Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I was sitting at home, and the phone rang. I picked it up and someone said "Is **** there? (name left out)". I said "No, can I ask who's calling?", and he said "It's **** from down the street". I told him I'd be over as soon as possible to take a look at the uro. I got there and this is what I saw:

-1 Extremely overweight Uro (it's twice the width of my adult beardie at least, and probably about twice as heavy), with a skin infection on both of his sides, one side being a lot more noticable. I'm going to take him to the vet after the holidays for a general checkup and to get some antibiotics for it, but I was wondering if anyone might know what it could be. It's just a hard white patch where it's obvious skin is stuck (he's in shed also).

-a ten gallon tank that he/she was living in, filled with nothing but feces, old and new lettuce, some heavily soiled rocks (including a heat rock), a water dish, and get this...grass.

-a 29 gallon tank and stand in bad condition that he wasn't using.

-a ceramic dome clamp lamp he wasn't using, equipped with a mercury vapor bulb.

If he had the stuff, why didn't he use it? He basically said, "If I was a kid with time on my hands, I would do everything the right way. But I just don't have the time anymore to take care of it". He also told me that he had inherited it from a friend and at first he was doing all the right things (had the 29 gallon tank setup, which is a bit small, with the mercury vapor bulb), but he gave me all sorts of excuses to why he didn't use it that just didn't make sense to me. He said "I took the light away because the lizard kept going crazy trying to get at it". Well I've got he/she setup in my room in the 29 gallon with the mercury vapor bulb, and he/she's just basking under it contently. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, but it just shows you that some people aren't cut out for dealing with reptiles.

On another note, I gave it a much needed bath today, which loosened up some of the skin and got some of the nasty stuff off of him/her. When I took her (we'll call it a her because I think it is, and I'm too tired of typing him/her), out of the tub, she walked around the bathroom a little (at a sluggish rate, which is the most I can expect from such an overweight Uro). I'll give her a bath again tomorrow and some nice dusted greens and adjust the tank setup a little since all I have in there is paper towels, a food dish, and a couple rocks underneath the light (which get to about 110-115 degrees). I'll also make her run around a little to try to burn off a little fat. She has lived on iceburg lettuce for the past few years which is the equivilent of us living on mcdonalds I believe, so it's going to take a nice excercise program. I'm going to do even more research on uros tonight.

Luckily for christmas I think I might be getting (among other things) a gift certificate to a local petshop, so I can get some better rocks, a lamp stand for the light, and a real top (right now I just have a piece of screen tied to the tank to hold the light up).

I think the main reason this big girl (who I am calling, for the time being, "big papa smurf", despite what sex she is), is because she had a heat rock. this is normally the foe of all reptile enthusiasts, but since she didn't have a light, this must have given her the belly temp to digest (and from the looks of the tank, she's digesting).

I'll update you guys tomorrow.

-ryan

Be careful on exercising her too much! I was warned by Doug Dix regarding a very obese adoptee of mine that Uro's can stroke out very easily! What I am doing with "Jake" is putting him on a salad diet, with a large cage and lots of heat, so he is nice and warm and just naturally active. I think he is feeling better as he is losing slowly and naturally. I do supplement with vitamins and lots of fresh vegies and salads. Stay away from peas, as they are very fattening.
Enjoy!
Beth

Thanks for the advice. that's basically what I was planning on doing for her. Hopefully she'll start dropping weight before it's really a problem (right now it's pretty bad though). I wish I could give her a bigger tank, but that's going to have to wait a while since it's probably going to be hard enough to pay for vet bills.

Thanks a lot for the advice on the peas though. They're one of the surplus food items in my bearded dragon's salad (which he doesn't eat yet...that's one of my summer projects). I'll have to know to keep those out of the Uro's diet. What specific greens and veggies do you know of that are good for getting the Uro's weight down?

Thanks

-ryan

Hi Ryan

I adopted a saharan uro that was kept without proper heat and lighting. She has metabolic bone disease, unfortunately, as a result (her pelvic/hip area is thickened and hard, causing her to not have full use of her hip joints).
My vet prescribed pure liquid calcium to be given to her twice a day for a month. To help her skin condition (no infection but she couldnt compolete shedding and had dried out crusted skin stuck to most of her body), he recommended soaks and using mineral oil applied to the dry areas. To be honest, I didnt use the mineral oil much, but I did use pure aloe vera gel.
Aloe has natural antibacterial properties, and is very soothing, and safe. I also use the high calcium greens and veggies, giving a daily salad of collards, dandelion, and spaghetti squash, etc, as a staple. Her previous diet was mostly romaine lettuce. In her case, she has gained 20 grams since being here, which is good. I cant offer you advice about helping your uro lose weight, but its possible the proper diet and setup will do that for her naturally.

See a vet as soon as you can, of course, but until then maybe some aloe and soaks will help clear up her skin. The correct temps and heat and diet will also contribute to overall improvement, and help her fight off infection. My uro is in shed right now, and most of the old stuck skin has finally shed. My vet said it might take 6 months to a year for her skin to improve, but it is now only just over a month since he saw her, and already she is shedding almost 100%completely.

good luck, and I'm really glad you were able to help this little one!

B

best of luck in bringing that animal around : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I'm so glad you were able to adopt her! You did the right thing - and it's great the guy just let you have everything and didn't get all weird or hostile.

Best of luck - keep us posted on how she's doing!
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Torey
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
1.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser and Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

That's great Ryan!

I hope that he comes around. I would watch out for fatty liver disease; was he fed mainly animal protein? You want to have him lose weight GRADUALLY as they can have problems mobilizing all that fat if you take them off of food too quickly. Also, you may want to get him somewhere to dig for excercise...just a thought.

Peter