Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, first of all, I'm not a total idiot about reptiles, just uros, lol. I have snakes, and 2 beardies. Everytime I'd seen adult uros they looked pretty lethargic and lazy. So..when a friend of a friend needed a home for her baby..I said sure, without doing anymore research until AFTER I brought him home.

He's doing good on eating now, but that took awhile, which I think was just the change. Temps are 120 in basking, 90 on cool end, he has a hide spot.

Now for the craziness. He refuses to come out of his hole in the mornings. I literally have to move him to the basking spot to get him to warm up. Otherwise, he lays in there all day and won't eat.
Once he's warm, he eats good, runs around like crazy, which I know now is normal, and wow is he fast!

I've had him probably about 2 months, and "attempt" to handle him daily. He usually hisses and thrashes his tail quite a bit. Will he ever calm down or will he always be ready to run? Tried tempting him with treats when I have him out, but he's usually so mad he won't touch any food. So what do I do at this point?

Somehow I have managed to still get attached to him even through all the tail whipping and near escapes. I just hope there is some glimmer of hope that he will be slightly manageable in the future.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Okay, since you're familiar with beardies, let me make this comparison to give you an idea about uros. A beardie is kind of like a slow, dumb, dimwit (you know, the kind where the light is on but nobody's home) who just hangs out and comes to you whenever you're around or have food. Uros on the other hand are pretty smart, fast and often times cranky (re: scared that you might want to eat them). If yours' was wild caught, you may never tame him. If captive bred, then you may have a chance of eventually gaining his trust. I say gaining trust, because that is essentially your goal. Handling him daily may be too much at this stage. I suggest you at least limit handling to short periods (say 5 to 15 minutes) and no more than once a day, preferably less than that initially. You really shouldn't ever remove him from his hide. That is where he feels secure, and if you're constantly taking him from that secure place, he's going to be totally stressed out. Mine somedays doesn't come out to bask and hibernates every winter. I've included a link to deerfernfarms, which has a wealth of information. I strongly recommend poking around at that website to familiarize yourself with uro needs. There are links at the bottom of the supplies page.

good luck,
Craigo
Uro supplies

Thanks Craigo, and the comparison helped!

Normally I would know better than to take him out of his hide, but when he lays in there for days without eating, I got worried. I expect this kind of thing from snakes, but I assumed he would need to eat daily, especially since he was on the skinny side to start with. Again, opposite of my beardies, they NEVER turn down food. So if he refuses to come out..I should just leave him until he does, right, regardless of how many days?

I'll back off handling as much, and will have to face the fact that he may be just here for my visual enjoyment, when he comes out of his hole that is, lol. I don't know of anyone that would give him the proper care around here, so he will have to learn to tolerate me a little.

Thanks for the link, heading there to check it out now.

One more thing. My egyptian uro likes to sleep in this time of year. He often times doesn't come out until after noon. Generally during the summer he'll come out a bit earlier, but he likes his sleep. And yeah, even thought he's inside year round, he seems to know the seasons.

Craigo

One of my pythons did that to me this year. He has been off food since the first of December and just now ate yesterday. Amazing how they know the seasons, and that they can survive that long!

Yeah, I was kind of shocked the first winter that I had my uro. He went off food for about 4 months, and emerged looking no worse for ware. His appetite was weak at first, as it always is after he comes out from winter, but it comes back after about three weeks. Try the dandylion flowers and warmed peas. Make sure he sees you bring the food if you can, it will help gain his trust. Mine still hates to be held, but will occasionally climb onto my hand to get food. They all have a personality. Just give him time.

Craigo

Just keep pulling him out of his hide. Sometimes they tend to be stubborn and lazy. Just make sure he is not lazy and obest, they tend to get obest very quickly if ot watched on a regular basis. Try bringing the cool temps down to about 80 and the hot temps to about 115 and see if that helps a little. Try spreading the veggies and greens around the tank and see if he eats then. Most will not go to a dish and eat most like to just try and find it on there own as they would in the wild. I have a WC nigerian uro and he was very flighty and whipped his tail all the time. I hold him about 10 min a day in his tank just in my hand and he seems to be ok with it now but still will not let you hold him too long. So it tends to not usually go away all the way. Uros are fun to watch but not fun to hold!

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with this. If an animal is stressed out and has no place to feel safe because you keep dragging it out of its hide, it will not just magically be OK someday. Obviously appropriate temperatures are needed for the overall health and activity level of the animal, so do make sure you have a good gradient. But please don't drag it out of its hide for no reason.
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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 would have to second Torey's post. Constantly dragging a uromastyx out of the one place it should feel safe will result in the uromastyx not acclimating properly or feeling comfortable in its surroundings. I would suggest just the opposite- do not remove it from its hide, stop the forced interaction, and allow the animal to become accustom to your presence on it own time and terms. Eventually, the animal will not view you as a threat (when you stop acting like one) and will associate your presence as something positive. Even if the association is food based, it is still nice to be greeted voluntarily at the enclosure door.

If the aninmal is not eating you will have to take it out, or other problems will persist. I understand and agree as well it could be stressing it out but if you don't get it to eat stress will be the last of your worries.

"If the aninmal is not eating you will have to take it out, or other problems will persist.I understand and agree as well it could be stressing it out but if you don't get it to eat stress will be the last of your worries."

If the animal is stressed by frequent handling it will most likely continue to refuse to exit the hide and eat or may eat very little when forced out. Give this animal a chance to acclimate and eat on its own. If it is healthy, it should respond on its own after a period of time. This could take days- it could take weeks. I have not had any healthy uromastyx die from refusing to eat. Granted, some have lost weight during the acclimation process but the animal will come around. If the animal eats when it is brought out, it is fully capable of exiting the hide and eating on its own. No one is asking Breezyanna to let her uromastyx starve to death- it is being suggested she give the animal time to acclimate. She could very well be creating the vicious circle (handling and avoidance) which is resulting in her not seeing the animal and worrying about it eating. Most of us know that death from starvation does not happen overnight or within several days or even a week with a healthy animal. Most of us also know that the majority of uromastyx take a little time to acclimate and that forced interaction results in setback to this process.
If the animal is not in good health, get it to a qualified veterinarian. An unhealthy uromastyx stressed by constantly being dragged from its hide is like playing Russian roulette with five bullets in the chamber. Sooner or later catastrophe will occur.

Suggestions:
Look for husbandry issues that could be resulting in the behavior you are seeing. The most common would be too small of an enclosure and improper basking and/or gradient temperatures. Move the food dish closer to the hide entrance. Make sure that the hide is located somewhere in an area where the gradient gets to around 90F. Total hands off until the animal has acclimated or until you determine that a vet check is appropriate. If you have a video camera- set it up and record at various times of the day to see if the animal is coming out on its own.

One more word of advice Breezyanna- read the forum and look for consistency with giving good advice before giving weight to a member’s post, opinion, and recommendations.

One more word of advice Breezyanna- read the forum and look for consistency with giving good advice before giving weight to a member’s post, opinion, and recommendations.

Best word of advice!!---Just make sure you do your research....forums are just that OPINIONS! SO i would personally never agree to ANY of them or swear by any. I would read about it in a book or webpage by a reputable breeder before i would follow anything from any random person!