Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have the problem that my U. princeps does not seem to be eating well.

He will eat a Locust or two every 2 - 4 days and will take 3 - 4 small white flowers of Bellis perennis (Daisy) every 2 - 3 days aswell (seen on the lower left corner of the picture). Thats all he eats. He is fairly active and has his daily routine of waking up around 9 am and basking and then going back and forth between basking and resting a little all day. So he is active 10 hours a day and fairly fit. He observes whats going on in the house all day and climbs around allot. Im just worried about him not eating enough as I feel he has lost some weight.

He has all kinds of seeds in his terraria and I regulrarly offer him all kinds of greens and veggies, all kinds of sprouts.. pretty much everything... he just wont eat anything else then the Locust and white flowers. He wont even eat Dandelion flowers, only the little white Daisys and only very few of them.

I attached a picture of him. Would you consider him skinny? Is what he eats actually enough for the average adult Uro like a comparable occellata? I would expect him to eat more but maybe im also just too worried.
I have not kept Uros before so im not quite sure how much they really eat.

I had him 3 months now and am currently keeping him in a Terrarium with sizes 4 ft x 2 ft and 2 ft high.. im getting a bigger one for him soon, He has all the temps as required everywhere.. hot basking and cooler resting places with the required temps.. etc.. etc..He has enough hiding spaces and everything. He sleeps in the same hole every night and is seemingly healthy and happy..

He is (with his short tail included) 22cm long( I guess around 9-10 inch) and weighs 103 Grams (slightly below 3 ounces) Compared to what I read about other Uro species of the same size that is too light..

I attached a picture of him.

Any advise ?

Thanks allot.

I've not seen that species other than an occasional picture, so I don't really have anything reliable to go by. I would guess his legs are a little too thin, but that's a guess.

Have you tried bee pollen granules? How about other kinds of flowers like nasturtiums and pansies? Will he take worms of any kind? You could put worms into the food dish and see if he accidentally takes some of the greens as well. Locusts might be hard to try that with. You could try tough love (no bugs until he eats greenery), but you'd have to be very careful with that to make sure he stays healthy and hydrated.

Has he had a fecal check for parasites? If he's carrying something, it might slow his appetite.

These are my best suggestions, but they're only guesses. Take them as what they are.
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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)
2.0 Green Anoles (Bowser and Sprocket)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

You could also try mashing some locust up with a chopped salad of healthy greens, and feeding it to him in a bowl. If he recognizes the sent, he may eat the mash. I make a mash of pellet and veges that I give to my Uro as a supplement. I actually freeze the mash in small ice cube trays, which makes feeding a little easier in the morning. If he eats the mash, you can start adding more greens, and get his diet balanced. Good luck!

Thanks allot for the advise.

I have bought some bee pollen but he does not seem to be very impressed by it. Dont think he ate any in the last 2 days.
I might just need to get him enough flowers and Locust for the time being

wow, awesome tail. He is beautiful. He doesn't look necessarily underweight in my opinion but he doesn't look as "healthy" or plump as he could be. He could use to put on a few i guess.. that'd be my 2 sense. ..funny he doesn't like dandelions... most uros love them! but then again idon't know that species

best of luck with him!
kris
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4.2 Bearded dragons (Lee,Stumpy,Blackie,Spazz,Lynn,Charlotte)
1 Egyptian Uromastyx (Niles)
1 Iguana (Gia)