Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my mali is acting wierd. he lays around doesnt eat and doesnt wanna move around much the temp is 89 at night and around 100 during the day.... so temp isnt an issue, i am feeding him baby spinish and dandy line greens. and i am giving him uro dust 2 days a week... and he still acts wierd and lays under the stump... any ideas?

A couple of questions for you... what is your daytime temperature gradient... from hot side to cool side? The air temp of the hot side should be around 100 degrees, and the air temp of the cool side should be about 80-ish during the daytime. The SURFACE of the basking spot should be 120-130 degrees. The enclosure has to have a hot and a cool side for these guys to be able to regulate their body temps. The nighttime temp should be about 75-80 degrees, I think 89 at night is too hot.

As for food... stop feeding the spinach right away and start using endive/escarole (chicory), dandelion greens, maybe a bit of bok choy every couple of days as staples. You can include other treats like a few lentils or lima beans or peas every couple of days, shredded squash or zucchini, arugula, radicchio, watercress, edible flowers, etc. The spinach you are feeding can end up causing some major health problems in the future.

Andi

what u mean it will hurt him? seems to be only thing he likes i mean the dandelion greens and stuff he shrugs at... and temp between basking area is abt 20 degrees and as of the other veggies what are they exactly... i don have a good produce area around here

Also, how large is the enclosure? In inches, not gallons.

Spinach is a poor choice because it's high in oxalates and goitrogens. These strip calcium from the body and interfere with thyroid function. Both of these things are bad. The foods Doublemom mentioned are good ones. Ask someone who works in the produce section where to find them - if they don't carry them, ask them to. Or try a different market - different stores carry different items.
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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)

The easiest type of veges that every grocery store is garenteed to have are frozen mixed veges. Buy the bag with peas, carrots, corn, green beans, and lima beans. Use the carrots sparingly (I'm not sure why, but when people say that a food should be used sparingly, it usually means that there are vitamins that can block other necessary vitamins, ie: spinach binds calcium leading to bone disease).

Also, take a walk around your neighborhood and pick some dandilion flowers. See how responcive he is to the flower. Usually this should perk them right up.

Lastly, if you know your tank is set-up propperly, at least 3 by 2 feet serface area, and the temps are right, with stacked rocks under the basking bulb to create a gradient of heat, then it is something internal. Dehydration and parasites are two obvious options. Whole peas have a large ammount of moisture, especially the frozen ones that have been defrosted in water. Make sure it isn't a choking hazard (not larger than the space between the eyes) and give him a bunch. Worms are not hard to treat, and if you haven't de-wormed him ever, then NOW's the time. Even if he never had worms before, he can get them through the produce you feed him (rare but true). There are a good amount of postings about worms, so read up.

Good Luck!

Sad to say he passed away the same night i made the thread about him acting wierd...

What is in the uro dust in the way of calcium, phosphorous, vitamin A and vitamin D3?

Lack of proper temp gradient is the most likely cause but it could be other things as well.
It could just be your perception. Often when I am at home, my uro is not very active. But I leave for work at around 7am just alittle bit after the lights come on, and get home after 5pm. On the weekends when I have more time to observe him, he is much more active during the day, especially in the early morning and afternoon.

Stress. Is the animal calm or skittish? If this is a newly aquired animal it may just take him a little while to settle in, especially if it is wild caught. Making changes to its set up will also sometimes bring this on as well. If the animal is very skittish, this could be the problem. Give it some peace and quite for a while, and plenty of hiding area. Slowly introduce yourself to the animal.
Sick. How does its eyes and nose look? Any discharge, wheezing, etc.

Ditto on the spinach. Collards and turnip greens are a staple around here for my lizards, if you live south of the mason dixon line these should be really easy to find. Mustard greens are also fed, but most of my lizards do not seem to like these as much.

Have you tried a good dark leafy green salad with collareds, endive, and bok choy, and topping it with either bee pollen, hibiscus flowers or dandelion flowers? These are appetite stimulants. Then uros also need beans, small bird seed, and orange and green hard veggies a few times a week.

They cannot process their food without the proper temps, so I strongly suggest that you get an accurate thermometer. You need either a temp gun or a digital thermometer with a probe, and make sure that the surface of his basking area is 120-130. Then he needs an area to cool off at the other end of the tank.

Do you use UVB? if so, what kind? If it is a UVB coil or compact bulb, turn it off immediately as these are causing serious health issues in reptiles.