Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does any one have any suggestions on what age/size a Uro can be added in with another? I have a juve that I want to put in with an adult. They are both Mali's. Most of my hesitation is that the small one is only about 4 inches snout to tail (if that) and the enclosure I built for my adult Mali is over 6ftX2ft. I've had the juve seperate long enough to determine that it is parasite free. Any suggestions?
J-G

Can anyone with more than one Uro in the same enclosure tell me when they added the 2nd?
J-G

well, i don't have my uros together yet because i am waiting to make sure that hugo is completely disease free, his quarentine is almost up and i am also waiting for him to grow a little more. he was only 86 grams, probably gained alot of weight since then but helga is like 300 grams. that's a pretty big size difference so i will wait to put them together. if one is a lot bigger than the other there is more room for intimidation. i hope that helps some.
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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 ***

Actually, (though I don't have direct experience with this) it says on Doug Dix's site:

"Uros are by nature territorial, and even calm animals tend to attack new individuals placed in their cage. A notable exception occurs between individuals of vastly differing size. In particular, large adults are very tolerant of sharing their cage with small juveniles, the bigger the size difference, the better."

My experience was with two Saharans (who are supposed to be more roommate-friendly than Malis) - a male and a female, both wild caught young adults. The male was only about 50g heavier than the female.

What Doug Dix told me to do when I bought Joe was to soak them both at the same time, completely rearrange the cage furniture, then introduce them to the cage at the same time. It's best to move the male into the female's cage. Then I had to sit and watch them for several hours to be sure no fighting occurred, and be aware for several months to check for fighting marks. They treat each other like furniture, so it was no problem for me.
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Torey
Eugene, 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 African Dwarf Frogs (Bruce and Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)
And several miscellaneous community fish

wow that is just weird. what if helga decided to go crazy and attack hugo when i was not here? how would he defend himself against something 3 times his weight? i am not yelling at you or anything and i know you did not write that, but i never in a million years would have thought that.
i let them run around together in a neutral area for now, helga who is afraid of everything, usually runs from him
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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 ***

I know - it seems to go against logic. And I haven't put it to the test, either. What I figure is that the bigger lizard wouldn't consider the little guy a threat to territory or self and would just ignore him. Two similar sized lizards might feel more threatened.
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Torey
Eugene, 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 African Dwarf Frogs (Bruce and Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)
And several miscellaneous community fish

and so far, with success. Isis is twice Ra's size and is quite an experienced female. Ra is just starting to come into his sexual maturity and making the moves on her (she's not really interested in him right now). I have not witnessed any fighting, scars, lack of appetite, or any kind of negative behaviour. They sleep together in the same spots at night and they are both active during the day. The only time there was a conflict was when they first met. He snuck up behind her and sniffed her tail. She was surprised and tail-whipped him in self-defence. Needless to say, Ra was very startled and retreated quickly. That was the first time he was ever exposed to another uro. That was the only time she tail-whipped him. Now, he can approach her and lick her tail and she'll take a quick look to see if it's him, if it is she relaxes.
They've been great together ever since. I do believe that the size difference really does work in keeping the peace between cagemates. A bigger uro will not see the smaller uro as a threat and hopefully, the smaller uro will be smart enough not to pick a fight with another uro twice his/her size.

Good luck.

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1.1 Mali Uromastyx (Ra and Isis)