Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey can someone give me some advice. Ive had a mali for about 3 years and for the past couple months it hasnt been very active, not eating much. I went to check whats wrong with him today and he was very slow and sluggish, can anyone give me some advice?

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0.0.1 leopard gecko--Yoshi
0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx--Bowser

delbalso

oops i didnt mean to add that picture, thats another one from a long time ago
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0.0.1 leopard gecko--Yoshi
0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx--Bowser

delbalso

Can you provide the "right" picture? Might be helpful in determining if there's a problem or not. Winter slowdowns really shouldn't produce emaciation (as seen in the "wrong" picture) so long as the lizard was healthy to begin with.
105 degrees is WAY to low on the hot side. Please ignore that bit of advice.
We see winter slowdowns in many of our animals but seldom see weightloss to any degree. Despite maintaining normal cage temps, their metabolisms seem to slow anyway & weight loss is held in check. The key is in insuring that they are healthy & fit going into winter.
That being said, there're many other factors that can be at play when your reptile goes off feed on into a decline. More than can be addressed very simply thru a forum. Keep posting, though, & we'll all try to help.

I have VERY little uro experience, but quite a bit regarding colubrid snakes. If your temps, set-up, etc. are the same, it could be the onset of sexual maturity and the time of year sexually mature uros naturally slow down in preparation for the breeding season. This could be the case if your uro was a baby when purchased, and now three years later is an adult.

This is a VERY inexperience opinion here. But I know the frustration of having an animal go off feed after years of keeping everything apparently the same!!!

I hope the more experienced can add something to this post. Of course, it could be parasitic, and I would suggest a vet check before it progresses too far.

Best of Luck!!

You need to check his setup. Basking temp should be about 105, ambient about 85-90 and cool side about 78-80. Were did you get him? He could be infested with some parasites. What have you been trying to give him to eat? You should try something like dandelion greens. A uro cant turn those down. Also if all else fails you can try to give him like 3-4 mealworms. These seem to jumpstart them to eat. Dont do this often though. Number one thing though you might want to get him to a vet soon.

Hang on there! You might want to rethink the temperatures you've just recommended. I'm in agreement that a double check of all temperatures is a good idea, but the temps you've stated are off. Basking temp should be 120+ (not 105), ambient temps on the warm side should be around 100F (not 85-90), and cool side should be 80-85F. Be sure you're using reliable thermometers, not the dial or stick on kind.

Delbalso - have you noticed any weight loss? If it's a winter slowdown he shouldn't be getting thin. If something seems wrong, a vet visit is a good idea just to be sure. Bring a fecal sample to check for parasites.
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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)

He said he has had the Mali for three years, and it started behaving strangely/sluggish the past few months. That is the stumper of the situation IMO. I have to assume he is keeping his setup the same as when the lizard was doing well and has made no changes. Also, no introductions of other Uros to pass parasites to a Uro that hasn't exhibited parasite symptoms in three years. Once again, the time frame the lizard has been doing well is odd to shift gears suddenly for no apparent reasons. Now, if he said he had an adult animal that was doing well for the first few weeks and started going downhill, that would be another story.

I agree a vet check may be in order as it may be manifesting signs of parasites for some reason. But do you think it could be a maturity thing with onset of winter/gearing for breeding??

Actually parasites can be introduced from the greens, from crickets or mealworms, from the environment, or from new substrate! So they should never just be ruled out, imo. It is probably just the winter slow down, since not every one brumates their Uro a significant slow down of eating and movement is often noticed. Also, one thing that ocassionally happens to me is that one of the many lights or ceramic heat emitters die, and I don't notice right away. So there are a number of possible causes. If there isn't any noticeable weight loss, and the temps are good (torey's temps), then it is probably winter slow down, otherwise... time for a fecal! LOL.

Keep us posted!

Elizabeth
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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes (May he rest in peace)
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro Zuberi Mosca Khu (Mosca)
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
Madison, Wisconsin

It certainly could just be a winter slowdown - and hopefully that's all it is. But sometimes people simply don't think to check their temps when winter rolls around. Even a five degree overall temp drop can lead to the kind of behavior changes mentioned. I'm not saying that's for sure the cause, but it's a very easy thing to check up on. Assuming it's a normal slowdown without checking for other causes could be trouble.
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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 have a ornate that i got in similar condition. I have had success with using organic baby food, called turkey, carrots and barley, Rub it on the veggies and sometime may need a bit of help i hand feed out of the tank and she seems to be getting better. She also was chasing crix around for the first time in months so, she ate one and we left it at that, i will not force more animal protien then veggies, although i don't agree they shouldn't have any animal protien!

Hes right. The temps I stated are off. Should be a basking spot of 115-120. Warm side of about 95-100 and a cool side of the high 80's early 90s. A little change in tempeture will not make that big of a different. Maybe 5 degrees is something to worry about. These animals in the wild bask in the late morning to early afternoon when the temps are at a max and during this time this tempeture flunctuates. it doesnt stay at a steady tempeture all day.

Yes temps may fluctuate but should not more the a degree or two, if does then you need to get you temps under control!