Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can someone post a healthy looking uro, weight wise.

I'm thinking mine is a little under weight. The pet store housed her in a 10 gallon tank and was only feeding her 3 times a week.

What do u think?

Heres another one of her. Ive had her for about 4 days now, she eats most of her greens, a handful of mixed veggies, and im gonna add a small bowl of dried food for her too.

It looks a little on the slim side but far from emaciated, with UVB bulb, proper supplementation and diet, it should steadily gain weight through adulthood.
HH

Yea you can see where it is a bit sunken in by her/his back legs. But like HH said with some TLC she/he shall be good in no time!

A bit on the lame side but definitely salvageable. My concern is with the millet substrate. It may not be a good start for a dehydrated animal. For the time being, go heavy on foods that contain water. Millet will just dry him up. Not to mention that it's a totally unatural substance for it to walk on.

I understand the possibility of the millet dehydrating her further. But i kept reading everywhere that bird seed was the way to go for substrate. I'll keep an eye on her that she doesnt eat much of it. She loves her frozen veggies which i thaw and soak, so hopefully that will hydrate her. Should I attempt a bath?

I've heard of millet being suggested for a substrate before but I never understood why you would encourage anything to eat where it "poops and pees". I hate to be crude but it's like storing your dishes on top of your toilet, in my humble opinion.
HH

I, too, have never understood the purpose of "edible substrate" (millet or rabbit chow). That's NASTY!!!!

Neglected to say, great analogy!!!

I use millet in some of my cages, and while it's far from perfect, I'd like to share my thoughts on the "edible substrate" concept. I don't use millet because it's edible. I don't want them to eat it deliberately. If they do eat it deliberately, they won't be kept on it. I use it because if it IS accidentally ingested in small amounts, it is unlikely to cause impaction. It's still spot cleaned daily and replaced completely regularly, so in that regard, it's no different from sand. So, there's my two cents. I hope it clarifies my view of it.
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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 use dirt, and love it, and Fluffy loves it too.
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M|tçh~å~paløoza
Columbia, Missouri

0.1 Iguana iguana (Green Iguana) ~ Taco 8/1/1994
1.0 Uromastyx maliensis (Mali Uromastyx) ~ Fluffy 10/1/1999
0.1 Pogona vitticeps (Inland Bearded Dragon) ~ Puff 3/1/2000

dozens.dozens Hyla versicolor, Hyla chrysoscelis (Grey Tree Frog, Cope's GTF) ~ I work with these guys.

Congratulations on deciding to get into Uros! They are lovely and wonderful pets for most. Sadly, getting them from most pet stores makes it more difficult, but not impossible!

I think I am falling between the two previously voiced views. I really can't tell enough from the pictures you posted about how dire her (or his) health is. However, there are a few things you should do as a matter of habit anyway upon getting a new Uro, and I think in this case it is even more important.

1) Take the dear thing to a knowledgable herp vet, ASAP. They will be able to assess her health including weight, parasites (bring a fresh stool sample with you), and any other potential abnormalities.

2) I would hold off on the dry food until she gains some weight. Lots of fresh greens, some good supplements, and possibly even some de-thawed mixed veggies should be offered to her freely.

3) As you will learn the more you get into Uros, and I am guessing most reptiles, the matter of substrate is an oft debated topic. If you were led to believe that millet is *the* bedding to use, and that everyone uses it, you were given incorrect information. However, many people have had great success with it. I am not one of those people, but there are highly skilled herpers keeping their Uros on Millet, sand, dirt mixes, and probably other things. I would urge you to keep an eye on her feces. When I tried millet my Uro liked to eat the seed more than his normal food, and I also noticed that it began making up the bulk of his stool. In her current condition this would be very detrimental to her I think. So pay close attention.

4) How large of a tank is she in now? What are your temperature gradients? How many "hides" does she have? How much are you handling her?

Keep asking questions, and posting pictures. There are many great Uro keepers lurking around on this forum, and everyone will try to help you to the best of their ability.

Welcome to the family.

Elizabeth

ps - This is a picture of my late Uro Archimedes. He is full-grown in these pictures, a male, and a mali, so your Uro may not ever look like this... but I think it will at least give you an idea of what a healthy Uro can look like. Also, there are great pictures at www.deerfernfarms.com that you can look at to compare. As well as a great care sheet.

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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

Thanks for the pic and the advice, he was beautiful. I just upgraded today to a 40 gallon, 36x18x16. So far she has two hides but im working on that as funds increase lol. Temperatures are from 110 to 90 any hotter and she just pants and looks annoyed. Leafy greens every morning, and thawed frozen veggies that she loves.

Found a vet that actually deals with uros and keeps tons of reptiles himself. Said she was thin but active and seemed strong. So with the bigger home and a good diet she should gain weight, he also suggest parrot food to help put on some weight.

I also give her vitamins like twice a week. Gonna go back in a month to check her weight.

Thanks for the info.

What are measuring your temps with. 90-110 for a basking spot is way to low. You do need an air temp on the hot side in the mid 90's though. Don't forget about checking the temps on the cool side as well. Digital thermomters with an external probe are cheap and easy to get quickly otherwise a temp gun is the best.
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1.1 Ornates (Lindsay Pike)(Doug Dix)
0.0.1 Mali
0.0.1 Egyptian
0.1 Weimaraner

yeah i use two digital thermometers with probes, the basking spot is about 115 with the prob, any hotter than that and she tends to stay away from it.

I have to say i agree with not using the millet. I personally use paper towels and have an end where he can dig into som carefresh, which is less dusty and heathly for them as they don't try to eat it at all ever. I personally never recommend sand for anything on it's own but a sand dirt, mix is ok for a uro as that is what they naturally live on!

I really don't recommend the millet due to the dehydration, i honetsly would use something like tile, papertowels, NOTHING it can eat! I also don't suggest freezing the veggies, they do loose nutritional value. Which in your case is VERY VERY volnurable.

I know that Doug used to be heavy on millet. Not sure if he still is. I tried it on my first Uros. Big disappointment! They ate way too much of it at the expense of other, more nutritional & moist items. They had little traction & worst of all, we had a resultant moth infestation that took forever to overcome. My biggest objection, though, was seeing them eat the very substrate that they eliminate on.
Another observation, for what it's worth. We use a combination of temp monitoring devices: Temp Gun, wire probes, wireless remote probes & calibrated mercury thermometers. The "Radio Shack" style devices can we wildly at variance with each other, even among the same models. The Temp Gun can show significant temps from the probes ( 2 degrees or so is significant to me ). I work for an Environmental Science lab & know for certain that my calibrated thermometers are accurate. Way too often they show the Temp Gun can't be fully trusted. Having said all that, do I have any advice? No, other than to suggest that you be skeptical of temp readings & to rely on several methods of temp checks before you're satisfied with what you THINK they actually are.
My 2 cents.
D.

Way to go! A knowledgable vet, a new house, and 2 hides! Such a lucky Uro! Good to know the vet didn't think anything was really wrong. Keep asking questions and have fun with your new family member!!!

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