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My second half dead URO is eating!

Flavia Guimaraes Oct 13, 2003 07:38 PM

Well one month ago i bought a half dead URO.At that time i didnt know anything about uros, i had never seen or heard anything about uro's before! I bought it because he slept on my hands and he bloated his belly so i thought he was fat and healthy.Big mistake!As soon as we arrived home he stopped inflating his belly and i realized i had bought a skinny, probably sick uro! Well i asked a lot of questions to people here, got a lot of good answers and Muffin is still alive! Now he is 310 grs, and sweet as an angel!
Friday i went to the same pet shop where i bought Muffin and i saw another URO in even worse condition! People at that petshop have not realized yet that UROs need heat! They put their uros in a 70F cage and expect the uros to survive! Well, i bought that half dead uro too under the condition that if the uro dies the pet shop owner will replace it with another, a healthy one. Well, i took Brioche (the new uro's name)home, i gave her lots of warm baths with salt and sugar, and i gave her a few drops of vitamins to increase the appetite.I did that for the last 3 days but almost without hope because she was lethargic, without any interest for food and with dead eyes!
Well, i think ive done something right because when she arrived home she was only 120 grs and 12 inches.Today she is 140 grs and i just saw her eating by herself! Im very happy!

Replies (8)

el_toro Oct 13, 2003 11:19 PM

I'm glad your new baby is doing better! You're in Kuala Lampur, right? Do they have anything like a Humane Society or ASPCA there? If they do, maybe you can call them and let them know how terribly they are treating their animals at that place. Maybe they can force the pet store guy to improve the conditions he keeps the animals in. If you keep buying the poor things, he'll just keep getting more in to sell and never treat them any better!

Do you have photos of this one? Is it another Mali like Muffin?
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Torey
D'oh! 0.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Flavia Guimaraes Oct 14, 2003 07:36 PM

I dont know how to identify UROS!lol!She is red/orange thats all i know!I took some photos of her, not many because i was afraid she would die and to look at the photos of a pet that had died always make me sad!
But she is eating, and moving well.But she has not pee/pooped yet!
About that petshop they are awful with all species of animals mainly reptiles.I saw there green iguanas literally dying of starvation!One of them, poor thing, stopped breathing just in front of me!That spoilt my day!
I contacted a friend of mine and he contacted the Malaysian Green Iguana Society.I think someone from that Society went at that petshop because the reptile's condition improved a little bit but this happened before the arrival of the UROS.By the way her name is Brioche!

Sunfox Oct 15, 2003 09:10 AM

n/p
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

Sunfox Oct 14, 2003 09:17 AM

I can't recall if you had arrived here or not but it's an opinion about uros in pet stores by someone called "LP" (I think it's Lindsey Pike). He had quite a lot to say on the subject.

"Buying a sick uro to try and save it is certainly an understandable, big-hearted, compassionate thing to want to do. But the cold hard reality is that doing so might actually accomplish the opposite of what you really want by encouraging the vendor to repeat their performance. Your dollars actually reinforce the action as profitable. Ideally you might convince the merchant that displaying a sick animal actually hurts their image and they should give it to you to attempt rehab. Admittedly, this is a longshot but may be one scenario that gives a chance to the animal without dooming more of it's brethren. An attempt at education should also be tried but requires a calm personlity in the face of what is sometimes closed minds, arrogance and insults. Personally, I have a diificult time keeping my emotions in check in those situations and all genuine communication and learning ceases when tempers rise. Contacting appropriate law enforcement or protection groups may be a last resort.
Our "vote" with our wallets is just as important as what we do at the ballot box. When we spend money at the store that is neglecting animals we also miss the opportunity to support the other store in town that is doing it right. If you know a petshop that takes care of it's animals properly ( or at least TRIES to learn and will listen to suggestions) and gives out proper care instructions then encourage them with your patronage. Tell your friends about them. Get your other supplies there, too. They need and deserve your help to survive. Every tank, cricket or vitamin you buy from the scumbags supports more animal abuse.
Whew! excuse my rambling, I guess I just had to get that off my chest.
Lindsay"

I thought it was worth mentioning if you didn't have the opportunity to read it before.

Glad to hear that your new uro is doing much better
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

Flavia Guimaraes Oct 14, 2003 07:49 PM

Im a Brazilian living in Malaysia.I dont speak the local language and to say the true it doesnt exist a local language here!It seems impossible but Malaysia is formed by 3 different races and each of them speaks their own language! So the communication between the races is very difficulto too! So its impossible for me to try to educate the salesman becuse he only speaks chinese and i dont!lol!
Besides that, that shop is the ONLY one in town that sells UROs, Monkey Tails and now Beardies.Im used to buy half dead animals from them! LOL! My MTS, his name is Leonardo, i bought there too! He was in very bad condition but not as bad as the UROS because his cage requirements are not so specific!By the way, below is a photo of Leonardo!

Sunfox Oct 15, 2003 09:08 AM

If you can't speak his language, there are other ways to get your point across. Perhaps it would help to show him pictures of proper uro enclosures so that he can see that they have heat lamps. Take one of the heat lamps he has in his store and show him that he needs to expose the uros to it. Through some demonstrative actions, you should be able to get your point across. I've also dealt with people who don't speak English or French but through a series of hand motions we are able to communicate. This may be what you have to do. Perhaps there may even be somebody who can speak both your language and his and can serve as an interpreter. Please do your best, every animal deserves that chance.

Good luck, I hope this helps
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

Flavia Guimaraes Oct 15, 2003 08:45 PM

I have already done that! I brought them some information i got in INTERNET about UROs (they didnt even know that "those reptiles" they are selling in their shops were UROMASTYX!)with lots of photos of the enclosure, the kind of food they eat (photos of greens, vegetables, etc...),the temperature they require, etc...They laugh (Asian people are always laughing!) and they didnt care! When i came back the poor UROs were there under a 40 watts lamp (that i FORCED them to put --but i suggested a 60 or 100V' lamp!-because before there were NO lamps at all!)having only crickets to eat!

Worse was the Monkey Tail Skink condition! No food to eat because they didnt know what to give him to eat!The poor thing was surviving eating the Blue Tongue Skink they keep in his cage poop! I said them that MTS eats POTHOS plant, i even write the name in a piece of paper!They didnt care at all! So i started going there EVERY WEEK with a POTHOS plant vase that i OBLIGED them to put inside the MTS cage!When i could not go there they didnt replace the POTHOS plant vase so the MTS started to starve again!Pothos plant is very cheap and can be found EVERYWHERE here in Malaysia!

The problem is THEY DONT MIND!THEY DONT CARE!

Sunfox Oct 16, 2003 06:10 PM

who can help you better. I don't know what the rules are for the treatment of animals in your country but maybe there's someone you can go to (at least I hope there is) that can force these neglectful people to change their habits.

Good luck
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

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