Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am thinking about getting my first URO. It seems that every caresheet I read differs. Could some of you that have Uros please help with some questions I have?

What is the best Substrate to use?
What do you feed your URO and how often?
What brand of supplements do you use and how often used?
What do you have in your setups on cool side and on hot side?
Do they mind being handled?
Do they hide a lot or are they out so you can see them most of the day?
How large are they once full grown?
Which is the best species of URO?
Basking and ambient temps?

And of course any other things that may be of help is most appreciated!!
Thanks!!

The very best comprehensive care sheet is from Deer Fern farms. It addresses everything from species, size, food, caging, vitamins, heat, uva/uvb, breeding, etc. Every person on this forum will have a slightly different method or opinion as to how to best keep their uros. If you read a lot of care sheets and the advice is fairly consistent, stick with it. I will give my opinions on your questions, and that's just what they are...my opinions and what I may do and what has worked for my animals.

Substrate: Very debatable. Some use washed playsand, some use deep dirt and some use millet bird seed or sifted wild bird seed. Each has its' merits.
Food: I feed daily. Turnip, mustard, dandelion, thawed frozen mixed veggies, sweet potatoe, squash, dandelion flowers, hibiscus, and on very few occasions, kale, spring mix, red leaf lettuce, tiny bit of fruit, collard greens and many other things.
I also have a "dry" bean mix available at all times.
Supplements: Repcal calcium, herptivite and Uro dust I make a big batch of food and use the calcium/herptivite twice a week and the uro dust every time. I use this sparingly.
Setup: Cool side, caves, logs, cork bark. Warm side, slate, retes stack.
Handling: Individual preference. Handling is easier with cb than wc. Patience is the key.
Basking/ambients: Basking around 110-120, ambients high nineties to 100, cool size in the 80s.
Hiding: Most cb are out all the time. Wc take a lot of time to be out when people are around.
Size: One of the smallest, around 10" is the Somali. One of the largest, can be 2-3' depending on subspecies is the Egyptian.
Lots in between. Malis and Geyri are very popular.
Best Species: In my collection, the ornates are the most friendly, happy to jump right on to your arm and sit on my shoulder. These are my pet shop reptile ambassadors. Each species varies as does each individual animal.

I have had uros for three years now and mine are all doing well and very healthy. Good luck, uros are great.

Pam

Thank you so much Pam. You have been very helpful!!

Do you house yours together or seperately?
From my understanding and please correct me if I am wrong. You should never house two males together. You can house a male and female together if you are not cycling them for breeding. And you can keep two females together.
Is this correct?

What kind of dry bean mix are you using? Also, where do you get uro dust?

Thanks for any help!!

you are correct, two males should never be placed together. however, all uros can be territorial and even a male and female or female and female could fight, if you happen to get some sassy ones. thankfully mine get along great, but that doesn't mean they might not get agressive in the future.
overall, they can usually live together but you have to be aware that aggression could occur.
uro dust can be found at most pet stores. i think it is by t-rex if you wanted to purchase it off the internet.
-----
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 have a trio of ornates together and a pair of sudanese and somali housed together. I had a trio of rainbow bentis that could not tolerate each other so had to be housed in three different cages. Each animal is an individual, and you always need to watch for aggression. If a female is gravid you will want to separate her.

The bean mix is simple:
split yellow peas
split green peas
red lentils
brown lentils
bee pollen
juvenile iguana pellets
You can also add millet seed, sesame seed or 5 or 7 grain dry organic cereal.

This must be ground in a coffee grinder for little ones.

Just mix it all together and put in a small dish in the corner of the cage. IF you have newly acquired wc animals, I never use the dry mix until I am positive the animals are well hydrated and eating their greens. The uro dust is by T-Rex and is handled by some of the larger pet shop chains or can be bought online from LLL or Big Apple. Good luck to you.

Pam

Thank you Pam so very much for all your help!
I got my first URO today at the NC Reptile Expo. A yellow phase Nigerian. I decided to go with only one till I have more experience. I want this one to have plenty of attention and I hope I will be able with help along the way to give it a good life.
Thanks Again!!

Congratulations on your new uro. Please keep in mind this uro is most likely a fresh wc import. As such, you should soak it in very warm shallow water for 15-30 minutes (don't let the water get cold) and dry it off well, especially the tail. I have a rubbermaid shoe box with holes drilled in the sides of the box and put the cover on to keep the water warm. I set the box back in the cage and it works well. Don't put the box under the basking light though, just in the middle of the cage. Try not to handle it, no dry mix, and plenty of fresh greens with colorful flowers. Just talk to it when you do things in the cage so it gets used to your voice. When you are sure it is eating and hydrated, take a fecal to your vet to check for parasites. These are beautiful uros that make wonderful pets. Best of luck to you with your new addition.

Pam

Thanks Pam!!

He seems to be doing fairly well so far. I got his cage all set up.
I have him in a 65 gal. cage I got from the show. Its real nice has sliding doors so that it is easy to gain access.
He has a new 4ft. 5.0 Reptisun bulb. I have a 100 watt basking bulb over his basking spot. He has a rock basking cave to bask on...he seems to love it. Basking temps with temp gun are averaging 110-115.
He has another cave on the cool side (mid - high 80's)
He also has a nice new piece of drift wood in the middle of the cage....he likes that too.
I am using a good, wild bird seed (for finches) that is predominately millets for his substrate. Looks nice and no dust at all. I put non-stick shelf liner on the bottom of the cage and then put the bird seed on top so it wouldn't be as slippery as on the glass alone. Works well and helps with his footing.

He is very curious. He comes to the glass almost everytime I enter the room. His coloring is really nice after he got warmed up. He has a lot of bright yellow and very bright yellow belly.
I gave him greens today, but not sure if or how much he ate.I lightly dusted them with Repcal and Herptivite. I called all the Pet stores today trying to find Uro Dust...no luck. I guess I will have to order if online.
He kept watching me when I was in the room, so I left for awhile and then came back. He had greens thrown all around so I couldn't really tell if he had ate any.

I will give him a soak in the morning. I didn't get your message until late and his lights are off for the night and he is resting now. I thought about doing something like that today, since I didnt' know if and when he had moisture, but I wasn't sure if it was alright to soak them. Thanks for telling me!

I am guilty of handling him. He doesn't really seem to mind to much. If he gets a little wiggly all I do is gently rub the top of his head and he calms right down. He will even close his eyes and seems very relaxed as if he is totally enjoying it.

I still haven't picked out a name for him. (I am saying him...not sure...just going by what the seller told me)

I went to the store today and got more foods for him. Mustard greens, endive, mango, kiwi, frozen peas, corn, green beans, baby limas, carrots, yellow squash, sweet potatoes, strawberries, blueberries. Do these sound ok? How ofter do you supplement?
How small do you chop the food?
I used a little food processor and chopped it very small.

I really like him...I hope that he does well!

Have a great evening!!

Jeanne (DixieDiana)

Hi Jeanne,

Looks like you have a male if the belly is real colorful. Do not feed much fruit at all, uros can't process sugar very effectively. I only add a tiny bit of fruit maybe 3-4 times a month. I dust every batch of food, and dust is the operative word. I sprinkle the additives sparingly and mix well. I pretty much follow Deer Fern Farms care sheets as they have worked well for me. Sounds like you are off to a good start. Post pics when you can and also post updates. Best of luck to you and your new pal.

Pam