Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey, i need some help with making a pair. I currently have one nigerian/saharan or geryi whatever you want to call him, male uro. hes a sweet guy, good eater, and pretty tolerant of most everything i do with him, hes never tried to bite or anything. He was a LTC from doug dix and totally free from any problems. He has a few minor scars but in general is a great specimen. I was interested in pairing him up wth a female. There are some baby uros of his species in my area that are thought to be female due to dark/duller coloration. I dont really have enough space or the cash to have another enclousure. i have a 10 gallon tank that i put him in when i fully clean his tank for about 2 minutes but thats it. He's in a large vision cage 36"wx28"dx18"h. So my question is has anyone ever put a baby in with an adult and its been ok? what about a young one with an adult. like i said hes not very agressive so i'm not sure also, hes about 10 1/2" long STL. What do you all think? i need some help and i don't want to buy a fully grown female.
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Lauren
New Jersey

Hi Lauren...
Boy will you get a boatload of opinions here. In general, it seems that the Saharan/Nigerians are very tolerant of each other. I would not, of course, put two males in with one female, as I think the males would fight, JMHO. I have read somewhere that the Saharans are even tolerant of smaller uros. Again, pairing any uros, a normal solitary species is taking a chance. I had a trio, which was supposed to be one male and two females and as soon as I put them together by the next morning the one smaller "female" (which is a male) had been bitten in the face by the larger male and was in the corner of the cage with his face pressed to the wall. I had no choice but to separate them. IF you decide to get another one, you have to have the space and financial resources to have an entire separate set-up in case of aggression. Aggression can sometimes be very subtle, so you need to constantly monitor pairs. I'm sure you'll hear many opinions here, this is just my experience.

Pam

I've heard from quite a few people that there is a concern regarding the size of a young female sharing an enclosure with a mature male. There is a possibility that he may try to mate while she's too young, which could result in serious injury. A female of small stature may also have difficulty with egg laying as she has a greater possibility of becoming egg-bound.

I would not buy the small female for two reasons:

1) Health risk. First off there is the risk of injury or death to the small Uro due to agression. Some Uro's will tolerate each other but others will not. When you have such a disparity between sizes it may be too late once you figure out that the larger one has turned agressive. Also, you would need to quarantine the smaller one in a seperate container (which you said you can't afford) for a month. Not only that but you would have to take fecal samples to the vet to make sure your new specimin does not have parasites, which costs money and brings us to:

2) Money. You have a responsibility as a pet owner to be able to take care of your pets. If you can't afford a terrarium and a light you most certainly will not be able to afford a vet visit if needed. Hold off on adding another Uro until you are more financially secure.

Peter