Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my mali seems to be always clawing at the glass. i'm sure he's not trying to tell me "pick me up". i get nervous when i hear his snout hitting against the glass. i don't think he is hurting himself, it just seems to be a favorite pastimes! are there any concerns i should have, or is there some way to divert his attention? thanks for all replys. laura

I think that all uros do this (at least when housed in an aquarium). The first time I let my first Mali run around my floor, he went straight to the nearest box and started his dance. I have the feeling that they're simply trying to climb, as climbing seems to be in their nature.

Anyways, my uros do it every day, and I've not noticed any problems caused by it.

Some people have suggested putting paper backing to the glass to stop the behaviour, but it's never stopped my guys.

I wouldn't worry about it, and I actually find it pretty amusing, and even when I'm not looking at them, I can sometimes tell who's up by the sound of their squeeky feet on the glass!

Nicki
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0.0.2 Uromastyx geyri (Saharan Uromastyx) - New babies!
1.1.0 Uromastyx maliensis (Mali Uromastyx) - Spike and Lizzy
1.0.0 Lampropeltis mexicana thayeri (Variable (Thayer’s) Kingsnake) - Kavi
0.0.1 Lampropeltis triangulum campbelli (Pueblan Milksnake) - Callia
0.2.0 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis (Red-Sided Garter Snakes) - Spot and Fluffy

Ra doesn't rub his nose against the glass at all. He just looks straight up, leans his chin on the glass, gets his front feet up on it, then slides his tummy on it, (sometimes) puts one back foot on it and starts dancing. I've even seen him get all his feet on the glass, balancing himself using only his tail! That only lasts for a second or two though. I give him lots of things to climb in his tank but I guess it'll never really be enough. I know he's trying to get out of the tank and explore around since he can see the top of it. I do take him out once in a while to explore. When I go to put him back in his tank, he can't wait to get back home. If I put him in front of his tank, he'll glass dance on the outside to get back in!

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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

i'm glad to hear that ZION is not the only one who likes to do "the dance". i noticed in your pic of RA and his tank you have a plant that looks kind of like an aloe plant. what kind is it? i like the way it looks! thanks, laura

I've made a new basking spot for him that has 3 levels and is made of wood. I'm not sure what the name of the plant is, but it is some type of succulent (edible cactus). He used to eat it but he doesn't anymore.
I've been wondering if Malis are more prone to "glass dance" than other species of uros. What do you think?

Hope this helps
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

i don't know....but my mali dance from about 8 in the morning (when hes gotten warmed up) to about 6 at night....when he starts to soak up the last rays for a few hours....its crazy....i would be dead tired. he basks for like 2 minutes....then, dances, and back again.

i've only had malis so i'm not sure if malis are more prone to dancing.

If they are constantly dancing, they need more room.
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Mark Martinez
University of Florida

i had tp put him in a 50 gallon again cause i'm changing his new cage.....making the fake rock stuff for him. his other cage is like 200 gallons home made out of wood and now hes going crazy...will he calm down? or just be crazy until he's happier again? thanx!

He'll probably dance until he either gets used to the temporary cage or until you give him back his big comfy wood cage.

My comfy wood cage==>

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Mark Martinez
University of Florida

n/p

my mali does this too. I have him in a large plastic storage bin, so he cant see out, and he still does it. Everyday I hear him in the trying to climb the sides. At the petstore where I got him they had scenery on the back of the tank and I had seen him do this there too. I agree it seems to be a natural thing.
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Heidi Kagarise
purpledragon777@hotmail.com

1.0.0 MALI UROMASTYX (Spike)
1.0.0 BEARDED DRAGON
0.0.1 BALL PYTHON (Slick)
1.0.0 BUDGIE ('G')
2.2.0 BARN CATS
0.0.3 FISH
0.1.0 MINI REX RABBIT (Tu)

To my experience Uros stop doing this once the enclosure is really big enough for them. So THEY Do tell us, what size they need.
And the standard 55 g is clearly too small for adults.
Uros want to roam around-in their habitat they have to walk quite some distance to find food. So they DO need space in captivity.
Upgrade an adult mali to a tank with a floorspace of at least 5 x 3 ft (IMHO this is the very bare minimum size) and you will see that the dancing stops.

Just my 2 cts

Ingo

Do you really think that'd help?

My malis are in a 4'x2' tank, and there are 2 sub-adults. They seem to have tons of room to run around. But as I mentioned, even with a whole room to explore, Spike immediately went to a vertical surface to dance against!

I definitely agree that it's best to give them as much room as possible, but we can't give them the acres they'd have in the wild, so we have to do what we can.

Nicki

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0.0.2 Uromastyx geyri (Saharan Uromastyx) - New babies!
1.1.0 Uromastyx maliensis (Mali Uromastyx) - Spike and Lizzy
1.0.0 Lampropeltis mexicana thayeri (Variable (Thayer’s) Kingsnake) - Kavi
0.0.1 Lampropeltis triangulum campbelli (Pueblan Milksnake) - Callia
0.2.0 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis (Red-Sided Garter Snakes) - Spot and Fluffy

First 2 ft depth is not a lot. That would be one explanation. Another of course may be that sth is missing in theri tank which they are trying to get outside.
In most cases this is either an apt hiding (tunnel system) or enough light and heat.
The galss dance ALWAYS is a sigh that sth is not OK with the setup and it ALWAYS stops if the problem is found and removed.
I stick to that.

Hope that helps.

Ci@o

Ingo

Early on, I kept my two sub-adults in a 2 X 1 foot aquarium. Now they've been in their wooden enclosure for about a year now. The combination of the walls not being transparent and the floor space being 2.5 X 2.5 have cut down the "glass dancing" by about 85%.
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Mark Martinez
University of Florida