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We were buying a McMouse with a large side of crickets today when my eldest daughter spied a pair of new Uros.

"That one's scratched, on its shoulder," she said.

Indeed, one of the two uros had a raw spot where the scales had been ripped off, about a quarter inch by an eighth inch, between the front shoulders.

Our Uro mali, Wizard, came to use four years ago with an oozing abcess in his side, from a store that was clearly clueless as to how to treat him. So my daughter is very worried about a Uro with an unteated injury, even if it looks minor.

The clerk was occupied trying to catch an escaped Cuban tree frog; then she was handling customers at the counter, and I suspect was simply too busy to worry about my daughter's worried inquiries.

While the store normally seems nice to their critters, I'm wondering how much risk there is of infection? We've always gone the clean-and-neosporin route with injuries, with great success (Wizard's doing quite well after four years).

Also: I'm not certain of the Uro species, and neither are the store folk. These Uros were very yellow-tan on top, with rounder tails that had longer, thin spikes as comared to our mali. These uros (a pair) are about 8-9 inches long, snout-to-tail. I don;t know their age.

Any opinions would be appreciated. I *really* *don't* need another lizard right now, but... oh, I could blame my inquiry entirely on my daughter, but I'm a bit concerned myself.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.0.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde)
1.0.0 Uro mali (Wizard)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
1.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Jade and Emerald)
0.4.0 Homo sapiens (Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

Without a picture it'll be hard to identify the morph of the uro in question. But longer, rounder tails and thinner/longer spikes sounds like either a Nigerian or a Saharan uromastyx.

If it were me, I'd get the uro's and take care of them. Then find someone with a nice home and sell them to them for however much they cost you to buy and take care of.
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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

>>Without a picture it'll be hard to identify the morph
>>of the uro in question. But longer, rounder tails
>>and thinner/longer spikes sounds like either a Nigerian
>>or a Saharan uromastyx.

I'm thinking Saharan at this point.

>>If it were me, I'd get the uro's and take care of them.
>>Then find someone with a nice home and sell them to them
>>for however much they cost you to buy and take care of.

*If* I pull in a new job I've been working for (I'm a freelance geek and writer), I can *maybe* afford to add another mali. They'll just replace them with two more...

Another problem is housing. Feeding Uros isn't very expensive -- but the proper lighting and tank are more than I can afford. As it is, I'm building an iguana cage this weekend, and need to make a habitat for my plated lizard by the end of the month.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.0.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde)
1.0.0 Uro mali (Wizard)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
1.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Jade and Emerald)
0.4.0 Homo sapiens (Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

i would say as long as the cut did not look really infected then the clean and neosporin thing would work. i have seen it recommended before many times. the only thing though is they would have to be sandless so sand would not stick to the neosporin and i am not sure a pet store would be happy about that.
that is a really odd place for a self inflicted wound though. i wonder if the uros need to be separated?
look on deerfernfarms.com or the urotopia link. they have a lot of pictures of uros.
how much were they priced? that could help you determine what it is.
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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 is a really odd place for a self inflicted wound though.
>>i wonder if the uros need to be separated?

This is one reason I hesitate to "rescue" the Uro. I've already got a bit a managerie, and space is limited. I don't want to mix my current mali with another Uro for safety and disease reasons.

I admit, I'm a sucker for wounded animals and people. I used to work with rehabing alcoholic Native Americans in Denver -- let's just say I'm attracted to hard-luck cases.

>>look on deerfernfarms.com or the urotopia link.

My guess is Saharan. I'll try and get a picture tomorrow. I can tell them I have a "friend" interested who wants to see a picture...

>>how much were they priced?

That's the weird part -- these two animals were in a 10-gal tank, but without a price or species. I was told they'd arrived this morning, and the owner hadn't priced them yet. They can't have been there more than a couple days, given that I was last there for a mice on Monday.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.0.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde)
1.0.0 Uro mali (Wizard)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
1.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Jade and Emerald)
0.4.0 Homo sapiens (Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

i grew up in a house where we rescued homeless pets and my sisters' homeless friends so i understand the whole bleeding heart thing. i "recued" helga from a pet store and the joy she has brought me is worth every penny i have spent on fixing her but you just cannot save every animal. the sellers really do just have to do their part. all you can do is try to educate them if you see something wrong and if you can tell them how to do it cheaply and easily then they will probably try it.
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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 ***

What petstore was this?

Lance

>>What petstore was this?

Pet Safari in Dunedin, Florida. It's a mile or so from my house; they seem to be nice and caring folk, though I've recently come to worry about some of their choices.

For example, thay had a large open-air cage for the iguanas in the middle of the store; today, I found that the igs had been moved to tanks, where they looked somewhat unhappy. The reason for the move? The igs were escaping. To me, this suggests finding the escape route, not putting the juvenile igs in 10 gal aquariums.

I don't want to label this a "bad" store; I've only been going there for a month, because they are closer to my house as a source of crickets and mice. I bought an adult African giant plated lizard (only $40) a few weeks ago. He looked bored, the store knew very little about him, and they told me he'd been there over a year -- and he's turned into quite a friendly and interesting fellow.

The animal tanks seem clean, and they keep good records of what they feed. On the other hand, they are ignorant of certain things -- for example, they tend to feed the Uros lots of crickets. Now, Uros like crickets -- my Wizard gets a couple a month because he enjoys hunting them down. But as a steady diet, a Uro mali is a vegetarian, not an omnivore.

I suspect the probelm is too many animals, and not enough reason the educate themselves -- not malice or deliberate neglect.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.0.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde)
1.0.0 Uro mali (Wizard)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
1.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Jade and Emerald)
0.4.0 Homo sapiens (Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

Thats part of the reason that I dont like to go into pet stores anymore.You cant educate everyone and you cant buy all the ones that need a home.Then if you buy them they just get more in.Oh what a vicious cycle.

>>Thats part of the reason that I dont like to go into
>>pet stores anymore.You cant educate everyone and you
>>cant buy all the ones that need a home.Then if you buy
>>them they just get more in.Oh what a vicious cycle.

Education is the best solution; it won't save an animal today, but it will save more animals in the long run.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.0.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde)
1.0.0 Uro mali (Wizard)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
1.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Jade and Emerald)
0.4.0 Homo sapiens (Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

I have been watching a baby mali Uro in the local petsmart. In general I have found this store to be responsive to the needs of the animals and open to education. The mali in question is probably only 4-6 months old, and they originally had it on calci- or vita sand, but I could not find anyone to tell, and it seemed pretty healthy and happy looking. So I have been checking in on it now and then. Well, I was in there yesterday, and the poor dear just broke my heart. He was wedged under some cage furniture and I could see every vertebrae in his little spine. I should have asked to see him, but I just couldn't. I did talk to one of the lizard people that worked there, and explained he would do much better on greens, than the huge chunks of raw carrot, tomatoe, and unidentified green stuff (not greens). She seemed mildly interested but not much.

I REALLY cannot afford $99 to rescue a Uro, plus the set up for him, so I left him there, but I do not think he will survive long. I am really tempted to go back and buy him tonight, and just run the credit card up, but they will just get another one in. I hate situations like that.

Sorry to burden you all with it. Somehow though I think sharing these experiences makes us appreciate our little ones all the more.

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

it is always depressing when you see a little friend that could be doing well but is stuck in a pet store so its chances of living are worse. if you are really interested in helping him but not buying him, perhaps you could take in a bag of greens for him and just say it is a donation to get him back to good health because you noticed he was getting a little thin. maybe that will get their attention.
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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 ***

Great idea Vonnie!!!! Maybe just maybe he can get back on its feet.
Debs
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The addiction can be dangerous. 1 Uro named Buddy aka Big Boy & 1 Ig named Tiny