Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi

I've had my Mali for about 2 weeks now and he only seems to come out of his hide from 10:30 a.m. till about 1:00 p.m. The rest of the time he stays in the hide under his backing spot. He really doesn't even bask, just stays in the hide. Is this normal?

I'll tell you a little about my uro and setup:
Uro:
-Mali
-2 months old
-4.6 inches
-CB (bought through breeder in Gainesville, Fl)
-1st vet visit this Sunday
-eats well and poops everyday
-is very alert and active when he is out of his hide
-will let me handle him, seems very tame (didn't handle
him for 1st week)
-no visible injuries

enclosure:
-30 gallon fish tank
-PowerSun (UVB & heat)
-washed play sand (substrate)
-2 hides (1 on one hot end & 1 on cool end of tank)
-digital thermometer w/probe (1 one hot end & 1 on cool end)
-temps: cool - 82 to 86, hot - 98 to 102, bask - 110 to 118,
nighttime - 72 to 76
-wallpaper covering 3 sides of the tank

food:
-Rep-Cal HERPTIVITE multi-vitamin (sprinkled on Mon, Wed, Fri)
-Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3 (sprinkled on Tue, Thu, Sat)
-greens: Bok choy, turnip, mustard, kale(seldom used)
-endive, escarole, shredded carrot (seldom used)
-organic spring mix
-soaked lentils & split peas
-finch seed
-Hibiscus & dandelion flowers from yard (as a treat)
-no insects yet, but going to buy 5 pinhead crickets today

I don't think that I forgot anything. Any help would be great. He's an extremely interesting animal when he's out of his hide.

Thanks in advance.
Edward

well your doing everything perfectly all i say is give him time i have a adult mali thats is the same way. i have had him since he was born. and nothing is wrong. i do recommend keeping him on bird seed. you can go to a local feed store and buy that for real cheap... the reason is one he can eat it and two it holds heat better. just a basic millet will do fine. also clean up is much better. sand weights a lot and the bird see doesnt.

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Jeff Kearney Orlando Florida (407) 766 6066

0.1 CB Spouse
4.4.1 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Mali Uromastyx
2.5 Ball Pythons
1.1 Blue Dumpys Tree Frogs
1.0 Armadillo Lizard
1.0 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Marble Gecko
1.0 Fat-tailed Gecko
1.0 Lucy Leopard Gecko
0.1 Carrot Tail Leopard Gecko
0.1 Speckeled Hog-Nose
0.1 Garter Snake
1.1 Dogs
2.3 Cats

Well, the more people on the ticket, the more diverse opinions you'll receive. My take on millet is the same as it was about five years ago. It's slippery & unnatural substrate. I don't like the idea of my Uros eating the very substrate they poop on. And, if you look at the poop, it's near solid millet & looks non-digested. Lastly, if you do decide to use it, FREEZE it completely!!!!! That is, unless you enjoy the company of hundreds of little teeny moths & their sticky eggs that will infest every corner of your house.
As to the original post, I agree with Torey. Cage-wise, plan for much bigger down the road. It won't be all that long before you'll get the urge to pair it... But, you're cool for the moment.

You've done your homework well! Your mali is fine, activity wise. Some are early risers, others fall out of bed late in the day. Some hang out all day while others tend to stay out of sight, especially if they sense much outside activity. As long as he's eating & pooping good, you're probably in good shape. Give him some more time to acclimate & you'll probably see more of him.
A personal opinion here, though. While most everyone agrees on having hides on the cool as well as the hot sides, sometimes that inhibits active behavior. If the cool side is to their liking, sometimes they go dormant & seldom come out. We've had to remove the cool hides to restore normal rhythems in several instances.
Just my thoughts. Best of luck.

Couple of things I would recommend. First, you should consider upgrading to a larger enclosure sooner rather than when he grows bigger. What you have will do in a pinch for a while, but he'll really appreciate the opportunity to stretch his legs. Smallish cages can be stressful. It's also much easier to keep a good temperature gradient in a larger cage (say, 4 ft x 2 ft).

Also, some of my uros seem to prefer higher basking temps than others. You can try boosting your basking and warm side temps by about 5 degrees and see if that helps. Just be sure not to lose the cool zone.

Overall, I'd say you probably don't have much to worry about. If you've only had him a week, and he's eating (at all) and active (at all), he's probably going to settle in just fine.
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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)

Hi Edward,
It looks like everyone covered most of the bases here.
I'll just add my two cents.

The main reason your mali stays in it's hide most of it's
waking hours is because it has all the comforts of home
there. It really has no reason to exit the hide much as it's
a good safe place to seek shelter. Especially if it's new
and still may have some acclimation issues to deal with.
The main reason is because it's nice and warm under there
so it doesn't really have to come out that often.

If you want to see your mali more throughout the day
I would suggest moving the hide out from under the
basking light. This way it will seek out the much needed
warmth and have to go over to the basking site to find it.
Try putting one hide in the center of the tank and leave the
second (if you have to have a second) in the cool end.

If it's shy then cover the lower front half of the tank as
well for now so that it feels more secure when it finally
comes out much more often to bask, eat, poop and also
to exercise.

John

Gnuby used to 'hit the hay' early too. Then we got one of those timers you plug into the wall then the lights into the timer. Once he had a set schedule he stayed out for several more hours each day. Goob didn't like waking up 8am one day and 9:30 the next. Someone mentioned some like slightly higher temps - I found Goober was rarely using his cool side when his warm side temps are 98-100* but once we covered part of the top to hold the heat in more, and it gets to 104-106 as the peak hot side temp, he would venture to the other side to cool off. But Gnuby is a Saharan, not a Mali. Plus, your uro is little, he probably warms up fast and doesn't need to be directly basking (not sure, just an idea). You may want to tweek some of your food choices, maybe cut out the turnip, mustard, and kale. Also, be careful of what is in the spring mix, spinach is a no-no for instance. And these lil guys will be fine without the insects. You could probably calm down on the vitamins and calcium, they can get overdoses. Hopefully an experienced person or breeder can respond with how much and how often you should be doing the supplements at his age. And, finally -- WHEN DO WE GET TO SEE PICTURES?!?!

it may be the location of the cage sometimes.
i have a juvi female mali who only does well in my kitchen area.
she was there as a temp situation and declared it home.
it really makes no other sense as there is traffic from the bedrooms, pantry,refridgerator,etc. and she is somewhat skittish.
she also only accepts a subordinate type male banded i have as a neighbor or she will hide ALL day from scratchy noises and stuff.
she comes out at different times and stays out for a long time usually(hours)-checks in and out of her hides,sometimes,then she goes in and that's it for the day/nite.
another older female i have HATES any other lizards but humans in moderation is cool. she only basks in mornings then stays on the middle or cool side with short trips through the heat. sometimes she will bask for short periods late in the day when the lights will soon be off. she would rather share a room with us than any space with another lizard cage in the room(at the time she has her own small room. she hides a lot i think that is just how she is.
last is my young male mali new acquisition.
he faces the(room) window for scenery and privacy- he is scratching away dancing and in every inch of the cage every day all morning eating etc.-then he goes in early afternoon for the day.sometimes he will come back out for a minute. my neighbor is playing reggae "moderately loudly" and it isn't bothering him in the slightest, but voices, conversations,etc-no like.other lizards? no problem.
3 mali's all different. in time you will know the pattern or lack of. keep it available and they will use it when they want.
2 weeks is early to say.good luck, frend.p.s.moving or removing of hides is sometimes necessary like d-boy said.

I wanted to thank everybody for their help. I feel much better. Below are a few pics.

Do Uros have belly buttons?

his enclosure

What's for dinner?

1st time out since he's been in his new home

AHH such a cutie - so tiny. One - well maybe two suggestions: your first post says it's washed play sand, looks like a redish calci-sand to me (but it could just be this old computer monitor making it look weird). But besides that, for little ones 6-7" and under, papertowels or newsprint is usually thought to be a better substrate than sand. I think uro's do have 'belly buttons' I mean how else are they going to get nourishment from their yolk in the egg. I think it ends up going away as they grow up. Goob wont let me flip him over long enough to see (for some reason he is moody about being flipped over). Now I really want a baby uro! Too freakin' cute. Let us know how the vet goes this weekend - I'll get all giggly again when I find out how many grams he weighs, Gnuby was at 205g last I weighed him.

I'm not seeing a UV light. And, someone correct me if I'm wrong, I believe a screen top will significantly reduce the amout of UV that gets through. A fish tank may serve OK as a starter enclosure but I'd recommend you start investigating a significant upgrade as the little guys starts to grow.
Best of luck!

Ditto, unless it's hidden where we can't see it in the photo, he's going to need a UV light mounted underneath the screen top. I used a bendable wire to hold my UV light fixture inside the tank. It gets filtered too much if you set it on top of the screen top. Without UV lighting, they can't metabolize their food properly and end up with metabolic bone disease, which is not a good thing.

I'm using a Powersun UV. I was thinking of buying an extra Reptisun 10. Are the Zoomed "compact UVB" bulbs any good? Just like everything (substrate, food, vitamins), I've seen mixed opinions on the web.

I didn't know that the screen top was bad. What do people use?

Thanks again for the help.

it is called a belly slit- that vertical line on the belly is comparable to a closed belly button.it is how they nourish in the egg. the scales will always form in that pattern. that's all i know about the subject.

"What do people use?" is a wide open question. We, for the most part, construct our own enclosures & there's a pleasure in that you can build as YOU see fit. Without a tablesaw or a friendly cabinet maker, though, you then have to rely on commercially built items which are numerous in the classifieds. And the shipping fees are almost prohibitive. Any reptile expos in your area? Usually Visions & other models are available there. They can be pricey.
Personally, I like building my own. Alot of pleasure & satisfaction in creating the best for your animal. You don't need lot's of expensive equipment. You just need a vision of exactly what ya want & then build on it. Almost another hobby!!
D&L.

Right on the nail Dan!! ha, Boy and you do build some nice A#% cages! Functionally there great and they even look kinda nice!

Nat

i wrote an extensive reply and it got wiped out by accident.so quickly:
screen tops block uvb- also you then need higher wattages for all bulbs. if the bulbs touch the screen or are too close to it they will burn out early(esp. mercury vapors)
screen tops also let out heat,dim lights, etc.
i prefer open top to screen.
but i really prefer closed(vented)top in a cool room(70-74) or partially closed.
partially closed you can acheive by placing a board or anything solid anywhere there is not a light in the way-this will trap heat.i have heard of people using saran wrap even.
closed top in temp control room has worked best for me out of all of the above(except saran wrap- a board is cheap enough-haha)