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I was considering purchasing a young male egyptian (don't know which subspecies) roughly 9" long right now. My cage is 4X2X2. I know this is not large enough for a permanent enclosure, but will it suffice for a year or so? I don't want to crowd the little guy. Also, how are egyptians temperment wise, the owner says that this one is sweet as can be.

Thanks

>>I was considering purchasing a young male egyptian (don't know which subspecies) roughly 9" long right now. My cage is 4X2X2. I know this is not large enough for a permanent enclosure, but will it suffice for a year or so? I don't want to crowd the little guy. Also, how are egyptians temperment wise, the owner says that this one is sweet as can be.
>>
>>Thanks

Well if its 9" right now, I'd guess its about a year of age. They aren't fast growing, that I know of. I've read in some places that it can take up to 4 years to get full grown (don't know if these places have raised them from hatchling size or if they are estimating).

I'd say that in my own opinion, that the cage should do for about a year or two. But in a year you should be looking to get a new enclosure for him/her.

The cage I am building is going to be about 6 feet in length, 3 or 4 feet wide and about 4 feet tall. It'll be big enough so that Bowser (the little egyptian I will be getting by the end of this month) will never have to change enclosures ever.

Wow! Thats a huge cage! How will you ever heat that thing? I built this cage for a pair of mali's or ornates, and then this egyptian came along and I'd hate to pass it up. Do they need a 4' tall cage? Can anyone chime in on temperment? I think I can talk my girlfriend into devoting the necessary real estate, but we can't handle an aggressive animal that large.

As with any lizard the temperment can change with the lizard... However, I have not heard about any Egyptian that are "aggressive". I have a juvie Egyptian that will get a little overzealous about food, and has accidentally nipped my fingers, but that is largely because I was using hand feeding as an acclimation method.

I would NOT recommend a 4 foot high cage. They are not climbers persay. My juvie likes to climb UP, but likes to FALL down, so anything that is quite that tall would be an issue I think. I have a 4 ft long x 2 ft wide x 2 ft tall cage that I believe will comfortably house the Egyptian for a few years. The species of Egyptian will determine the necessary long term dimenions, since the max size varies pretty wildly between the two.

Egyptians eat a LOT, and get big, but I wouldn't trade mine for the world.

Elizabeth

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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro Zuberi Mosca Khu (Mosca)
0.0 Fish
0.1 Sulcata Minnie
1.1 Iguanas Flik and Loki
0.1 Newfoundland Jasmine (RIP)
0.1 Feline Winter
Indiana & Wisconsin

Well every uro I have loves to climb. Even the beardeds climb.

The cage specs might not be suitable for everyone, but I am doing this because I do not want to stress Bowser out a few years after I get him/her by making him/her move to a different house.

My opinion is that uromastyx are real nice, but that's just my opinion.

Good luck and I hope you get him/her. They're real cool and if your new one turns out to be like mine, then he/she will love sleeping on you.

Hello-
I did make some growth charts for my female Egyptian that I received from Lindsay Pike as a hatchling.

Maybe this would help
2-13-02 5 7/8"TTL
5-15-02 9" TTL
7-09-02 11.25" TTL
11-02-02 13.25"
3-03-03 15.5"
5-05-03 575g-1.267lbs. no length sorry....
11-03-03 18.5"
3-02-05 20.5"

As far as temperament-
I have two that are tame as a dog, others are skittish.
The hatchling that I received from Lindsay is not real tame.
Aggressive? Never seen it. I did get my hand bumped from
my female when I was removing the eggs.....

Your growth chart is great, a real help to those considering the purchase of one of these beauties. When you buy a hatchling, the reality of a full grown Egyptian just doesn't enter your mind when you see this little 4" baby. Just for laughs I took out my yardstick after reading your post...and 20.5" is a lot of uro! From what I have read, they take about 4 years to reach full growth, so yours will still be growing a bit. Beautiful picture too! Thanks for sharing.

Pam
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1.1.3 varanus acanthurus brachyurus (Dorado, Dora, Oro, Freckles & Amarillo)
1.1 varanus acanthurus acanthurus (Tabasco & Sprite)
1.0 varanus storri (Spunky)
1.1 u. macfadyeni (Amani & Abeba) RIP Ayana
1.2 u. ornata (Husani, Zari, & Bintu)
1.1 u. ocellata (Zuhri & Ashai)
0.0.1 pogona vitticeps (Bondi)
1.1 hyla chrysoscelis (Pudge & Squirt)