Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband and I are seriously thinking about buying a uromastyx. I saw it at a locally owned pet shop(immediatley fell in love!) it was more than content on top of my head LOL. The colors were vibrant and it looked healthy. It was housed with another uro that was also healthy looking. I am a novice but am very interested in this animal. Pardon my questions if they seem kind of uneducated. What should I look for before purchasing this animal? Mites,MBD and such. I am going to Deer Fern Farms site next but would like some trial and error info. I have a 29 gal. tank that is tall but am not sure if this is sufficient (the uro I am looking at is about 8 inches long). Any other info you guys can give me would be so greatly appreciated. I want to give this beutiful creature a sufficient home. Also, what is there temperment?

Thanks for all your help!

Pauline

hi pauline, welcome to the uro forum!
well to accurately answer your questions we need to know the subspecies... most likely it is a mali, saharan, egyptian, or geyri. i can only answer for mali uromastyx but here goes...
temp-basking 120F i use a 150 watt reptile basking spot bulb
ambiant- high90's
i use desert 7 fluorescents and feed the following
collard
kale
endive
escarole
and fruits like
strawberry
banana
grapes
cantaloupe
honeydew
but that is minimal
i also use 2:1 calcium phosphorous ratio vitamin.
caging- your 29 gallon is wayy to small. to establish a proper heat gradient you will need at least a 55 gallon tank.
i use pre washed and dried playsand as a substrate. you do not need to supply them with water. make sure you have several hides in your habitat. i have a pair of malis and 3 hides(altough they usualy sleep in the same one together) one is a rock cave that i bought and the others are made from rock designs and a huge piece of driftwood. have fun.
also, is this your first reptile? although you like them if it is i wouldnt recommend starting with uros. they are not extrememly easy for begginers to keep. (please excuse me if you do have experience i am just assuming) have u ever heard of a bearded dragon? they are much easier, love being handled, and are also desert creatures.
whatever you decide on, i know the other ppl here at kingsnake will help!!
good luck
~icy(sara)
-----
UroKnight...coming soon
1.1.0 mali uromastyx
1.1.0 green anole
1.0.0 brown anole
0.0.1 fowlers toad
1.0.0 emperor scorpion
1.0.0 cuban knight anole
1.0.0 ribbon snake(currently escaped)
1.0.0 african clawed frog
1.0.1 green iguana
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake
0.0.3 crayfish
0.0.1 3 lined salamander

One thing you could do before buys the little guy is to obtain a fresh sample of the poo, and have a fecal done by a herp vet, to check for parasites,
29 gallon may be ok but the more room the better, i use a homemade cage 3x2.5x2 and it works quite well
Deer Fern Farms is a great place to find good info about uro's, also this forum helped me out quite a bit

My husband and I are seriously thinking about buying a uromastyx. I saw it at a locally owned pet shop(immediatley fell in love!) it was more than content on top of my head LOL. The colors were vibrant and it looked healthy. It was housed with another uro that was also healthy looking. I am a novice but am very interested in this animal. Pardon my questions if they seem kind of uneducated. What should I look for before purchasing this animal? Mites,MBD and such. I am going to Deer Fern Farms site next but would like some trial and error info. I have a 29 gal. tank that is tall but am not sure if this is sufficient (the uro I am looking at is about 8 inches long). Any other info you guys can give me would be so greatly appreciated. I want to give this beutiful creature a sufficient home. Also, what is there temperment?