Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Since its getting colder up here in Massachusetts, my apartment is beginning to cool.

My juvie mali is doing fine and his tank is kept at optimal temps. But I'm certain temps will drop a bit once the snows coming down. Rather than buying yet another heat lamp (I'm using 4 right now...UVB bulb, 2 150's, and a 60 watt red lamp for nighttime), I was thinking I might want to brumate.

It will also save me some cash in the long run

Any thoughts guys or girls? Should I try it? Is it something a newbie Uro owner should avoid?
Any places I could go to read up on it or anyone have a general plan I could try?

To my opinion, all animals which brumate in the wild should have the opportunitiy to do so in captivity.
They are adapted since thousands of generations to cool winters and a resting period. I am convinced that brumation is not only helpful for breeding, as all you guys know, but that it is also necessary if you want a long living Uro.
Constantly high metabolic rates year round are nothing Uros are adapted to. Uros are popular ass pets since a few years. I beg that among the nonm brumating ones, many will not see their 15th year, whereas Urso can reach a lifespan of significantly over 20 years. Time will show, but from my experience with other herps, which do brumate in the wild, I am convinced that it IS detrimental to skip brumation.
I never lost an animal during brumation, so if done right, its NOT dangerous.
Keeping Uros warm in winter seems to be easier and less risky.
But tthata true only for short.

Thats my 2 cts

Ingo

I've always had the same suspicion. While we know that sometimes, areas of the planets have weather patterns that deviate slightly at some points, I've always thought brumation SHOULD be done. Heck, captivity is not usually their optimal environment. You'd think any little thing that could help make their enclosure a little more like home (even though most animals are captive bred) would be a benefit to at least their psycological well being if not their physical well being.

I commented on this same thought on the tortoise forum last year, and several people said it was not neccessary, but I still have suspicions.
Shrug.

Ok, so you have convinced me. I want the best for my little guy. Know of any place I should read up on it? Or would you happen to have a plan you could tell me?

Ra is still kinda young so I've decided not to brumate him this year as I am still pretty new to uros and want to make sure that when I do brumate him, it'll be done right the first time. I have cut down on his daylight hours so he's sleeping more overall. By the end of October, his daylight hours will be down to 10 hours a day. Should I cut the hours down more than that or will this be ok for one season?
He is still too young to breed so I'll wait until next year to brumate him (plus he should have a nice fat storage in his tail by then). I plan on getting him a nice mature girlfriend but adult Malis are hard to find around here (I'm not far from Toronto).
Is what I'm doing ok or will there be some serious problems that I don't know about?
Thanks for the help, all
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

Thats what I do for my U. acanthinura nigriventris (1,1 cb 1997 plus one not yet sold baby):
Starting this week, I reduce light period from 14 hours down to 8 hours per day in end of November. In mid November I shut down half of the lights.
Normally they stay in their hide boxes almost all the time from end of November ( I have tubings leading out of the tank and ending in easily controllable half sand filled (very moderately moist-not completely dry) hide boxes).
Than I remove the hide boxes, close their exits and keep them in my fridge at constantly 9°C for two months. After that I just reattach the boxes to the tank. From end of february till end of March I increase light cycle from 8 to 14 hours again and use full light intensity from mid march.
After reattachment of the hideeboxes, they have access to a bowl with water (YES) and some food and they can be seen for occasional basking several times a week.
Under these conditions mating normally starts in April and eggs are layed end of may/beginnig of june.
I do appkly this procedure to hatchlings as well with no problems so far.

Hope that helps

Ingo

I haven't a real clue, but 9 C sounds a bit too cold...
I was just reading that temperatures around 65-70 F (19-20 C) in typically ok for these guys during brumation. I found this rather convienient since during the winter the ambient temperature in my apartment tends to stay at just this amount.

So I guess I should just start a regimen of slowly decreaseing light....

That depends on the species. For my U.a. nigriventris brumation in the herp room at 15-18 ° C turned out to be not cold enough to stimulate breeding and only after cold brumation success was back.
Ever been in Marocco in Winter? That can get COLD.
Of course the fridge period should not last longer than 6-9 weeks, but I have best experiences with that.
At least to my experience nigriventris should have some time below 15 °.

Ci@o

Ingo

My fiance liked the fridge idea (we have a full-size fridge and a little bar fridge). Would a Mali do well at apartment temps or would a fridge help stimulate breeding behaviour better? At what temps and for how long would I have to keep him in there?

Thanks
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

Malis are from warmer regions. Anyhow, a fridge is ideal to keep constantly low temps. If I had malis, I would cool them slowly down as I described above and then put them in the fridge for approx 6 weeks at moderrately cold temps like 12-14°C (53-58F). Then slowly warm up again in the tank.
The main reason why I like the fridge method is that warm periods during the central brumation period may occur too often if the animals are left in a room. And this leads to higher metabolic acitivty and lets the Uro loose more weight than upon incubation in the fridge. Hence this method helps with better breeding success.
Thats my 2 cts

Ci@o

Ingo

Have you tried using a higher wattage bulb to achieve a better temp instead of using several lower wattage bulbs? It might make things easier on your wallet if you only have to buy one bulb instead of two or three at a time. Just a thought, I'm not sure if it's feasible for you to do so or not.

Hope this helps
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

Well...as it happens I had a large number of lamps and bulbs not being used (had stocked up on some good deals last year before my russian tortoise died). I figured rather than buy yet another lamp, several would be alright. It also lets me make slight adjustments to the temp gradient, by removing a lamp or adding one, moving it slightly, etc.

But yes, I want to buy another large watt flood lamp or something...