Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I adopted an Egyptian Uro several months ago and she's doing great. I a pretty experienced herp keeper, but I had a few questions specific to this lizard.

1. Does anyone use the Mega Ray UVB bulb or something similar that provides high heat and UVB together? Are they any good?

2. Birdseed - what kind should I get? Right now she eats as wide a variety of greens as I can give her (she's VERY picky) and dried lentils. I haven't fed her crickets at all, but I'm picking up some for my geckos today or tomorrow so she'll probably get a couple.

3. Cactus - It would seem to me that this lizard probably eats some kind of species of cactii in the wild - has anyone tried prickly pear or the like? I'm a big fan of mimicking natural diet as closely as possible.

Thanks!

Hi!

I use Mega Rays on almost all my cages. They give spectacular UVB, but not much heat. The self-ballasted version puts out more heat, but doesn't last as long as the externally ballasted (what I have). With either version, you will probably have to have an additional heat source - or more depending on your cage type. You're also best off to have an additional full (visible) spectrum light for good light in the cage, as the Mega Rays put off a kind of strange colored light - not very nice light if it's the only thing you have. Also, both versions have a minimum distance of 12" from the bulb face to the back of the basking lizard, just FYI.

For seed, mine live on millet, but I also feed a finch blend in a small dish and sprinkle flax, sesame, alfalfa, etc, over their salads. Pretty much the only thing not to feed would be sunflower seeds in the shell and dried corn - both are sharp in the digestive tract.

If you can find cactus pads at your grocery store (I just found some recently), you can de-spine them and chop up to feed. Some of mine like it, some don't. It's kind of sticky, so it's funny to watch them eat it.

Hope that helps!
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx geyri (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Uromastyx dispar maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and Spike)
1.1 Uromastyx ornata (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
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)

I have mega ray bulbs in my cages too. I agree with Torey about needing an additional heat source- I LOVE the heat projector from www.reptileuv.com (same place the MegaRays come from). They heat like a ceramic heat emitter without getting nearly as hot, plus at only 60 watts, you can put them in a smaller dome.

Mine hate the cactus, but the nutritional values on it are great. If you can find it, give it a try!

N/P