Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have heard that there is a lot of controversy over this subject. I am a new mali owner and the girl at the store said that everyone says no but she says it won't hurt him. Is all this true cause I went to another shop and bought the rock and put it in there. Also even with the rock in there it only gets 85 on one side and 65 on the other side. I'm new please help.

Romeo

>>I have heard that there is a lot of controversy over this subject. I am a new mali owner and the girl at the store said that everyone says no but she says it won't hurt him. Is all this true cause I went to another shop and bought the rock and put it in there. Also even with the rock in there it only gets 85 on one side and 65 on the other side. I'm new please help.
>>
>>Romeo

By 85 on one side and 65 on the other do you mean heat rock temps or cage temps?

Cage temps (in case you didn't already know) need to be like this: 115-125 basking area and 85 in the coolest side of the tank.

Personally I don't use heat rocks. Somoene I know had one in a tank with their mali and the mali got a burnt stomach because they laid their too long. If you don't want to take the heat rock back then don't plug it in or cut the cord off completely and leave it in there as a bask rock.

Also if you have a baby (since you said you were new to this) don't use playsand with it. Use papertowel or newspaper. If you have a sub-adult/juvenile or full grown then you can use washed playsand.

deerfernfarms.com has a good care sheet. Uromastyx eat escarole, endive, custard and mustard greens, green peas and green beans. Crix are given as occassional treats.

Any more questions my email address is in my sig.
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1.1 mali uro's-Ares and Apollo
1.saharan uro- Iris
1.2 bearded dragon-Hades and Draco
0.2 leo gecko-Kalypso
0.3 tokaye gecko-Sid Vicious
1.0 tarantula-Peter Parker
0.2 dog-cheeka
0.2 zebra finch-beeps
0.2 african gray parrot-keya
1.0 red headed parrot-pancho
0.3 Fish (sorry no names for them)

For questions, comments or updates email is: uromastyx101@yahoo.com

hey there
heats rocks can be problematic because they can break and start to distribute heat unevenly and end up burning the animal. i would not recommend using one. with the uromastyx, you need the heat to come from above with the lamps and whatnot. heat rocks only heat that small little area, not a tank.
i would recommend getting a clamp lamp from home depot or whereever and getting a floodlight bulb from the light bulb section and using that as the basking spot. as for the wattage, well that depends on your set up. you will have to play around to get the temps right. i use two lamps, one is a higher watt for the basking spot and one is a lower watt to help maintain the ambient temperature. as a reference point, my basking bulb is a 75 watt, but you may need it a little lower or higher.
do you have a UVB source for your lizard?
how large is the tank?
and do you have a calcium supplement for him?
read the deerfernfarms. com caresheet and look on kingsnake.com care sheet link. read read read, it is the only way to learn to take care of your new friend
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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 ***

Ok I just got him this weekend and I am new so I know my error in the tank size but have to have time to build so with that aside here goes.

I bought him from a pet store and they said he is 6-9 months old. Everything they told me at the pet shop is totally the oposite of ferns site. I don't want to use a heat rock if I don't have to but the cage is cold at 85 and I am running a 75w infared bulb for night and a 40w basking bulb in the daytime. My cage is only 10 gal until I get the new one complete very soon. They told me at the pet shop to feed him romaine lettuce and the fern site told me not to. The heat and the rock are my main concerns. BTW the lamp is the clip type and I have it setting on the metal mesh. He does sleep on the rock.

My other concern is this morning when i went to change his bulb this morning and feed him he ran up and down the cage and then hissed at me. Does he need time to adjust or what because he was so friendy and playfull at the pet shop.

romeo

hey i am sending you an email so be looking for it. my email sometimes sends them to the spam filter so if you don't see one from me, look there
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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 ***

Getting a new Uro, and getting the set up correct can be a daunting task. Definitely an expensive one. I would unequivocally recommend following the deer ferns care sheet over what the pet store told you. There are some things that are debated topics with Uro care such as types of substrates; but feeding Romaine, and using heat rocks are not 2 of them. The most important thing right now is to get your Uro proper temperature gradients set up and proper food. Unfortunately it is impossible to get a proper gradient in a 10 gallon tank, however, there is a cheap alternative until you get a different tank, a large rubbermaid container, usually about $10, can serve as a suitable home. Given the age of your Uro, I would put him on paper towel substrate, then you can either clip the lights (definitely plural), or my preference would be to get a screen to lay over the top that you can put the lights on, similar to what you are doing now. In order for your Uro to digest its food it really must have a basking spot of about 120 degrees, the cool temps are *slightly* "fudge-able" for a short time period as long as he has a place to warm up. If you get a basking spot up to 120 in a 10 gallon tank, you may end up with roast lizard.

As for the food, start by following Doug's advice on the care sheet. Romaine lettuce is better than iceburg lettuce, but that really isn't saying much. They both have too much water, and almost no nutrients.

The running and hissing will probably go away in time, and as you get his set up correct. Does he have a hide? This is imperative to his sense of well-being and safety, also he may need to be in a place with low foot traffic. The Uros can take a while to acclimate to new places, and the more stress (environmental, physical, or emotional) there is, the longer it will take.

There is a LOT of experience and knowledge represented on this forum, so feel free to ask a lot of questions. We enjoy helping people make happy homes for their Uros, and that way both you and your Uro will be able to enjoy each other.

There is a lot more to say on the topic of Uro care, but that is a good palce to start I think.

Sincerest Regards,
Elizabeth

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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro Zuberi Mosca Khu (Mosca)
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin

He will need time to readjust to his new environment. Possibly part of the reason he is hissing is also because his tank is too small. I placed Ra (my uro, he was already well-adjusted) in a 10-gallon tank while visiting relatives because his 40-gallon tank was too heavy and too big to bring. Well, he spent most of his time running back and forth and hissing loudly at me when I'd look at him. His message to me was loud and clear, "Give me more room!!" The next time I went on vacation and brought him with me, I bought a 40-gallon Rubbermaid tub and he was very happy with it.
Definitely go and get a Rubbermaid tub, it makes a great temporary tank (it'll come in handy later as a quarantine tank as well) and since the sides are opaque, it'll give your uro some privacy to aid in acclimation.

Good luck and welcome to the forum

Here's a pic of Isis in the 40-gallon Rubbermaid tub (when she was in quarantine).

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1.1 Mali Uromastyx (Ra and Isis)

n/p

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1.1 Mali Uromastyx (Ra and Isis)

This is a photoshop image of the cage I want a build would it be sufficiant enough. The measurements I haven't gottten down due to no tape measure in my new house but rougly with a $1 bill it's 72"w x 24h x 12d.

romeo

wow, that is going to be a nice big cage. my only recommendation is that maybe you make it a little deeper, only because malis (you have a mali right?) can get longer than 12 inches. just a thought
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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 ***

That was going to be my recommendation too. I think 20in is sufficient if they have that much room length wise, but particularly once you get all their cage furniture in there, 12in becomes really quite narrow.

Cage building is a great project!

Elizabeth
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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro Zuberi Mosca Khu (Mosca)
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin

I have sincce put a tupperware bowl big enough for him to fit in in the cage and now he doesn't cling to the heat rock. I will take the heat rock out once I get the new cage built.

Thanks,
Romeo

He has layed in the hideout all day and won't come out and won't eat I fear there is something wrong.

Romeo