Reptile & Amphibian Forums

people hate me and people love me 4 this...i use a 48x18x30 mesh tank...for my mali i can get the basking temps to vary from 120-135 degrees ferinheight with the use of a 150W tight beam basker and and the hottest ceramic heater they make... These ar the main basking temps for a uro but people still hate me because of the open air mesh.....no problems with my uro eats regularly just completed 3rd shed and roams around fine...any input thx

here she is sry its so blurry ill get new ones at a later date

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well this is what i got...i no im new and have no respect and i just wanted to start of by showing what i got...anyone else wanna do the same?

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Who loves you for this? You are getting your temps from a piece of crap thermometer by the looks of your pics. I'd bet you don't have a good temperature gradient but you won't know using that little dial thermometer.
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1.1 Ornates (Lindsay Pike)(Doug Dix)
0.0.1 Mali
0.0.1 Egyptian
0.1 Weimaraner

What is your ambient temp like? cool side? Basking temps are not all that are important, and the reason most people hate mesh tanks for uros is because they let out too much of the heat to properly maintain a good ambient temp. If you get it to work, great for you, but there IS a reason that it's not recommended. I would have to agree, too, that those dial thermometers are usually way to inaccurate to use for uros. You know, housing your uro is not really about getting respect for doing something different, it's about doing what's best for your uro.

i wasn't meanin respect by doing wats wrong. my laser thermometer did an ambient reading and it read 87 today.....i wanted to get respect like meaning that people know who i am and that i post valulabe stuff and think that im not a rokie

well as best I can tell, this forum isn't one that is full of pissing contests. What you know is important, but not as important as how you present it. Share what you know, be aware that other people's opinions may be different and they may say so. There are a lot of experienced keepers and breeders on here. Just come here to learn, share, and have fun, and don't worry about gaining anyone's respect. Uros are not an easy species to keep, so it looks like you're off to a decent start, I would say as long as you're maintaining proper temps and your uro remains healthy- I don't see a huge problem with the screen tank, but I'm not an expert so I would listen to the advice of some of the other guys and gals on here.

I'm not sure what concerns me most,the Uro habitat or the educational system in this country that produces such low level dribble from kids that can't spell or enunciate even the basics.

"my laser thermometer did an ambient reading and it read 87 today"

If this is a temp gun you are referring to- the reading was not an ‘ambient’ reading but a surface temperature of something in the enclosure. While we can assume that the air immediately surrounding the surface was close to this temperature, this is not an accurate way to measure ambient temperatures throughout the enclosure. I would suggest you use a digital thermometer and take readings throughout the enclosure a couple of inches off the substrate. Do this during various times of the day and keep track of these readings for several weeks. You want to revisit this anytime you have seasonal temperature changes as the ambient room temperature will have an impact on your enclosure temperatures.

"i wanted to get respect like meaning that people know who i am and that i post valulabe stuff and think that im not a rokie'

If want to gain respect of people on this forum, I highly doubt you will get it by posting about the mesh habitat you are using for an animal that requires a higher ambient gradient than most other reptiles kept in captivity. You may be getting a proper basking spot temperature on the limb shown in the photo but it is unlikely that the ambient temperature is where it should be throughout the enclosure. Experienced keepers that have worked with dozens of enclosures can look at the photo of the tall mesh enclosure with one heat lamp and pretty much know that the ambient in the majority of the enclosure is off regardless of what you post for temperatures.

If you are concerned about respect, I would be hesitant on recommending gut-loaded insects for uromastyx which many (myself included) feel are herbivores. I know many owners that have put weight on thin uromastyx without resorting to high fat animal protein.

You may also want to make sure that the information you are typing is accurate before posting it. For example you posted: ” Try deer fern farms.... deerfernfarms.com you can get prety much every uro there and their all captive bred." I do not believe that this is an accurate statement and I am willing to bet that Doug sells a lot more animals that are imported than those he actually breeds and hatches. While the CITES label may indicate some of these animals are CB or farm raised, I believe that your statement that all animals from Deer Fern Farms are captive bred may be misleading at best. I know that I have received quite a few shipments of wc animals from this facility.
You might also want to watch what you type as I am getting confused on what you do and do not own. All of your posts on this and another forum have referred to ‘one’ female uromastyx that you purchased last summer. You posted a few days ago that you were thinking of getting a male mali for this female and the following day you posted telling someone how you introduced your malis by keeping them in side by side enclosures for a couple of weeks. What gives?

Opps - I replied earlier before seeing this part of your post. I must have missed where you said you had a laser thermometer. Those are the best way to go but remember you need to measure three spots and all three are important. The baskingspot (115-120F), main floor (100F), and far side hiding spot (85F inside the cave).

It would be a good idea to check the overall cage temps in the early morning before your lights come on as mesh doesn't retain any heat. Make sure you are staying above around 70F as your nightly low. Most Uros are poor eaters if the night temps drop too much into the 60's.

I must have missed a couple things - sorry I didn't read all the posts connected to this thread (I was just trying to post a few quick answers today and get back to work!). Yes insects tend to cause more problems than they are worth. I know many posted caresheets and books advocate their use but Uros really don't need them. Think of them like candy. You're kids may love them but do you really want this to be a significant part of their diet? We only recommend them as training aids for shy Uro's. Otherwise they can get all their protein needs from a good selection of greens etc.

Lastly in responce to the questions about WC-CB, we (Deer Fern Farms) do sell both WC and captive bred. I wish we produced enough to sell only CB but for may species it's not an option. It depends on the species as too what percentage is which. Overall, we sell about 75%/25% CB to WC. By species, Moroccans are all CB, Algerians are all WC (no CB's exist as of yet). Saharans have been 50/50 but we're phasing out all WC Saharans as they are too problematic. This year will be 90/10. Ornates are in theory all CB but I feel certain some the adults entering the country are WC or ranched and we list them accordingly. Almost all our Mali's are CB and we have also been phasing out most WC Mali's - we still cherry pick a few each importation for those who want breeding stock but we generally don't offer any for pet buyers any more. It's not that they don't make good pets, but it hurts the captive breeders to have to compete with wild collected animals and we really want to see more people breed these. Egyptians are esentailly all CBs or ranched as are Indians (those are actually probably all ranched and rarely available to the US market).

Most the other species are hard to get as CB or WC. Sudanese are 50/50, Benti of late have all been longterm captive or CB, Somali's are essentially only available as WC, pure Ebonys are all WC to date, pure Bandeds are very rare as CB -we just sell longterm captives at this point. Debb has some probable Banded x Ebonys but other than that those two species are just not being produced as of yet. For the most part, enough true CBs are just not being produced to meet the demand for Uro lovers. If you've got a pair of Uros anyway and would like to see fewer WC - why not consider going the extra step and trying to breed yours?? It's not easy but those babies are a kick in the pants!!

FWIW,

Doug

Mesh tanks are hard to make work for several reasons. The extra ventilation isn't a problem as long as the overall cage is at the right temps but I could'nt tell how you were heating this hot enough without melting the mesh? Are the lights inside it?

Along with heat retention issues, mesh is bad for catching toe nails. Be careful to keep your Uro's nails well trimmed if you choose to keep using the mesh cage.

Also - as far as temperatures, many people get hung up on the basking site temperature and tend to forget the rest of the cage. THE most important temperature in the cage is the ground temperature throughout the center of the cage. This needs to be around 100F in about 75% of the cage. The whole idea of a hotter basking spot is so the Uros can quickly get up to their ideal body temperature of around 103-105F, then cruise the rest of the tank in comfort. Too many people go nuts and shoot for really high basking temps (125 F). The Uros really can't use this
and if your overall cage is at the right temps, there is no need for a drastically higher basking spot. FWIW, 125F is fatal to them if they got stuck there for more than a few minutes. 115F to 120F is as hot as you should really go. More is not better in this case. If your Uro is spending a lot of time under the basking light, your overall cage is likely too cool.

Someone indicated you were using a digital stick on thermometer - if so, note they measure air temperatures (and most do it poorly). You need to know ground temperatures as this is the heat the Uros are experiencing and is transferring directly to (or from) their bodies. Also in a mesh cage, you air temps will be fairly erratic unless your room is also pretty hot.

Your Uro looks good in the photo so you can't be doing too bad - just be aware your job is going to be harder in a mesh tank.

Doug