Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there

My brother is looking into getting a uromastyx... he's been busy with school lately so I'm doing a little research on them for him.

I found a reptile breeder nearby that currently has three kinds of uromastyx, Mali, Moroccan, and Saharan. My brother was hoping to have a lizard that would allow him to hold it and would sit with him outside it's tank... Do any of these species have a tendancy to be more friendly and handleable? The Malis are listed as CR, I assume this means captive raised? The Saharans are listed at "LTC," what does that stand for?

We've had turtles before, and an iguana for ten years, so we know about general herp care, but any links/articles that are specific to Uromastyx would be helpful.

Thanks! I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon.

i have never dealt with another uro except mali's,mine is wild caught and i can pick him up without struggle,he still is a little skiddish but he will outgrow this,thier in my opinion pretty easy lizards,the onlything that keepers fail to do is keep there tempature up,i mean real high (115-130) Yes thats 115F to 130F,enough to burn ourselfs easily but they love it.

theres a great website here http://deerfernfarms.com/ its all about uros.

it's very complete and thier info is top notch,read this and make sure you can aquire the temps before you buy him just incase something goes wrong..

good luck

kali
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1.3 Leopard Gecko's
1.0 mali uromastyx
0.0.3 tokay's(adults unsexed)

Hello,

I keep all three of these species in my collection. All my Uromastyx are captive bred apart from my adult trio of Saharans. These are ltc (Long Term Captive). All of my Moroccans are tame and so is my Mali. The Saharans are fairly tame but a bit skittish.

If you are looking for a really tame one, I would go for the Malis, or the Moroccans. The Moroccans will definately be captive bred, so if you buy a youngster, he will no doubt grow to be very tame with handling.

Hope this helps,

Hugh

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7:2 Uromastyx acanthinura nigriventris
1:2 Uromastyx geyri
1:1 Uromastyx hardwicki
1:0 Uromastyx dispar maliensis
1:0 Uromastyx aegypita aegyptia
0:1 Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis

1:1 Sauromalus obesus obesus

2:1 Varanus panoptes panoptes
0:1 Varanus flavirufus ssp.

LTC is "long term captive". Wild caught, but been in captivity for some time. Captive bred is best for having a tame one, but some do just fine, I understand. Both mine are wild caught and are WILD. They struggle and will bolt if I'm not careful. They should improve with handling, but they've had lots of medications, etc, that make them associate handling with being miserable.

If friendly lizard is your main aim, you might also look into bearded dragons - they are about as mellow as you could ask in a lizard.
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Torey
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

I went to check out the reptile store yesterday, it really looked like a nice place. The animals all seemed healthy and the owner was very helpful; everything he told me was in accordance with what I've read online. He showed me a Mali, it was very cute, he said it's about a year old. We're going back on Friday to get cage supplies (and proabably the lizard too). So here are my new questions:

1. I looked on Amazon.com for a book on Uromastyx, but none of the ones I found had good ratings... Are there any really good Uromastyx books, or am I better off printing out care sheets from online?

2. The Mali that I saw was still pretty small, is a 20-gallon tank a good size for the time being? Of course we would put him in a larger tank as he (or she?) got bigger.

3. Is there a way to determine the gender of a Mali that isn't full-size or fully colored yet?

Thanks again!

Hi,
I have yet to find a good Uromastyx book. I reccomend just reading caresheets online. How big is the mali? I have 2 malis, and when I bought my first one he was about a year old, and was around 7-8" long. I kept him in a 30gal. breeder, until I got him a girlfriend, and now I keep both in a 4.5foot long homemade cage. I would go with a 30 or 40gal. breeder, then you wont have to buy another one until much later (depending on the size of the adult they can live in a 40gal. breeder their whole lives, although the more room the better), since a 30gal breeder and a 20gal long have only a $20 difference in price. You can tell the sex by looking at the base of the tail. A male will have two bumps on either side of the tail, and a female will be flat, or just have one large bump in the center. There are also femoral pores - little dots along the inner thighs. In the male they are more pronounced. Also, males are supposed to have wider tails and heads, but you need to have a deffinite male or female to compare the baby to. Here's a really good site on Mali care...
http://jason.creager.com/uros.html
By the way, my malis are both captive bred and are the sweetest little uros you could ask for Hope this helps!

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~Sarah
1.1 Mali Uromastyx (Draco and Pumpkin)
1.0 Russian Tortoise (Pookie)
8.11.22 Millipedes (9 different species)

Hi,

I don't have a mali, but I'm considering one in the future, so I've been perusing this forum.

As general herp advice, I'd suggest not getting your tank and pet in the same day. You'll want to make sure the cage temps are right before you bring him (or her) home. Especially with something like this as they love (and need) the high heat.

It can take a couple of days to get things right, but I'm sure a reputable breeder/seller wouldn't mind putting the pet on hold for you for a couple days to make sure you have the habitat just right. You don't want to be messing around with the temps while the little guy freezes (especially since it's winter now).

And you don't want to be constantly reaching in and rearranging cage furnishings until you're satisfied with them on your little guys' first day in his new home. That would drive him nuts.

Just some advice from a fellow herper.
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Blaine

0.0.1 HY/Patternless/Normal Leo (Echo)