Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my male Nigerian Uro IRWIN!

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This is another one of him and his drastic color change when he sleeps!

Wow, definitely brighter than the red Niger we just got last weekend at the herp show!! I think we might have a female based on color. She is only about seven inches long. On another note, are you feeding yours insects at all? If so, how often/many per feeding?? How much does a good feeder eat? Daily, everyother day, etc.? I am used to my russians eating like pigs. However, our little uro is definitely no where near an aggressive feeder like them even with basking temp of 139 degrees F on the hot side.

Thanks

Drop the temps a bit it's supposed to be 115-130 hot side! So 139 is abit warm for her/him. Yes i feed about 5 crickets a day if he'll eat that many, other then that he gets a mealie or two as a treat each day and he loves mealies he dances for them and everything. haha.....he weighs 129. sum odd grams can't remember off the top of my head...to many weights, i own 19 different herps right now, and in the process of selling my fish to make more room for racks! haha

Anyway's, he is almost about 1yr old so he maybe a bit bigger then yours. I did feed him more crix when he was younger, but he subsided to them and really isn't tat interested anymore. He loves his greens! Although, My buddy has a female mali and she won't eat crix or mealies only her greens. I also beleiev mine is wild caught, so he's not all about being held. Good luck....Any pics of yours?? I love pics!! haha

I attached 2 more for you!

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Thanks for the info. Ours is definitely wild caught I suspect. I am believing female due to more subdued color than seen on male pics. More banded red color with the dark brown, and more brown belly color. I just got a lamp stand so will be able to adjust height of the heat lamp better. Sitting on the screen of the tank now about 12 inches above basking rock in the cage. She doesnt climb on top of the rock though, so it may be too hot up there like you suggest. However, she is sweet and doesn't mind being held at all. She crawls around, but never hisses, tail lashes, or anything. Thats why I got her for my daughter because I heard they are pretty docile.

Canbe my male will be cool for about 10 min then he will start dartring and they are very quick! SO makje sure your just cautious. Yea sounds like a female for sure. Usually are a little duller in color. Good luck ever need anything my email is Brizzdown@aim.com feel free to email me anytime! Always willing to help!Good luck! They are a trip to watch for sure!

Hi!

In my Uro-cages the basking temps can rise up to 141F, which I have observed to be just fine. At the cool end the temps stay at 80-85F.

Are you trying to give it a URI? That's horrible they should never be that hot! It should be at 130 at the very most! Too hot can cause major problems.

I'm really suprised that so many people have ignored this discussion. I'm not even sure where to begin. Insects are bad, period. A uro that large is definately a lot older then a year old. 130 for a basking spot of the hot side is fine but not for an air temp which should be around 100.
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1.1 Ornates (Lindsay Pike)(Doug Dix)
0.0.1 Mali
0.0.1 Egyptian
0.1 Weimaraner

Where are you getting your information? A 141 degree spot isn't necessarily too hot. As long as the ambient temp is 100, it really shouldn't be too bad. How hot do you think a rock gets in the desert? My basking spot will occassionally hit 135-137 on hotter summer days, but I'm able to keep the ambient down to 98-100 and my uro is quite fine.

Hi!

"That's horrible they should never be that hot! It should be at 130 at the very most! Too hot can cause major problems."

Major problems, if there's a spot where temperatures reach 141? =D
They always have the possibility to take cover from the heat.
There's plenty of sand to dig under. That's how they take cover from the heat in the desert.
Also, like I said temperature is much lower on the other side of the cage.

Never had any problems with temperatures.
I think it's more important to think about the natural habitat and keep an eye on the animals behaviour, than keep the eye on care sheets all the time...

-Vic

That's insane! your insane for having it that hot!
Do you also realize how hot that rock is now becasue you hav the temps at 140. That completely to high! That rock is TOO hot and will burn the uro if he lays on too long. You will get the uro sick if temps to hot or to cold. Insects can be feed on occasion that's fine! They are to have a 70 30 insects being 30% of their diet. Also sand a big NO NO!! Sand is the worst substrate out there, It will cause irritation and impaction. I use paper towels and have a box over a spot where there is desert snow for him to dig in. He will also dig right under the paper towels, and this is alot saffer, healthier for your uro, it also will be easier clean up for you!

"That's insane! your insane for having it that hot!
Do you also realize how hot that rock is now becasue you hav the temps at 140."

Um, the temperature of the rock is 140....there is some confusion here about basking spots and air temps.

"Insects can be feed on occasion that's fine! They are to have a 70 30 insects being 30% of their diet."

I would love to know where you get this info from because most people would disagree with this statement completely.

"Also sand a big NO NO!! Sand is the worst substrate out there, It will cause irritation and impaction. I use paper towels and have a box over a spot where there is desert snow for him to dig in. He will also dig right under the paper towels, and this is alot saffer, healthier for your uro, it also will be easier clean up for you!"

Substrates are always going to be debated but Sand is far from the worst substrate, it is ill advised for babies but compaction problems are not caused directly from being on sand as it from other husbandry issues not be correct.
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1.1 Ornates (Lindsay Pike)(Doug Dix)
0.0.1 Mali
0.0.1 Egyptian
0.1 Weimaraner

Nuts sorry i would never use sand and IS the worst substrate for ANY herp! Will not EVER use or recommend! Personally anyone who uses it is just for their personal liking! Which is a complete idiotic move but whatever at least i know i am not killing any of my herps by having them on sand. I will also woarn everyone that sand is bad because it is, and has proven facts of impaction! Temps are not to 140 they are to be at most 130. Anything over is way to hot! Less activity less eating loss of appitite and so on can be issues of being to hot!

>>Nuts sorry i would never use sand and IS the worst substrate for ANY herp!

Golly, I would have put crushed walnut, calci sand, and broken glass as much worse than playsand.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, and Tank)
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)

It would be possible to make a thread further from the truth... but your information is borderline absurd.

I've already posted corrections to numerous vitamin and mineral misconceptions that you have. A 140 spot will not burn a uro. I wouldn't recommend that high of a basking spot to everybody as it might be harder for your typical owner to maintain appropriate ambient and cool side temperatures, but you're being a wee bit over-reactionary

Sand is also not the worst substrate you can have for a uro. It's fine for a lizard over 6 or 7 inches.

You're also wrong about insect intake.

Don't believe -everything- you read on some random online care sheet or outdated book. Only a few caresheets are from real, reputable breeders, and those are the only ones worth reading...

All my info is from experience and breeders i do deal with personally! I have about 10 then i supply and they supply me with means. I work with a few patstores as well. No chainstores just privatley owned. There is about 5 of them i deal with. So sorry these are also not all y personal opinions they are facts of thign i have seen happen! Insect intake is YES 30% of their diet! Sorry i did very little research online due to i don't beleiev anything on the internet! Alot of times that's why i get so pissed because some people aren't even serious when they post here some people post the stupidest crap you should now or shouldn't own the herp. Just a bit ridiculous!

>>Sorry i did very little research online due to i don't beleiev anything on the internet!

Good. Then you won't be offended if I dismiss your opinions on temperatures, diet, and substrate as harmful and inaccurate.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, and Tank)
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)

I second what everybody else says about 140 basking temperatures. In fact, I have used temperatures even higher on my monitors. I have used them in the 160s, 170s and even up to 200. The animals still used these temperatures (sometimes; other times they usually basked concealed under the stacked boards). However, temperatures probably never need to go that high. Frank Retes (a leader in reptile husbandry of Goanna Ranch) has said something along the lines of anything over 165 probably being wasted energy, but the animals will use them without harm. I completely agree with him.

I also agree with whoever said that we should more so start reading our animals rather than care sheets. Your animals are in constant communication with you through behavior, you just need to learn how to listen. It gets on my nerves when people say things like "My animal is doing great, but this care sheet says..." or "Everything is right (according to a care sheet usually) in my husbandry, but my animal is dehydrated, not growing, lethargic, etc." Only use care sheets and numbers (temperatures and humidtiy) as a base for your husbandry. After that, adjust your husbandry according to how your animal acts.

Cheers,
Ryan

What on EARTH are you talking about? You have one uromastyx so there is no way you deal with uromastyx breeders or petstores. What you probably MEANT to say was that you deal with =leopard gecko= breeders on a regular basis. These leo breeders probably dabble in uros and got their information from outdated books and caresheets. The information in your posts is growing more and more absurd. You've been entirely misinformed about how vitamins and minerals handle heat and cold. You are making stuff up about how someone's lizard will die with a temperature five degrees above 130. You're trying to say that endive and bok choy are "once a week" foods. You've pulled a 30/70 insect/herbivore diet completely out of thin air. What's next?

I have various temps for basking spots that range from 110-140. The variance in temps is related to the height of the spots. My nigerians pretty much live on the 140 level. Rarely do they even bother staying down where it is only 110.

I'm not going to claim to be an expert... just going off the experinece of the pair I own. But they seem to love their 140 spot so I'm not going change what they like.

As for the insects debate, I give them each a superworm once a week.

Haha, They are not MONITORS! Therefore don't have same temps or are even slightly the same species! Not really because my uro is healthy an will not die unfortunately i can't say the same for yours! Good luck!

Frank Retes has measured these temperatures being used by several species/genera of desert reptiles, no just monitors. He has tested these temperatures in captivity on many, many, many generations of monitors (probably other reptiles, too). I believe that Robyn of Pro Exotics has used these temperatures on his ornates as well (although the care sheet suggests 130, he has said that this is a minimum and that it could go much higher). I am not aware of him receiving any burns or other problems from them.

Do you seriously think that rocks being used for basking in the desert stay as such low temperaures? Heck, I have registered a 110 degree surface temperature on a 50 degree day in Arkansas. Perhaps materials like slate become too hot. But, slate is typically cut glass smooth and is a very dense rock. I supect that rocks in the wild are porous and rugged, rendering no burning. I like using wood for basking. Not only is it much safer when stacked (much lighter), but it allows for a better gradient in a small area (a cage). Do what you want, but if I ever get some uros, as I may soon, I will set up and care for them identical to my monitors. Well, aside from diet and probably a few other obvious differences.

Cheers,
Ryan

Agreed. LeoLady has been misinformed about a LOT of things as of lately, and instead of using reason and logic, just blatantly disagrees with everyone.

LeoLady- I would suggest you take your IR thermometer (I assume you have one) outside on a sunny day when the highs are in the upper 90s or maybe hit 100. Do you live somewhere this is possible? Take a few sample tests of big heavy rocks and maybe the sidewalk... use your imagination. You may be surprised at some of the temperatures. Based on your posts, you should be -very- surprised.

She was just blabbing about this on the bearded dragon forum. I think she's a little crazy. She just joined this site and has been arguing nonsense ever since. She's been preaching that leo/bearded childish husbandry techniques (paper towels) Ignore her. Nobody takes her seriously

Everytime Leolady gives advice on husbandry she should also tell people she has an Ornate not eating.
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1.1 Ornates (Lindsay Pike)(Doug Dix)
0.0.1 Mali
0.0.1 Egyptian
0.1 Weimaraner