Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm getting ready to purchase a Uro (probably a Mali), and I have a few more questions about diet.

1 - Does anyone give their Uro pellets (Iguana, Bearded Dragon or alfalfa)? If so, how often?

2 - Should fruit be given as part of daily meal or as a treat?

3 - Where do you get dandelions and other flowers from or do most people grow their own?

4 - What should I look for in a bird seed? I've heard to stay away from sunflower seeds. Is it the shell that's the problem, because I've seen a lot of seeds with hulled sunflower seeds.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Kelly

I can give you a few answers. Fruit is more of a treat - I think I read four veggies for every one fruit. I almost never give fruit because Arthur won't eat it. He gets a little bit of iguana (juvie size) pellets in his dry dish. His dry dish also has birdseed in it (mostly millet finch mix). It's there in his cage all the time, but he doesn't seem to eat them much. He prefers the lentils. And I find dandelion (cat's claws, actually) flowers in my yard, but the greens at the health food store. The cat's claw greens are more bitter, and he won't eat them. See deerfernfarms.com for more details about cat's claw.
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Torey
1.0 Uromastyx Geyri (Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Do you cook the lentils at all or serve as is? I've been wondering this about beans also.

Nope, raw and crunchy is the way he likes his lentils. For the beans, avoid kidney beans totally. And the rest I throw in a cheap coffee grinder for a couple seconds, but don't cook them.
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Torey
1.0 Uromastyx Geyri (Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

i like to grow my own food, especially with flowering plants, hibiscus can be found at most plant shops or landscaping store, they are pretty easy to take care of and my uro LOVES every part of that plant. i would recomend getting one.
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1 mali uro - oni
2 bearded dragons- Trogdor "the burninator",Strom

Forgive me but I know very little about plants. Are there different kinds of hibiscus? Do I need to look for a certain kind? I've never kept plants or flowers, so if it's easy I would like to give it a shot.

If you live in a cooler area (I'm in the Pacific NW), look for Rose of Sharon hibiscus. If you live somewhere warm like CA or FL, look for Chinese hibiscus. They grow VERY large, so make space!
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Torey
1.0 Uromastyx Geyri (Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Hello Kelly! You're gonna have fun with a Mali Uromastyx. I have one Mali and 2 Nigerians, the Mali's name is Booger. He weighs nearly 3 pounds, and is 16 inches long. Their diet consists mainly of DARK LEAFY GREENS. Booger's favorites are: Kale, Dandelion, Collards, Mustard Greens, Endive, Purple Kale, Clover Sprouts and Red Chard. Definately feed them fruit. Our Uro's enjoy Strawberries, banana (chopped), grapes, pomengranite (sp?), mango, apples, and they really love Tomatoes. I would experiment to see what your individual lizard likes. I read on a post here that someone's uro doesn't eat Turnip Greens. Mine refuses carrots, no matter how I try and hide them in his meals. Stay away from Iceberg Lettuce and Greenleaf Lettuce, they're low in nutritional value. If you have a yard where Dandelion grows, pick them the flowers. They like those. (Make sure NO SPRAYED PESTICIDES in the yard.) You can buy Dandelion at the grocery store but it has no flowers. As for the bird seed, try wild Finch seed with none of those little fortified pellets for birds. Only the natural stuff, and no sunflower seeds.

-Paul and Angie
Sacramento CA
1 Mali Uromastyx
2 Niger Uromastyx
1 Bearded Dragon
2 African Fat Tail Geckos

Can you recommend a brand of the wild finch seed w/o sunflower seeds. I've only checked one place so far (plenty more I can check out), but they didn't have any w/o the sunflower seeds.

How often do you feed your guys fruit?

Also, do you peel the fruits?

What about the seeds on the outside of the strawberry? Do you peel that off?

I have found that the wild Finch seed that you can buy in bulk has only the small seeds. The main thing to be careful with the seeds, is to make sure that there's no sunflower seed SHELLS, as they can be sharp and could harm the GI Tract. Also, with the fruit, I peel the mango and apples, and then slice them up thinly and offer it one at a time. This helps them eat the fruit without getting any sand on it, and it also helps build the bond between lizard and human. I don't peel the strawberries. In fact, I wait until they are a little over-ripe, and starting to get kinda soft, then I feed the strawberries by cutting them in half. You will find that your Uro will try and take the biggest bite possible, so hand feeding will help regulate their intake. With a smaller Uro, I would peel all fruits first, then chop it smaller. With banana, you have to mix it with other leafy greens, because it's really sticky. With tomato, I give them little slices, with more of the 'meatier' part, and less of the wet 'seedy' part.

-Paul and Angie
Sacramento CA

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