Reptile & Amphibian Forums

her weight problem is starting to go away a little at a time. Today she took a big poop with a good amount of liquid (she hadn't gone in 3 days, so it was pretty big), and she honestly went down from her normally ballooned self to the size and shape of a 'normal' uro... except with lots of extra skin flaps. How do they hold in so much waste and water at a time? Is this something abnormal that I should be worried out?

I'm also still letting her out ever couple of days, because she still won't poop in her cage (I line the floor with newspapers and towels when she comes out), and she doesn't yet have a good enough size cage that would allow her to get enough exercise without coming out to run around the room. I've also been observing her habits, and that's sort of interesting in a way. She comes out everyday when her lights go on and impatiently waits for her food (which she happily bounds up to when I bring it in), then after eating, she basks for a few hours, sometimes more than other times, and then usually retires to the burrow, sometimes coming out in the evening to run around. From this I have determined that the best time to take her out to run about is in the morning/early afternoon, because then I don't have to bother her while she's hiding...and I see it as important that she feels secure in her hiding spot, for obvious reasons. In the school year I don't have really any other choice but to lift up the roof to her "burrow" and wake her up to take her out, because I miss the window of oppurtunity by a few hours, and if I don't take her out, she gets extremely bloated because of her goofy bathroom tendancies. Someday I'll own a 'normal' uromastyx, but with this little girl's (or boy's) personality, it's worth it. I just wish I could have raised her from a baby.

Well, that's an update on the fat thing that once lived in a 10 gallon tank with just a heat rock, feces, old lettuce, and an unclean water bowl. I'm sure no one really cares, but I thought I would bring an update since I hadn't been around in a while.

of course we care. it is always nice to hear that a mistreated uro ends up doing well with its new owner. keep up the good work.
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vonnie
***One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. - A. A. Milne***

Thanks. I didn't mean any disrespect or anything, I just figured this forum is usually pretty straight forward (ask questions and get answers), so I didn't think anyone would really bother to read a fairly long post about my goofy uro. I know I always like to hear recovery stories though. Luckily my fat little uro didn't need to do much recovering, besides losing some weight....and it would be nice if she would start pooping in the cage, but I guess this makes for easier clean up anyways. This leads me to believe that they are smarter than we give them credit for though. The most obvious reason for this strange behavior is that she had to live basically in her own waste before I adopted her, and I would think that having that bad experience (for 2 years), it makes sense that she would try to keep her tank clean (besides throwing dirt around when she's digging in her dirt).

Thanks for caring.