Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, it is my first post. I recently got a 6 month old baby mali. The first day i had him/her it ate like a pig, but has not eaten in 3 days now. I have offered romaine lettuce, a few different fruits and veggies and hibiscus. My boyfriend's Nigerian Uro is full grown and eats every day, mostly romaine and hibiscus. It is the only other uro i have taken care of, the only other i have to go off of. My question is, is it normal for my baby mali to eat less? and if not how can i coax it to eat? Replies are much appreciated. Thank You.

Are they in the same enclosure?If so it could be a conflict with the other one.If you have only had it for 3 days it is probably not eating because of stress from being in a new environment.
-----
1 Saharan named "Flick"
1 Mali named "URO" We will never forget you button!

You should take them off the romaine lettuce. It is mostly water and contains very little nutrients. Better choices for greens would be endive, escarole, dandelion, mustard greens, bok choy.
Avoid feeding lettuces (iceberg, romaine, leaf, etc.) and absolutely do not feed spinach or swiss chard.

There's a very good uromastyx care sheet by Doug Dix if you check out www.deerfernfarms.com if you haven't already read it.

Good luck

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

No he's is not in the same enclosure with the other. I have read almost the entire deer fern farms site, lol. It's been on my favorites list for a while now. I was just slightly concerned, but now i will go get some mustrad greens or something else that was suggested, thank you.

Congrats on the new little one. From what I gather the Uro is new to you, a few days. Nearly all Uro go thru an acclimation period when they're enviroment is changed. Your little one may be stressed in it's new enviroment. If you are handling him you are adding to that stress. As hard as it is you need to just let'em be. Some take a week to settle others 2 weeks. Where did he/she come from? Was the little one de-wormed? Have you checked your temps? Basking should be 110-120 degrees f. Your lights should be on a 12-14 hour cycle. As for Romaine it is a bad diet for any Uro. It is mostly water and has very little nutrional value. I only give it to newly imported Uro's or a dehydrated Uro. Stay away from anything with the word lettuce in or after the name. They need a mix of greens, Dole has a spring mix that is dandelion greens, bok choy, endive, chickory, etc.. It is a good start for a salad. Try warm green peas or black eyed peas to get him/her to eat. Put a small shallow dish of water in the cage new Uro tend to drink water especially babies. If he/she is in a glass cage cover three of the sides to reduce stress. I could go on and on. The best thing to do is go to Jason's web site and read his care sheet. This is one of the best care sheet's out there and it is from experience that works. You may also want to join a Uro group like Urozone2 on yahoo. http://jason.creager.com/uros.html
Keep us posted on the little one and please keep posting with any other questions. We are all here to help each other out.

Thank you; i have seen that care sheet before, but could not find my way back to it. It's tank has been covered and i've added a little water. The temperatures seem to be right on target. SO hopefully it'll settle in soon. Thanks, again.