Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone, my first post! I look forward to posting here as this seems to be the friendliest uro forum I've come across so far.

I have a pair of orange saharans, which I've had for a little over a year. I never really gave much thought to calcium suppliments, but because we also had a large colony of crested geckos we always have repti-cal on hand, so I would occasionally suppliment with that. They seem to be doing quite well, eating voraciously whatever I'll give them- usually I rotate between bok choy, collards, and mustard greens, and I'll buy things like green beans, zuccini, squash, prickly pear leaves, and alfalfa sprouts to mix in. A couple of weeks ago I moved and accidentally broke the 250 watt flood light I had as their heat source. The only thing I had on hand was a 100 watt halogen to use temporarily, which doesn't quite cut it. I can't for the life of me find my thermometer right now so I'm not sure what the temps are at, but they're definitely not quite warm enough. I think as a result of that and having had their whole tank (75 gals) torn apart so I could move they stressed a little. The female more so than the male- she just wedged herself under a rock and didn't come out for over a week. I pulled her out and put her in front of the food and she only picked at it. So I got concerned and started reading up online to see if there was anything I could do until I got the heat back up, and I came across info about supplimenting 2 to 3 times weekly. My question is, how many of you suppliment like this? What do you use? I went to the pet store and bought some t-rex herbivorous reptile calcium suppliment with a 2:1 calcium phosphorus ratio, but I'm not sure if that's the best thing for them as I've heard you really have to watch the phosphorus intake. The male seems to be just fine, and the female is getting better- she stresses WAY easier than he does, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything. Any ideas? Thanks for the help!

Welcome Kerub! Uros are dynamic and geryi/saharan are one of my favorites, though can be difficult to captive breed. Anyways.
I would get rid of the T-Rex. The phospherous is too high for most herps. Perhaps may be green iggies are ok with it.
I have used Rep-Cal's Calcium with Vit D3 for close to 10-12 years and it works terrific for uros, cyclura, beardies, and most others.

There has always been a huge debate over the UVB bulbs, etc. I have tried them, research them, etc. and over the last 6-7 years have not gone with them.....period. I have only stuck with the Rep-Cal. 3-4 times a week for babies and juvies, and 2 x week for adults and older juvies. Being in Michigan, we do not have the luxury of the Florida, Az, or CA sun. I have had very good success with my herps health, absolutely no MBD, they get fat, breed well, etc. Some may argue this point with me, though.....

As to their heat. If their heat is not adequate, their bodies with not be able to fully break down the nutrients, thus the supplements may not do their job. You can use a regular household bulb for heat. Use the wattage that is able to get their ambient (surface) temp up there. This will depend on a few factors.......distance from bulb to closest surface, size of enclosure, etc........

Good luck!!!

Greg

My goodness so many new friends to talk uro's with, AWESOME. Glad your here.
Seems you got a pretty indepth reply from our buddy Greg, so I just want to say , Nice to have you with us.

Enjoy the forum!

Crispy, my male saharan

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PHEve / Eve

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And also the reply. I will stick with rep-cal. My boyfriend used to take care of all of that stuff, but we broke up quite a while back and so now I'm forced to learn everything on my own. He got all the crested geckos and the leo, I got the cornsnake and the uros. I think I got the better end of the deal
Anyways- you both have beatiful uros- here are my two, Maynard and Tori.

and my amel corn

I would say YOU did pretty well also, hehehehee Just beautiful uro's and the snake is a DILLY too

Hey hope the second time around is a bit happier, make sure ya sign a reptile -PRENUP agreement, EVERYTHING is YOURS, hahahaha,

Suncharmers/ all my kids

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PHEve / Eve

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haha... I was actually kind of glad to have him take the cresties. I like them and all, but they are a lot of work. plus we had like 13 of them and eggs incubating. We're still friends, though so I get to go visit them whenever I want.

Thanks for the compliments on the uros- I hand picked them myself out of a huge tub containing about 150 newly arrived little guys from nigera. I had a friend that worked at a zoo at the time, and he went to the distributor's to pick up some chameleons for an exhibit and took me along. I paid a whopping $35 each for them. Good deal, eh?

I'm so jealous,lol
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Grama Deb

Eve I just spent the better part of an hour on your web page admiring your wonderful collared group (and the others too)and all I can say is WOW!!!
I have just recently become interested in reptiles and have purchased an ornate uro baby. But now I am so impressed with your collared I may have to have one or two of those some day too.Right now I'm very involved in appropriately raising Scooter. He seems to be thriving, with the help of all you wonderful people on the forum. Thanks for being out there and congrats on all your wonderful scaley friends.
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Grama Deb

The lizards kids and I thank you,
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PHEve / Eve

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I just recently got a collared, and they are fantastic little lizards! I love uros because they have such personality, and collareds do, too! They're cute as bugs and totally wacky! I love them! If you like lizards with personality and don't mind doing the bug thing, I'd recommend getting a few.

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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)
0.1 Collared Lizard (Rorschach)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

REALLY nice pic, and I could not agree MORE, collareds are so COOL, and beautiful to Boot!
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PHEve / Eve

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Hi Torey! Awesome shot! Yes, collards are terrific little lizards! They are hilarious and typically love attention and are even playful. The aquaflame males are just amazing as well.
I use to raise and breed them a while back. I use to call them cricket chompers. LOL You are right on; they are a cool herp!

Good luck and have fun!

Greg

oops forgot Torey.......they even go bi-pedal.......running on their hind legs......LOL

Greg

Crispy is awesome to say the least! Reminds me of my old Kito, though Crispy is plumper! LOLOL Hey, if you ever want to find him a home.........LOLOLOL

I still need to find a gorgeous 1.2 adults. I got a nice trio from Tom Greb Sunday. After all the emails over the years and forum posts, I find out he lives only about 20 mins. from me. LOL I'll have to get photos of the little ones soon

Greg

Thanks, yeah Crispy is a pretty guy! I have had him now probably going on 6 - 7 years.
Beleive it or not I had thought of his happiness and if I should re- home him, since I have not bred him, and may not for a time, to many things going on and lack of space for now.

But......... he's a PET, I think he looks happy, and he does get to run a bit in the reptile room with chucks, and some others, and likes them And he has lived here so long, and is used to everthing. I would miss him, even if he did not miss me.

He's a GOOD boy very gentle with other lizards!
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PHEve / Eve

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Geesh, how the heck did I forget to say, Congratulations on the new trio awesome to see you BACK into things,

*** And ya live near the "CHUCK MAN" himself hunh, hehehehee LOL, My man Tom, he's always looked out for me, I have a couple of his children, LMAO (sounds nasty )

Post some pics, be waiting
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PHEve / Eve

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Boy, I bet his wife would be pissed if she found out!!!! LOLOLOL
Tom is a real good guy too! I saw some of his brumating chucks and has some beautiful red backs and red tails. With him living so close hopefully we'll be able to swamp some breeders later on.....

Oh, I took some pics of the trio and get them posted. Did not turn out to well so want to get better ones.....

May be he would not miss your sassiness!!!! LOL Boy, that is awesome Eve, 6-7 years! There have been quite a few of mine that I did not want to give up, though as you know, I was forced too...... Crispy does look happy and if you do ever think he gets depressed, let me know......I also have a license as a shrink! LOL www.attentive-ear.com

I use supplements very sparingly. MAYBE once a week for the calcium (Rep-Cal with no D3 or phosphorus) and once every other week for the Herptivite. If you feed a good, varied diet, they should get most of what they need.

Also, I choose to use calcium with no D3 except on very rare occasion. I'm in western Oregon, so very little sunshine available, but I use good, strong UVB bulbs and a diet aiming toward a 2:1 calcium to phosphorus ratio. The debate about D3 vs. UVB is strong, but some things are clear. Green iguanas cannot process oral D3, so must have a UVB bulb. Monitors get all the D3 they need from their food (right??). But no studies have been done with uros as far as I know. So I go with what I feel is the safer option - letting them metabolize their own with a good UVB bulb. Assuming they CAN process oral D3, nobody knows how much they need. BUT, that's my choice, of course. Everyone else can do what THEY choose.

As for your female - have you been able to find your thermometer or replace the broken bulb? It's important to get the temps right again as soon as possible. Once your temps are good again, keep an eye on her to make sure she perks up - otherwise you might want to get her a check up with the 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)
0.1 Collared Lizard (Rorschach)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

My female has gotten a little better over the past week, I was mainly just asking to be on the safe side about the suppliments. I've been a little lax on their care for the last couple of months because I was dealing with starting a buisiness and moving, but now things have calmed down and I'm playing catchup. I will probably just go buy a new thermometer tonight, because I'm going to have to get a better bulb for heat too. My UV bulb is a zoo-grade, not available to hobbyists bulb- a friend of mine that worked at the zoo gave it to me. I have no idea what brand it is or how strong, but he said that it was the best one I could get. Maybe a mega-ray? Not sure, but I do know that he said it was a model that's not available to the pet trade. She's been eating really well for the last couple of days but is a bit on the thin side, so I've been feeding as much as she will eat. They typically get a wide variety of foods, but I only purchase and feed 2 to 3 veggies at a time to feed because I only have two and the food goes bad fairly quickly. Each week to 10 days I go to the store and buy a different 3 foods. Bok choy, baby bok choy, endive, collards, mustard greens, squash and zucchini, carrots, green beans, and prickly pear pads are what I usually get, and if I have veggies for myself that are good for them I'll throw them in the mix, too. I am fairly certain right now that the temps are the largest part of the problem, because now that she's a bit more active she spends the largest part of the day basking. I'll take care of it this afternoon. Thanks for the help!

>>My UV bulb is a zoo-grade, not available to hobbyists bulb- a friend of mine that worked at the zoo gave it to me.

You might want to find out what it is, if you can, and how old it is - plus what the last recorded UVB output was (and at what distance). You'll want to be super careful with a zoo-grade UVB bulb. If it really is a Mega Ray Zoo, the MINIMUM distance for the bulb is three feet away (maximum is five feet). Closer than that can be very dangerous. If it's a different brand, then I don't know. A UVB meter would be almost a necessity when dealing with a bulb designed for zoo application. The Solarmeter 6.2 is a very handy little device.
Info on Mega Ray Zoo.
Info on the Solarmeter 6.2.

I'm glad to hear her appetite is better.
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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)
0.1 Collared Lizard (Rorschach)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)