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I feel horrible! I have known that Fluffy, my mali uro, isn't in perfect health. I have tried to help him, but he hasn't been getting much better. Frankly, Fluffy is fat. He is extremly bloated and has not been eating a whole bunch. Here are his stats.

1) I feed him Endive and dandelion greens (no -icides i know cause from our lawn) as his base. He also gets a little bit of kale, mustard greens (he usually likes these, but stores and my mom's gardens have been out of it) collard greens, peas, corn, Habiscus leaves and flowers (i know, spelling is wrong) and a few crix and mealies at times (which he really goes after). He also gets Nastursums every day. (all omnivorious herps I've seen LOVE these flowers!) He gets fed every day to every other day (about 5 times/week). I'll get picture of his meal tomorrow.

2) Temps are usually nice and high on his basking spot. (its night time now, so I'll post temps tomorrow-promise, however, a question... When recording temps / and temps that books/sites etc say, is it the ground temp--Place thermometer on ground under spot lamp, or is it the air temp--Place temp on side of wall close, but not directly under light???? I have had so many herps i feel bad to not know this!

3) Cage picture will be provided tomorrow, i promise again!. But, He has 2 burrows -1 hot , under the lamp and one cool, and more humid. I recently added 3 cacti, but his problem came before these. He is on Sand/Soil/Vermic mix. I'll get humid % tomorrow as well.

Any, and all advice would be greatly appreciated by me and Fluffy!

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0.1 Pogona vitticeps Inland Bearded Dragon Puff the Magic Dragon Approx. DOB's 01/11/02.
1.0 Uromastyx malinensis Mali Uromastyx Fluffy 04/19/00.
0.1 Iguana iguana Green Iguana Taco 10/5/94.
0.1 Gekko gekko Tokay Gecko Brogan 12/14/01.
0.0.1 Oedura monilis Australian Velvet Gecko Danny 08/28/01.
0.1 Eublepharis macularius Leopard Gecko Jazmine 4/10/04.
0.0.1 Phelsuma standingi Standing's Day Gecko Emril 3/24/04.
1.0 Tabby Cat Sargon 08/08/89. Our real fluffy.

Ok, dad taking comp to work here in about an hour, however, i wont have a Digital camera for about 3 hours-pix will be up tomorrow. His Humidity is about 50-60% and his basking temp is about 100º
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0.1 Pogona vitticeps Inland Bearded Dragon Puff the Magic Dragon Approx. DOB's 01/11/02.
1.0 Uromastyx malinensis Mali Uromastyx Fluffy 04/19/00.
0.1 Iguana iguana Green Iguana Taco 10/5/94.
0.1 Gekko gekko Tokay Gecko Brogan 12/14/01.
0.0.1 Oedura monilis Australian Velvet Gecko Danny 08/28/01.
0.1 Eublepharis macularius Leopard Gecko Jazmine 4/10/04.
0.0.1 Phelsuma standingi Standing's Day Gecko Emril 3/24/04.
1.0 Tabby Cat Sargon 08/08/89. Our real fluffy.

is she going to the bathroom? if not try turning up the basking spot to 110. may not be warm enough for her to digest her food. and if she cant poop she will have no room for more food so she wont eat. also if this is the problem giving her a marm bath may help her go to the bathroom.
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brandy

>>is she going to the bathroom? if not try turning up the basking spot to 110. may not be warm enough for her to digest her food. and if she cant poop she will have no room for more food so she wont eat. also if this is the problem giving her a marm bath may help her go to the bathroom.
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>>brandy

Number one piece of advice is get to a vet as soon as possible when you suspect an illness. We can help with things like helping you make sure your temps, setup and feeding are in the right ballpark, but if an animal is sick you are eventually going to end up at the vet anyway so going sooner when it is easier to treat is much better than later when it might be very expensive or worst of all too late.

I agree that raising temperatures is a good first step whenever you think you have an illness on your hands. Your Uros immune system is tied to body temperature and if they can't get warm enough.

You asked whether to measure air or ground temps. You need to know both. You said the basking temperature was 100... if that is the true ground temperature then it is low. The common consensus is that air temperature should run from 80-85 on the cool side to 95-100 on the hot side. Basking temperatures should be around 130 and can even run higher. I run my hottest basking spot at 140. I also provide cooler basking spots that run down to 110 so my Uro has a choice. He does use the 140 spot quite often but only for short periods of time.

As to measuring temperatures how I do it is to measure the air temperature in the shade on both the cool side and the hot side with remote probe thermometers. The stick on analog ones are fine for this also. As for ground and basking temperature the only true accurate way is to measure with an infrared non-contact thermometer (I picked mine up at Radio Shack for $20 on sale). Measuring ground temperature with a regular thermometer just setting on the basking spot will probably be very inaccurate. What you are really measuring is the air temperature inside the thermometer which could be much higher or much lower than it really is. A remote probe thermometer in contact with the basking spot might give you a better idea but if I did not have an infrared thermometer I would measure the basking spot with the back of my hand. It should feel very hot, not burning but you would not want to hold your hand there very long at all. I am not saying that it is a substitute for a temp gun but I would trust my touch over an analog thermometer set on the basking spot any time.

Please feel free to keep asking questions about your setup and what else you can do, as providing the best stress free enviroment for your Uro is the best thing you can do to help keep him healthy and to support him during an illness, but a vet trip sooner than later will be better for your Uro and your pocketbook.

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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net

Oops missed a whole line there.

>>I agree that raising temperatures is a good first step whenever you think you have an illness on your hands. Your Uros immune system is tied to body temperature and if they can't get warm enough then you Uros immune system will not be fully active and able to ward off or fight sickness.
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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net