Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We brought home our new Mali on Friday... He's such a cute little guy, no name yet though. Any suggestions?

He's in a 30 gallon tank with a heat pad underneath and UV/heat lamp on one end. The highest temperature is around 115 (inside his burrow) and the lowest is 75, does that sound good?

Since the inside of the burrow is the warmest part of the tank, he tends to stay in there all the time. He comes out to eat (he loves peas!) but I'm concerned he's not getting enough exposure to the UV light being in the burrow all day. Should I take the burrow out for part of the day, or would he be stressed by not having a place to hide? Should I different "furniture" for his tank that wouldn't completely conceal him and he'd get some UV exposure?

Thanks again

I suggest you move the hide-out to the other side of the cage

I would also like to add on to your question. Is most of the uromastyx growing based on how much UV he gets? does it mean that if there is more uv he might get bigger?
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delbalso

Hi,
You should have two burrows, one on the cool side and one on the warm side, so he can feel safe and regulate his body temps. The warmest area should be a basking spot at 120F. One of the best ways to get a warm enough basking area is to shine the basking light onto a piece of slate, or other type of rock. Then he can warm himself on the hot rock, and move to either the warm burrow or the cool burrow when he gets too warm. 75 is a bit too cool, the cooler end should be between 85-90F, with the warm end being 100-110F, and the basking area (like I said) 120F. If he has a hot enough basking spot he should come out to bask, and soak up some UV rays in the process. 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)