Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have my two small Mali's and a small ornate (all captive bred)in a 4' by 5' cage with about 18" of dirt. I live on the edge of woods so I went out to the edge and started digging, loaded into a wheelbarrow and hauled it into the cage.(many loads). I left the small stones, roots, grass clumps, weeds in the dirt and packed it down real good. I figured if it's good enough for chipmunks, rabbits, and ground hogs burrows, it should be good for uromastyx burrows. The humidity in the cage is about 50% - 60%. I don't have the cage ventilated because it's in the basement and it's hard enough to keep the temps up. They are extremely active, eat all the time, and have burrows dug that they go in and out of all day long. There are several basking sites with several levels for them to choose. Since I put them on the dirt I have noticed them growing, I don't have to weigh them. I notice they eat more, and they shed easily. I don't know if this is because of the dirt or not but I can certainly see that it is not hurting them. another thing I did was I put about an inch of play sand on top of the dirt so that the area they walk on is dry and I think it helps hold the moisture in the dirt. I am sold on the dirt. I am in the process of rebuilding my adults cage with the dirt set up.

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Rick
1.1.2 Mali's
0.1.0 Nigerian
0.0.1 Ornate
137 lb. Male German Shepherd named Sabbath. Don't come knocking on my door unless you have an extra pair of skivies.

The black tube you see on the first picture is a makeshift burrow but they dont use it. They dug their own.

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Rick
1.1.2 Mali's
0.1.0 Nigerian
0.0.1 Ornate
137 lb. Male German Shepherd named Sabbath. Don't come knocking on my door unless you have an extra pair of skivies.

The temp. on that side of the cage on the second picture is usually 100 degrees but i had the door open to take the photo and it cooled down a bit.

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Rick
1.1.2 Mali's
0.1.0 Nigerian
0.0.1 Ornate
137 lb. Male German Shepherd named Sabbath. Don't come knocking on my door unless you have an extra pair of skivies.

OOPS!

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Rick
1.1.2 Mali's
0.1.0 Nigerian
0.0.1 Ornate
137 lb. Male German Shepherd named Sabbath. Don't come knocking on my door unless you have an extra pair of skivies.

what are you feeding them, they look great. Also, how old are they? Do you know how long they are. And do you know about how much they way.
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Mike
1.1.3 maliensis (Spike, Marshmellow, Brown, Green, Orange)
0.2 Female U. Acanthinurus-Werneri x
0.1 Pit Bull/German Shephard/ Lab/ ect. mix (Kodak) - looks like an over grown toco bell dog.

The last time I checked the weight of the two Mali's was 12/23 and their weight was 18.4 grams and 24.5 grams. I got the ornate on 12/29 and his weight was 16.2. I don't know exactally how old they are. I just feed them leafy greens and I just started using the T-Rex uromastyx dust. I really dont see a need to weigh them often because I can see that they are growing. I think Robyn hit the nail on the head with the dirt thing and the different basking levels with slightly different temps. I am not saying that my husbandry is perfect by any means but I can tell by the way they eat and their activity that they are very content.
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Rick
1.1.2 Mali's
0.1.0 Nigerian
0.0.1 Ornate
137 lb. Male German Shepherd named Sabbath. Don't come knocking on my door unless you have an extra pair of skivies.

I was wondering if you can give the measurments of your habitat? I really liked the plexi door to view. Just outta curiosity do you think that one side could be done in plexi glass to view them?

I bet if you painted or covered the walls of your enclosure you could get the ambient temp up a little higher. Looks really good from where I am sitting!
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BigMac
1 Mali Uro - Tank
1 Leo - Doobie
1 Chacoan Monkey Frog - Pilar
1 Corn Snake - Muka

Good idea, I might try that.
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Rick
1.1.2 Mali's
0.1.0 Nigerian
0.0.1 Ornate
137 lb. Male German Shepherd named Sabbath. Don't come knocking on my door unless you have an extra pair of skivies.