and would encourage my existing Uro to eat and was hoping this would work, it did not. Now I have 2 Uros that are almost starving to death, totally unwilling to eat unless I force feed them. I have tried so many varieties of greens and fruits, baby food, jump start, bird seed, etc.

Upon discovering that the newer Uro had round worms and that my other was infected by her we started vet visits and panacur treatments, but nothing has improved. My cb just gets worse by the day, so skinny, so listless, he just lays there. He used to try to climb his walls all day, he hasn't the will to do it now.

I can't find a vet that knows Uros, even though I have found 2 reputable reptile vets, they are just going off the same info I find online, I really need help from someone who has experience with these animals before one of them dies... PLEASE!

I am sorry to hear that you received such poor information which certainly helped put you where you are today. I don't know how long this has been going on, and there is so much information that people need to know to even comment on your situation. What size cage are they in, what are the basking temps, cool side temps, etc. What you are describing does not sound good. When animals refuse to eat and become anorexic, it is very difficult to turn them around. They will need fluids to keep them hydrated first and then you need to address all of your other issues as mentioned above. Your vet can give them fluids for you to start with, but you have to figure out why they won't eat in order to correct the problem. I know this is not much help, but in order to fix the problem you need to know what caused it in the first place. Best of luck to you.

Pam
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2.3 varanus acanthurus brachyurus (Dorado, Oro, Dora, Freckles & Amarillo)
1.1 varanus acanthurus acanthurus (Tabasco & Sprite)
1.1 u. macfadyeni (Amani & Abeba)
1.2 u. ornata (Husani, Zari, & Bintu)
1.1 u. ocellata (Zuhri & Ashai)
1.2 xenagama taylori (Asad, Ayana & Ayan)
1.1 hyla chrysoscelis (Pudge & Squirt)
Herps Are Awesome!

Hi Pam,

They are currently in a 75 gallon cage which has been switched from sand to newspaper as a substrate simply for ease of removing waste asap and keeping as sanitary of an environment as possible. I have a daytime gradient of 110-120 under the mercury vapor to 75-80 on the non-heated side. They are at about 85-90 ont he warm side and 70-75 on the cold at night. They have hides on either side of the cage also. I will separate them as advised. I hope to at least get my male healthy again, I would so hate to lose him.

I really appreciate all you have to offer.

Thank You,
Jenee
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Greg 'n' Jenee
^1 Frilled Dragon *Pat*
^2 Chameleons *Captain & Commando, The Chameleon Squad*
^2 Mali Uromastyx *Mr Pink & Chica*
^3 Pictus Geckos *Beastie Boy & His Harem*
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You can start by separating them.
Have a vet check follow up on the parasite treatments and have the vet hydrate them if they are dehydrated.
check and double check your setups and temps in both enclosures.
Once they are both acclimated, eating well, healthy and clear of parasites, and _only_ then, try reintroducing them into one very large enclosure.
Remember that uros sharing one enclosure does not always work out. Not only can you encounter problems with one animal passing illness or parasites onto another, aggression & dominance can be a major problem. Often the submissive animal will stop eating.
--benedita

Medical problems I leave to more experienced posters but, having scrolled around, I don't see your other pleas for help anywher on this forum. If they can't be seen, it's unlikely to be answered. Maybe I just missed them. I think, write & scroll faster than my eyeballs can keep up. Hoping your lizards make it. Separate them, triple check your husbandry & find a qualified vet. And let us ALL think about the many thousands (hundreds of thousands?)of Uros that have perished in transition so that we can enjoy the very few which survive in our viewing enclosures. Not a pretty picture at all. Another thread, maybe?

Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate it. I will go into some detail, this will be long, so please bear with me:

I got my first very young Mali Uromastyx from Petsmart bred by Lasco, I purchased the second Uro from LLL Reptile.
When purchasing it I called LLL and explained to the seemingly knowledgable employee that I had a male sub-adult that would not eat anything but mealworms since I had gotten him home from Petsmart, where they had told me he was eating carrots. Since I had been to the LLL showroom and their Uros all appeared to be very hefty and eating well, I asked if adding a Uro to encourage better eating habits could help, he told me that seemed like a good plan and that he would pick me a very healthy female not much larger than my 7 inch male. He also assured me that they were healthy and eating well so I should not worry about the new one making my existing one sick and that putting them together right away "should be fine".

When I got the Uro she acted very strange, I thought because of the shipping, she also had what appeared to be shed build up on her neck. I put her in with my male and after about 15 minutes of getting acquainted they were fine together. Before this I had already taken my Uro to a vet for his feeding issues, the vet told me not to starve him, to just feed him the worms if he would eat them. After I got the second Uro and the non-eating spread to both of them I took him in to a different vet who did a wash and found the round worms and started me treating both Uros for this. I then made an appointment for the new Uro, when I took her in the doctor told me that the shed build up was actually 2nd degree burns. He showed me how to tube feed organic veggie baby food to the Uros, which I have been doing since. They have been putting on weight, but her poops are still sooooo runny and smelly, sometimes bloody. His are solid and normal smelling, but he is so lethargic.

Today I got her to eat a horn worm and he ate 3 mealworms, this is the 1st time they have have willingly eaten anything since I got her in March, but I also know that this is not what they are supposed to be eating. Below is a list of what I have offered them:

Romaine, mustard greens, collard greens, bok choy, carrots, passion fruit, strawberries, banana, apple, carrot baby food, mixed veggie baby food, crickets, silk worms, meal worms, wax worms, horn worms, jump-start. I'm sure I am leaving something out. I am at my wit's end. I'm trying to see if I can sell them to someone who has experience with Uros because I feel that I am failing them as a caretaker. I am very attached to the cb male, but have issues with the female now that I know she is wc, I just feel so bad about having purchased her at all, she really hates captivity.

Anything you can add after reading my novel is VERY appreciated!

Since this, I have

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Greg 'n' Jenee
^1 Frilled Dragon *Pat*
^2 Chameleons *Captain & Commando, The Chameleon Squad*
^2 Mali Uromastyx *Mr Pink & Chica*
^3 Pictus Geckos *Beastie Boy & His Harem*
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Well, one thing I would recommend is to stop feeding them any insect matter at all. If you're tube feeding, that will keep them going until you can get them to eat decent plant matter on their own. Insect protein when nothing else is accepted will make problems worse, including dehydration. Even though it's the one thing he's eating on his own, it's like trying to put out a fire with gasoline.

I would continue to search for a knowledgable vet, even if you have to make a bit of a drive to get there.
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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)

Ok, finally someone is clear with me about feeding the insects, THANK YOU! I will cease this and continue tube feeding, hopefully they will come out of it.

I will keep trying, thanks for your input.

Jenee
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Greg 'n' Jenee
^1 Frilled Dragon *Pat*
^2 Chameleons *Captain & Commando, The Chameleon Squad*
^2 Mali Uromastyx *Mr Pink & Chica*
^3 Pictus Geckos *Beastie Boy & His Harem*
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Bloody feces are commonly caused by coccidia. You may want to ask a vet to specifically check for coccidia since is is small and easily missed and it will require a different medication (usually Albon) than the one that is used to treat worms. Hookworms can also cause bloodly stools, but the medication you're giving for the round worms should work for them s well. Pancur is a good broad spectrum wormer with a wide margin of safety. If the bloody stools persist after worming, I think coccidia is a good bet. If you can, get a copy of Understanding Reptile Parasites it gives dosages and recommended medications and is a good way of double checking vets that you think may not be that up on reptile medicine.

Good luck,
Alice

I saw from you was one selling these 2 mali's which is against the TOS. And not good if they are sick

I hope they can perk up when seperated, and you check their set ups/ temps and make sure they are where they should be.

Keep us updated
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

P.S. I do have an experienced reptile owner who is interested in taking the Uro's off my hands, I even know him very well. I just hesitate to hand these lizards off to someone unless I am positive that they will be able to handle all that comes with them, including the possibility of having to force-feed them forever if they never pick up eating on their own.

I guess my ultimate questions is...
Because force feeding seems to stress out the wild one so much more than the captive, (he is almost ok with it and will just lick it straight from the syringe most times), should I continue doing this to her, or am I causing more harm than good?

I don't really want to watch them starve to death, but I have been told that is what I need to do to finally get them to eat on their own. My vet said that is bad information and to feed them what they will eat, but every reptile store employee I have talked to has told me that they will eat if I starve them long enough. Am I just being too soft and giving in by feeding them worms just because they will eat them?

Thank you all again!

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greg 'n' Jenee
^1 Frilled Dragon *Pat*
^2 Chameleons *Captain & Commando, The Chameleon Squad*
^2 Mali Uromastyx *Mr Pink & Chica*
^3 Pictus Geckos *Beastie Boy & His Harem*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>>Am I just being too soft and giving in by feeding them worms just because they will eat them?

I just posted earlier in this thread. I repeat here: insect matter is a very bad idea for an anorexic uro. You shouldn't be starving them OR feeding them bugs. You can force feed until they will eat proper foods on their own.

What are you using to measure temps? Be sure it's something accurate (digital or IR). If those are your temps, you can boost them a little while they're recovering. Separate the animals, medicate for any parasites, keep them hydrated and fed. Find a good vet.
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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)

We are new to the forum and just read your thread. We have an Egyptian Uro from a baby and he is now 7 years old. We are talking out of our own experience with reptiles and amphibians, not as a vet or biologist.
It does sound like parasites and if a vet cannot be found in your area, do what we did and call the nearest zoo and contact their herpatologist department, explain the problem and emergency and most of them are glad to help. Ask for a recomendation for a facility near by, or take a drive to the nearest facility, that is familiar with the treatment of UROS.
Just keep in mind: never put a new animal with existing healthy animal until a health check had been done on the new animal.
Never take advice from a pet store because they are not vets and most of them have minimal knowledge of the pets they are selling and have minimal knowledge on care. Their only concern is to make money.
If you would like any extra advice about how to set the proper tank for them, feel free to email us.
Good luck to you and your lizards.
Ana & James

If you would like to contact us directly, please feel free to email us at aworldoffrogs@aol.com