Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an orange uromastyx. When I purchased her, she was purchased w/ a yellow male. She looked a little skinny when I first got her, but the other one was fat and very healthy looking. Both of them were in a tank w/ plenty of heat for basking, a heating pad underneath, a huge variety of good greens and gutloaded crickets 2 or 3 times a week, also w/ a uvb light. The yellow male thrived and never showed any problems. The orange one did o.k. for a while then took a huge turn for the worse.She quit eating and would barely open her eyes. Almost looked dead most of the time. At that point I got her wormed and started forse feeding her. The vet said it looked like she was losing muscle mass. After a couple weeks she started to look alive again. A couple months later, she eats on her own and always has a fat belly but underneath her tail will not put the weight back on. I have to soak her a couple times a week and she will drink that water for a good 30 seconds each time, which I know is not normal. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch, Cara

First off your're feeding too many crickets.Too much protein.
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Mike
1.3 mali
1.3 central banded gecko
1.1 veiled chameleon

Well your situation sound some what like mine. I had a very skinny Mali and I got him wormed and forced fed him. He finally came around. He is gaining weight and looking alive. The under part of the tail will stay thin for a while. Buddy's is still thin but very slowly it is starting to gain weight there. I was told that first they must gain the weight in the body and the extra fat will then go to the tail once the body is plump. I can be wrong but that is what I was told by the vet as well as others. The weight gain once again takes a long while. Good luck and keep us posted.
I included the before and now pic of Buddy so you can see how he was and how slowly it is taking him to gain.

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The addiction can be dangerous. 1 Uro named Buddy aka Big Boy & 1 Ig named Tiny

You most likely have two Saharan (Niger) uromastyx - red phase and yellow phase. They are frequently very hard to acclimate - especially wild caught adults. It sounds like you are doing the right things for the most part - took her to the vet, offering water when she will drink.

Couple questions - can you be more specific about your temperatures for basking, ambient air, and cool side temps? What are they specifically? Is she in the same tank as the male? How large of a tank is it? The answers to these could give us more information to help you with.

In the meantime, keep offering her water as often and as much as she will drink. I wouldn't leave a water bowl in the cage, but if you do, make it a small one. Also, don't offer crickets to a sick lizard - it will make her worse. She needs the greens much more. As for the healthy male (has he been confirmed parasite free?), I wouldn't offer crickets more than once a week and only a couple.

Have you confirmed that she's now parasite free? My male Saharan had a rough time at the beginning, but my vet gave him fluids and vitamins subcutaneously, and that helped him get better (along with the force feeding, parasite treatment, and a larger cage).

Good luck! And let us know how she's doing!

This was Joe when I first got him:

And this is him now:

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Torey
Salem, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
2.0.1 Uromastyx Dispar Maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and new neighbor Spike)
1.2 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser, Leeloo, and Sprocket)
1.1.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Bruce and Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)
And several miscellaneous community fish

holy canoli good job with joe. he was a skeleton at first. you would never know by seeing that round healthy little tummy
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

The tail is a storage location for the Uros, since given the climates they natively reside in there will be periods where there is little or no food available, they would be able to stay alive given the fat in their tails. It would make sense that the tail would be the last but to fatten up, and that it would take quite awhile, since only nutrients that are EXTRA would go there. So be patient. I do not have any specific experience in that sort of situation, but the people who have are a wealth of useful tidbits.

Keep up the good work, and thank you for caring enough to bring your Uro back to health!

Elizabeth
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1.0 Uro Archimedes
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin