Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi!

2 days ago i just purchased a female mali, its my first reptile purchase, but i did a good amount of research in shops and on the net.

But my question is about food position, i already found out that if the food is in the middle of my tank it loses its water content very fast, im assuming this means that i should put it on the cool end of the tank? Also, my mali (Isabela) is eating, but im not sure how much is a decent amount for a uro her size, shes about 5 inches long and her skin seems pretty loose, i realize this is a trait of the species, but is it more pronounced in younger malis?

also, one more not so related question, in your sigs, what is the significance of the decimals and such, like, i have 1 mali uromastyx would that mean i have 1.0 ?

thanks a bunch and i look forward to posting more

swank.

if your snake is a male then it would read 1.0 mali uro's
if your snake is a female it would read 0.1 mali uros
if you are unsure of its sex it would read 0.0.1 mali uros
adam
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

Snake is a male? ...you know what he means. 0.0.1 could also mean 1 juvenile or 0.0.2 =2 juveniles as opposed to 1.1.0 which could definately be wrong even if you think you have a male and female juvenile(aka not sure of sex). As for food position, in too hot a spot it can dry out to quickly but in too cool a spot you may find they do not bother with the food as much. Personally I think somewhere around mid cage but not too far from a hot zone is the best place(90-95 degrees). You can try to see where they like it best.

wrong... the numeric code only reffers to sex and not age.
0.0.1 does not mean one juvenile. if you cant sex an animal because its a juvenile then its still 0.0.1 and you would then specify 0.0.1 juvinile's, but in no way does this code reffer to age.
no known males no known females and one unknown - regardless of why its unkown still 0.0.1
adam
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" a.k.a. farfrumugen "
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

I place the food dish often in the middle of the cage, but I change the dish's place every now and then. I also like to use multiple food dishes in the cage every now and then, each containing smaller amounts and sometimes different foods.

I don't see a problem why the dish shouldn't be placed on the cool end, as long as that end is well lit. I often see cages built in a manner that all the lighting systems are on the warm side of the cage, and the cool side is rather dim. Food should always be placed in a well lit space.

Btw, if the food dries a bit during the day, that's fine. At least my lizards eat most of the food right away when it's placed inside the cage, so they get well watered. They eat the rest of the food later when it has dried. In the wild they don't get too much water from the food, I guess. But there're rather heavy mists at times during night and at mornings, which usually is left unprovided in captivity.