Reptile & Amphibian Forums

2nd to last paragraph
what???

Uh, nope. I spritz Taz every now and then and I have never seen that happen. He gets ticked, but stays wet. I will say that the water doesn't exactly pool on him. Hm. I think I will test this theory tomorrow!

This has been documented in several species of agamids in arid regions. Water moves up through channels between the scales and to the corners of the mouth were the lizard will drink it.

I heard of that before but that's not what they said. In fact I saw that on Discovery Channel or Animal Planet in slow motion with magnification. I think it was with a "thorny devil". You think uros do it? That article was 2006, you would think they would have at least hypothesized that was a possibility. That was my first thought(channeling) but they said "absorbs" and "sponge-like". hmm...

Well, now my DIs do that. They soak up the moisture in their scales like a sponge. They look dark wet for awhile after I mist them, but I don't do it very often. They do really well without too much water period.

Its funny how the truth of things gets "lost in translation". This is a news article meant for the general public who either don't really care about how they do it, or would not understand the exact mechanism. I get what your saying though and you are right, they dont "absorb it like a sponge".

-Nathanael

Why would anyone even present possible harm to a desert animal by putting water on it? that makes no sense to me...

I don't think wetting a uro would harm it. Keeping it in a constantly humid environment more than likely would. I do not wet mine unless they get a case of poo poo butt, meaning they walk through poop and need to be bathed.

My big Mali will go out in the rain if he needs to relieve himself but he doesn't hang around absorbing rain. He is plenty fat and hydrated.

Perhaps the person doing the study placed a drop of water on a very warm (hot) uro and that caused rapid evaporation. The big Mali isn't a heat hog but my baby Egyptian will get himself quite hot to where he is nearly white in color. I can see how a drop of water might disappear pretty quick in such a case.

Well, in certain cases, even desert lizards need to be hydrated. The first thing I did after they arrived in the mail was to soak my DIs because all reptiles are at risk for dehydration when shipped, and if they are too stressed to eat or drink right away, they become dehydrated and can become impacted as a result. While lizards in the wild rarely have this problem, it is more common in captive desert reptiles. I mist if they start to look a little more wrinkled than usual. It won't kill them, and they do get rained on sometimes in the wild.

This article was cited and discussed on this forum on June 14 2006 under a thread titled: "Soaking Uromastyx".

For those interested in comments and opinions on this topic, you can use the search function and find more posts under this archived thread.

Thanks for that. I like Doug D.'s comments. They just make sense. I have heard a lot of "stuff" about reptiles in general that simply defies common sense. I guess this is one case.

So misting is kinda useless, and soaking is only minimally effective at best for treating dehydration, at least in full desert species. Its better to get the fluid to the inside if you have a dehydrated lizard. So while the water doesn't bead on my DIs, the surface of their scales are wet, and while that might raise the humidity (which is bad), it doesn't do much to hydrate them, right?

Deb, ever find out about the fat to water conversion ratio?
Would providing a diet, or dietary items, high in fat content help in hydration? Or would that be contra-indicated in a dehydrated specimen, and how about a mildly dehydrated specimen? I have seen Mader recommends supplementing with flax seed/flax seed oil(high in fat/fatty acids) to reptiles with kidney disease. Might this or similar methods help in at least maintaining hydration? thoughts/comments, anyone?

As for Waggeman's water drop theory, since there is no evidence of hydroscopic abilities in Uromastyx I would venture to guess Doug Dix's "opticle illusion" theory coupled with the high evaporation potential of the arid desert environment could explain this "disappearing water" phenomenon.

Kind of late on this and I am new, but I do know that unless the flax seed is shelled it really isn't of any use. They are so tiny that they pass right on through. Now if it's in the oil form that might work. But, then I am wondering since it's in oil form, would it coat their insides and prevent any vitamins being absorbed?

Cheryl and Max

if you used a rediculous amount of oil maybe. i think it would be best to oil up some pelleted food or crushed pellets with a small amount so it is moist, but not dripping with oil. you can also buy ground flax, and you can feel the oil content in it if it is fresh.