Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright, this ties into my last question dealing with gravid uros. The question being, if a male and female uro are left in an enclosure after mating is it likely that the male may stop feeding for the female's benefit? I know several other lizard species have this quark.

My friend (not me, so please don't cross-examine my post) believes his large male niger and small unsexed mali may have mated. Both are of age and now the niger has stopped eating. He is separating them now, but i was just curious if this could be the reason? Has anyone encountered uros cohabiting after mating?

My Saharan pair have produced eggs two years in a row now, and I have not needed to separate them. I did the first year just in case, but didn't bother this year since there were no problems. Both continued to behave as they always have. The male certainly didn't sacrifice anything for the female - they treat each other as furniture for the most part, unless actually breeding. I know some females get very snarky after mating and/or laying - depends on species or individual, I don't know.

If I'm understanding your question correctly, I've never heard of nor witnessed a male uro voluntarily abandoning food for the "benefit" of a female. I think your friend has done best thing #1 by separating them. Best thing #2 would be a fecal check to see if the appetite problem might be parasite related.
-----
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)
0.1 Collared Lizard (Rorschach)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

yes we just may do that. As of last night the male is with me and ate as soon as food was offered. Which makes me think it may have been for the mali. My friend is sayigng that the mali is also continuing to fatten. Adding more suspiscion to the question of pregnancy.

Keep in mind that uromastyx do not have to breed for the female to produce eggs.
I am not suggesting that mating did not take place between these two, just that it does not have to for the female to produce eggs.

I have not witnessed a male voluntarily going off feed due to a female being gravid but have witnessed a sudden increase in the appetite in many females early on in the breeding season and in the early part of gestation. I have witnessed only one gravid female that became more aggressive at the food dish (ornate) where the male had to be removed. If your friend’s female has become more aggressive in feeding, the male may not be eating due to intimidation. This scenario could take place whether or not the one animal is gravid.

Many of my males will slack off eating close to oviposition and stay inside the hide or out of the female’s way a few days immediately leading up to the big event.

Regarding your friends situation….. If the male geyri is only two years old and the mali is half the size of the geyri, it is unlikely that the uromastyx would be sexually mature.

Given the few details you have provided, I think that your friend should look into the possibility that these two uromastyx are both males and shift focus to determining the sex. You mention a tussle between the two and that this all started after brumation. Brumation is often a breeding stimuli that results in males falling into a heightened state of aggression toward other males.

You also mention that the mali is suddenly growing and exhibiting dominance over enclosure items like the hide. When one animal starts to dominate the other, they typically defend things like the hide, basking spot, food dish…ect. It would stand to reason that the dominant animal in this situation would be gaining weight and growing at a faster pace than the submissive one that is stressed, has less access to food, and less access to the basking spot to aid in the digestion of the food it does manage to find.

Removing the submissive male from the enclosure should result in the response you witnessed- the submissive animal eagerly feeding.

Your post indicated that you do not want to be cross-examined about this subject and yet this is the second thread you have started on the topic of your friend’s uromastyx. Maybe it be best if your friend found his/her way here and posted? Knowing details such as the length and weight of each animal, having photos of the two, and having someone that can answer questions about the topic being posted about would be helpful when trying to discuss the situation.

This is now flbriaz's friend replying to the rather rude post reply i have just recieved, you, yourself should learn how to be helpful, instead of displaying deconstructive criticism.

For all who care to be a help, i have a full sized adult male niger uro, and a sub adult unsexed mali. they have lived together in harmony for over a year, and i have had no problems. Recently about a month ago i noticed a weight loss in my male, and a weight gain in my mali. i have further watched to see the niger wouldnt eat, and the mali isn't showing any aggression towards his tankmate. they each have their own hides, as they respectfully use them. i have now seperated the two and immediately the niger started eating again, as far as the sub adult mali, no changes in behavior since the seperation. if anyone could give me some INTELLIGENT insight it would be very much appreciated.

Thank You,

Ryan

"Maybe the problem is that the Mali is a male and he has become the dominant one and is eating more."

I posted this for you last wed on the 19th. I agree 100% with what Deb had to say. Getting a pic and a definate sex of the Mali would help out a ton here. Dominance isn't always something we can see.
-----
1.1 Ornates (Lindsay Pike)(Doug Dix)
0.0.1 Mali
0.0.1 Egyptian
0.1 Weimaraner

” This is now flbriaz's friend replying to the rather rude post reply i have just recieved, you, yourself should learn how to be helpful, instead of displaying deconstructive criticism. if anyone could give me some INTELLIGENT insight it would be very much appreciated”

Hmmm…let me get this right Ryan. You felt that my post was pure unhelpful criticism, lacked intelligence, and was very rude to you?????
I had to actually go back through all the posts in both threads to triple check that it was my post you were referring to and I am still scratching my head.

My entire post was filled with helpful and constructive information and gave details covering the very topic your friend decided to create two separate threads on. The quality of information in the post is evident to anyone that can read so I will not bother to go over how I covered the subject flbriaz's presented and questions he asked. Not to mention providing insight on things possibly related but not addressed in his posts.

The rudeness you refer to was my suggestion of you coming forward to discuss this when your friend did not want to be cross examined on the very topic he was posting about? You were provided with a lengthy detailed post regarding your specific situation and you are offended because I suggested you show up so that you could provide details on things such as weight and length of the animals?

I think your post is a little over-reactive for a ‘friend’ who was provided several paragraphs of information on their situation and a simple suggestion of coming here to provide accurate details that your friend implied that he would not/could not provide.

It is rather nice that your friend allows you to use his sign on name- is he allowing you to use his IP as well?

As I definitely want to provide helpful, intelligent information- here is a quote from this website that you might want to share with flbriaz:

“Posting under another individual's username and/or email address, or impersonating another user or a host/staff member with a misleading username, signature, or statement, is a violation.”

I re-read Debb's post to try and figure out what exactly was rude. Can't find anything AT ALL! If you're that sensitive about constructive suggestions and observations, maybe you should just take the uros to an experienced vet to figure out your problems, since you're unwilling to accept advice from folks here. You asked questions - you got answers (good ones at that). Was it just that they weren't the answers you were looking for?
-----
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)
0.1 Collared Lizard (Rorschach)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

I fail to see an iota of rudeness in Debb's post. If anything, I see one more example of her truly constructive and "intelligent" advice that people ask for when consulting this forum. Why is it that you ask for experienced input, but when you get it, you get defensive??

I totally agree with Deb . Good that you seperated them . I would also have a stool check done on both and I would not put them back together .