Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have my first uro and am sooo excited. I purchased a 'starter kit' 20 gallon tank w/access. and am thinking I goofed. questions - what is the best lighting? should I use lamps or buy a hood for a florescent tube and two other bulbs ? what kind of bulbs should I be using?

Your lighting will depend on two things: getting the proper heat gradient and getting the proper kinds of light.

Your first challenge is that a 20 gallon tank is extremely hard to manage proper temperatures. You will for sure need to get a digital thermometer (any garden center for about $10-$15) as the little round thermometers and the stick on kind are about as useful as guessing - they can be up to 20 degrees off, which is dangerous.

The basking temps should be around 120F (a little less if your new uro is little bitty). Air temps on the rest of the warm side should be around 100F and the cool side around 80F. Whatever kind of bulb you need to get those temps are what you need - regular household lights, reptile basking lights, whatever. The kind isn't important, just the temperatures are.

Next part is the UVB (keep in mind some people say you don't need UVB if you supplement with vitamin D3 - that's possible, jury's still out, but I prefer to play it safe and provide UVB). In a tank that small your only option is a UVB fluorescent. The best ones are Reptisun 5.0 - tried and true and very reliable. The bulb can't be blocked with a plastic cover and the UVB will be reduced (though not eliminated) if the light shines through a screen tank lid. The closer the lizard can get to the tube, the better (up to about 6". Over about 12" away, there's no real UVB reaching the lizard.

Sufficient UVA should be there already as long as you have the other bits covered.

If you have the space, a dual fluorescent is a great idea - you can add either a second UVB tube or a "full spectrum" (no UVB, but excellent visible light) tube, but I don't think you can get that with a 20 gallon tank.

I hope that answers your question - please feel free to ask for clarification if I made a mess of it. Here's a picture of one of my tanks so you can see how I have it set up. Fluorescent fixture along the back, with heat lights in the domes. I have a different UVB bulb, but the setup still looks similar. My fluorescent is WAY too far away to provide UVB if I was using that kind of bulb so keep that in mind, too.

You can also look over all the wonderful care sheets here on Kingsnake (Care sheet link at top of page) or visit Deer Fern Farms for additional information that will help you out a lot with your new uro. Congratulations! Uros are great pets!!

Tell us more about your new guy? Name? Species? Size? And pictures are required.

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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx geyri (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Uromastyx dispar maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and Spike)
1.0 Uromastyx ornata (Scuttlebutt)
2.1 Anolis carolinensis (Bowser, Sprocket, and Leeloo)
0.1 African dwarf frog (Sheila)
1.0 Betta splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Thanks so much for your help! I'll get a digital thermo today. Is your tank a 20 gallon? My lighting setup is similar to yours. I have both lights on the right side of the aquarium. I went to pet store last night to buy a light hood but they talked me out of it. Like you said, they seem to think proper diet will provide enough D3. ***Problem*** is he's not eating very much at all. I hope it's the transition. Also, my son, said last night that it looks like he's starting to shed. They don't eat a lot when they shed do they? I've offered tomato, carrots, turnip greens, grapes. Today I left millet seed, turnips, and peas. Hopefully he'll eat some of it!! What about water? If they eat right they the water they need from their food, right? I sprayed a little water on a cactus bush this morning, thinking if he's thirsty he'll get some from that. He only eats when we are away.
Uri is a Mali Uromastyx. We got him this past Saturday for my son's 11th birthday. He is about 7" long. He doesn't seem to mind being held. We were told that he liked to be hand fed but we've not been successful with that yet. I'll post a picture tomorrow. I never thought I could get so attached to a lizard!

They are addictive. I have gone from one mali to - one mali, three saharans and three ornates and would love to find somalis or sudanese.

No, mine is an 80 gallon - it's 4ft long. The lizard you can see is Joe who's about 14". If yours is 7" long, I'd highly recommend upgrading to a bigger tank as soon as you possibly can. A 55 gallon would be a bare minimum for a Mali, and the bigger the better!

D3 doesn't come from natural food sources - if it comes from their food, it's from whatever you supplement with, so make sure you have a good supplement if that's what you're planning to do. It's tricky to get the right amount to them (especially if they aren't eating regularly) and there's question as to how well they absorb it from dietary sources. That's why I go with good UVB.

Keep offering a good variety of foods - avoid the tomatoes, though. Lean more toward the leafy greens (turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, dandelions, etc - no spinach, chard, or cabbage). The veggies are a smaller, but important part of the diet. Their water does come from their food, but if he's not eating, you might want to offer him some warm water to see if he'll drink. You can give him a hot (not scalding, but fairly hot) soak in about 1/2" of water - this will help hydrate him if he isn't eating and he may choose to drink. Dry him well before returning him to his tank - wet scales can cause health problems.

It can be normal for him to not eat while he's adjusting to his new home, but you can make meals as enticing as possible. Special foods to try to encourage him to eat are warmed up frozen green peas, edible flowers (dandelions, hibiscus, pansies, nasturtiums), and bee pollen granules which you can get from a health food store. Make sure any flowers are totally free of pesticides.

Let us know how he's doing!
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx geyri (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Uromastyx dispar maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and Spike)
1.0 Uromastyx ornata (Scuttlebutt)
2.1 Anolis carolinensis (Bowser, Sprocket, and Leeloo)
0.1 African dwarf frog (Sheila)
1.0 Betta splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Thanks for your help! I feel like such an idiot. I realized yesterday that the bedding I had in my Uro's aquar. was crushed walnut shells. The place where we bought him said he was big enough for it not to be a problem. i have removed that bedding and put in Z00-med calci sand. Hopefully there's not been too much damage done to him. I soaked him yesterday in warm water (and dried him off)and he really seemed to have perked up! Hopefully when I get home today I find that he's eaten!

I believe Calci-Sand is still an impaction hazard to uros. Desert sand is really good (but really, really pricey!!), but the most common uro substrates are washed playsand, birdseed (mostly millet seed), or soil mixes (although this is a little more advanced).

I have my uros on washed playsand and have never had any problems.

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1.1 Mali Uromastyx (Ra and Isis)
1.1 Satanic Leaftail Geckos (Diablo and Samael)

Thanks for the info. I have noticed a good bit of dust and wonder if this can be a problem for his eyes as well. Does the millet seed need to be frozen before I use it?