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There are different opinions surrounding this issue...are nematodes safe for uros in captivity or not?

Some breeders feed the feces of adults to the babies to give them a parasite count and claim they grow faster and are healthier.

Others say it's bad...

Some people say that uros lack rumens to break down the food so they need the parasites to do it for them....

What's the true story????

Anybody know??? or have any good resources??
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Chris Vanderwees

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>>There are different opinions surrounding this issue...are nematodes safe for uros in captivity or not?
>>
>>Some breeders feed the feces of adults to the babies to give them a parasite count and claim they grow faster and are healthier.
>>
>>Others say it's bad...
>>
>>Some people say that uros lack rumens to break down the food so they need the parasites to do it for them....
>>
>>
>>What's the true story????
>>
>>Anybody know??? or have any good resources??

I don't think anyone knows for sure but here are a couple of web pages from Melissa Kaplan's herp care collection that talk about it.

Adaptations to Herbivory in Iguanine Lizards

and

A very brief overview of digestion in green iguanas and other herbivorous lizard species

You are correct that some breeders also recommend feeding fresh fecal pellets to newborn uros to inoculate the gut with bacteria and parasites. (reference: www.deerfernfarms.com/Uromastyx_Care.htm all the way at the bottom under breeding)

My personal thoughts are along the same lines as the pages above, that a light to moderate loading of nematodes is normal in Uros and probably beneficial.

Note pure speculation on my part follows

I have wondered if this might have some bearing on the "crashing" that is seen in some uromastyx where there is a downward spiral of not eating and dehydration and there are no other symptoms. After a broad spectrum wormer is applied and a lot of the gut flora and fauna are killed off, I wonder if the Uro can no longer break down food to recieve nutrition and they stop eating as much because the gut stays mostly full of unprocessed food.

again the above is pure speculation with no evidence to back it up

Unfortunately Melissa Kaplan sums it up well:

Until someone sits down with large numbers of herbivorous hatchlings (or neonates) that can be raised for 15+ years (or, ideally, for more than one generation) in a strictly controlled setting to study the long term effects of the different diets, it is all going to be just so much conjecture.
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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net

>>Note pure speculation on my part follows
>>
>>I have wondered if this might have some bearing on the "crashing" that is seen in some uromastyx where there is a downward spiral of not eating and dehydration and there are no other symptoms. After a broad spectrum wormer is applied and a lot of the gut flora and fauna are killed off, I wonder if the Uro can no longer break down food to recieve nutrition and they stop eating as much because the gut stays mostly full of unprocessed food.
>>
>>again the above is pure speculation with no evidence to back it up
>>

Mike-

I wonder if it's not a balancing act between the two extremes on the crashing uros. My Joe is one of the ones who survived his near-fatal crash. I got him from Doug Dix at about 200g last summer - he refused to eat and started on his downward spiral. In his case it was the opposite from what you suggest above - when he stopped eating and was dehydrated, the parasites ran rampant and made him worse. At his low point he was about 160g. After the parasites were eliminated, he got fluid injections, and he accepted food again, he steadily improved. No parasites since, and he's now a fat and sassy 300g nearly a year later.

Perhaps it's finding the balance of WHEN to eliminate the parasites from the system. When the animal is healthy, it can manage with or without. When the animal is weak, it can suffer from either over- or under-population.

Just my own (completely speculative and uneducated) two cents.

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Torey
Salem, Oregon, USA
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>>I wonder if it's not a balancing act between the two extremes on the crashing uros. My Joe is one of the ones who survived his near-fatal crash. I got him from Doug Dix at about 200g last summer - he refused to eat and started on his downward spiral. In his case it was the opposite from what you suggest above - when he stopped eating and was dehydrated, the parasites ran rampant and made him worse. At his low point he was about 160g. After the parasites were eliminated, he got fluid injections, and he accepted food again, he steadily improved. No parasites since, and he's now a fat and sassy 300g nearly a year later.
>>
>>Perhaps it's finding the balance of WHEN to eliminate the parasites from the system. When the animal is healthy, it can manage with or without. When the animal is weak, it can suffer from either over- or under-population.
>>
>>Just my own (completely speculative and uneducated) two cents.

Of course when we are talking about parasites here we are talking strictly nematodes and possibly roundworms. All the rest are almost always considered bad in any amount.

There are just too many variables to have any hope of figuring out what is the right thing without some serious research and testing.

You are correct that even "friendly" parasites could get out of hand with sick or malnourished Uro.

There are probably dozens of reasons for the mysterious crashes of some Uros, some probably not even involving food and digestion.

What we need is some up and coming college student studying herps to do a research project on herbivorous lizards

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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net