Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have 2 uros, one an adult male red uro and a baby mali. when i got the baby mali i found that it had a ravenous appetite for wax worms, pheonix worms and esp megaworms. it eats greens, but not with the same enthusiasm. it has a protrubernat belly, and a very round meaty tail. it has shed approx 2 times since i got it in january. in april, i got an red adult male uro. they are adjacent to one another. intially he did not eat any insects, but after watching the mali, his appetite is even greater for insects. he also eats greens, but is always waiting for megaworms which i hand feed once every week to two weeks. there are varying opinions in the literature, but how much insect intake is too much?

I don't know personally, but from what I've heard from people I consider to be experts and I fully trust as far as Uro care, insects can lead to things like kidney problems and exposure to parasites. From what I understand, Uro's kidneys do not handle animal protein well. Also, any time you feed insects, you risk exposing your Uros to parasites and other nasty creatures that might be carried in/on the insects. I've never given my Uros a single insect of any kind, and they are perfectly healthy and happy.

Andi

thanks, it is a bit unclear. i read that they can get gout and renal failure. i was trying to figure out the mechanism and all i can think of is that they are on the dehydrated side and a high protein diet can be nephrotoxic because it may not be cleared as quickly. do people routinely give their wild caught adults mbendazole? or do they wait for symptoms? my big one, which is a red uro, has slowly gained weight, his arms are thick, his abdomen is protruberant, but still has some wrinkles. the ventral spine in his tail still is visible. how quickly do they gain weight? he is about 12in total length. he is very active and easy to handle. when i read adds trying to sell them, it sounds as if they are gaining weight by the day and diving at every green that is placed in their enclosure. in case you were wondering, i am new to this and there are not alot of uro owners in nyc.

Uros grow very slowly... taking 2-3 years to become mature from hatchlings. When we got our Gizmo, who is a yellow-phase WC Saharan male, he was a bit thin, but not too bad, because the pet store we got him from actually took pretty good care of him. We've had him for over a year now, and he's at a really nice weight. He's probably added 40 grams or so since being with us. I've seen fatter U. geyri, but for Gizmo I think he's stabilized at his good weight. So... it took about 8 months for us to get him to what we thought was a healthy weight since buying him. Hope that makes sense, I haven't had my caffeine yet this morning LOL!

Andi

thank you very much. i really enjoy having them. wish there was a reptile community here in nyc

Where in NYC are you? I am out on the Island.. near Port Jeff. I would also suggest not feeding insects on any kind of regular basis. From anything I have read, any feeding of crickets/worms should be very minimal, 1% of their diet. I have given my Mali's 2 SMALL crickets each only twice since I got them back in Feb.

Best thing for them is to stick with healthy foods such as Escarole, Endive, Chikory, dandelion greens, dandelion flowers(be sure they have no pesticides or other chemicals) shredded carrots, soaked lentils

I have noticed considerable weight gain in both my Mali's in the last 4 months. The male has gained 10g each and have both gone though shedding a bit as well. They have also both grown about 1/2" - 3/4" each since as well.