Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, my uro seems to not want to touch the vegis but goes nuts over crickets, should i keep trying vegis or just give him crickets w/ calcium dust? thanx,

jd

yes you should be sort of. Just stop giving him crickets, and only feed him vegis. They are veggi eaters mainly and more crickets than anything isn't really good. That is my suggestion.
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Lauren
Rico-Saharan Uromastyx
New Jersey

crickets should only be treats. i had a similar issue when i got my newest mali. i thought she wasn't eating anything except the occasional cricket i offered her. the truth is she just wasn't eating in front of me. after a while she got used to it, and she'll tackle a hibiscus in front of me but will still run away from her greens if i come over to her cage.

uros really need the vitamins that stuff like turnip and mustard greens provide for them. you should also offer them something dry, like birdseed maybe without the sunflower seeds. my mali wasn't afraid to chomp on those in front of me either.

just keep an eye on your uro's weight. and reduce the cricket intake to only a couple a week. if you notice weight loss, you might want to consider taking it to the vet???

good luck!
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1.2 Mali Uromastyx (Ricky, Quinn, Anna)
0.1 Yellow Ackies (Roxie)
1.0 Timor (Zealot)

Emily
www.egomantra.com/npoh

How long have you had your Uro? How old is it? When my friend first got hers, it appeared as if it wasnt eating at all. one day we offered it a wax worm, and it practically ate from our hand. It takes a while for new Uro's to feel comfortable enough to eat in front of someone. How many different plants have you tried? My friends Mali LOVES dandelions. He will eat them right from your hand. Maybe you should try alot of different things to find something it likes. Uro's really needs a predominantly vegetable and plant diet. you should try cutting back on the crickets.

well i used the no crickets only vegis technique, and yesterday he ate like 5 chunks of collard greens, then this morning he ate about 3/4 of his serving, so i need to go get some other stuff, but when everyone says dandilion and hibiscus, is that the actual flower they eat or is it something else and where can i get it? thanx

jd

the actual flower is what they eat. also try boc choy, kale, mustard greens, corn, peas, snow peas, string beans, there is tons of stuff. glad to see your little fella is co-operative in eating something other than just crickets.

If you continue to give them crickets, from what I have been told, they will develop some calcium problems and try feeding him some other things. If you are trying to feed him lettuce, as you should know, any thing that comes on a head is bad for a Uromastyx.