Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We bought a 6 month old Saharan from a breeder in town yesterday morning, and we are a little worried.

He spent all last eathing Endive and Escrole and running around his tank. He sat in his basking spot and seemed to be enjoying him self.

This morning we swore he was dead. Not moving, and barely breathing. It this normal?

He eventually moved around and ate a little, but then he went into his hiding spot and "played dead" again.

He just woke up and is moving around again, but I'm a little stressed that I'm doing something wrong.

He could be stressed, as saharan/nigerians ca nstress easily. Being in a new enviroment ca ndefinitely do that. Make sure to double check the temps and a gradient at 120 basking and 80 low end. 85 low end will be ok, wit hnight time temps not following below 75, especially for a juvie as yours.

If your temps are okay, give it another day or two to acclimate more to his/her new home. If it is eating, this is a good sign.
One aspect may help too, though some may be against this.....I often would soak mine saharans in warm water for approx 10 mins. This will hydrate them well and rejuvinate them a bit.
Yes, being a desert species who does not need water, however I have had good success with this action. If no response in a positive direction is seen in a day or so. A herp vet is highly recommended.

thanks so much! I think that we will wait and see. He seems to be a little more active now. What about a heat lamp at night to keep the temps in the right range?

Depending on your location (I'm in Michigan and it's freaking freezing right now LOL) You want to keep the night time temps for a 6 month / juvie NO Lower than 75, even 80 is more appropriate. A ceramic heat bulb will work, or I have always used regular human heating pads as well (the small size). You ca nadjust them from low (mostly used) to high. I have an infared temp gun though to double check the temps. Most typically though the low setting at night works well. Place this under their hide box. At during the day it can easily be turned off if needed to allow for the proper gradient temps with the day heat lights, etc.

Good luck!

Why do you recommend keeping the temperature at 80 at night for juveniles?

I noted 75 is typically fine as well, though upper 70 to 80 for babies and young juvies (typically 5-6 months and under). This helps fight off respiratory infection. Older uros can typically handle 70 at night without any problems. Also the higher night temps, help build and maintain their immune systems for a bit and helps build the healthy bacteria needed for proper digestive needs.....a major reason why eat their adults fecal matter....there is healthy bacteria needed in the fecal matter to fight off disease and the bad bacteria.

Hope this helps, though only noting what has worked well for my situation.

Greg

A little amendment to my post above. The temps I noted I use for summer months and in winter, babies and juvies will not go higher than 75, adults down to room temps, even a bit cooler is fine to at night, to mimic their african desert environments.

After 6 months of age, I do not utilize any night time heat at all, since I always have them in my home and it doesn't can any cooler than 65 in the home at night. Hope this helps to clarify my posting above. Sorry for the confusion......

Take very good care!

Greg

Thanks for the clarification. I've heard of keeping night temps around 80 if your uro is having some sort of medical problems like respiratory infection, but I agree that 75/70 is probably more accurate depending on the month and such.

I have place my order for my temperature gun, and hope that it comes tomorrow, so far the surface temps have been in range. He is still eating, and he again had a normal stool.
He still sleeps a lot, but the breeder says that is normal. We have UVB bulb (reptile) and heat lamp for the basking. But I was wondering about the uro cal powder. On some of the care sheets it says to do 2-3 times per week, and I have heard every feeding. I don't want to overdo it, I want to do what is best.

Thanks again in advance, the forums have been so helpful.

Supplementing is a really hard thing to advise on partly because no one but you knows exactly how much you're putting on it. For me, I feel safer in feeding as well-balanced a diet as I know how and supplementing less often - say, once a week for calcium and less often for multi-vite.
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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)

Not to over-simplify the issue, but maybe he was sleeping. I'm a lot like that in the mornings, too!

Seriously though, unless there are other factors that might indicate a problem, I'd say he was just asleep. They are VERY sound sleepers. Once they go to bed they are completely out until they warm up the next day.

JR
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BRUCELIZARD.COM Curious? Thought So.