Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all, nice to still see some familiar faces/names around still.

Been super busy for what seems like the longest time, and i dunno how many of you will even remember me, but to everyone just a big ol' HELLO

It's great to see this place thriving with lotsa new posts, hope all your Uros are doing well. My mali "Tank" decided last week that he was gonna start brumation a bit early this year and that was that.

-- side note, my camera is kinda hooped so no new pics of the guy lately unfortunately --

His newer enclosure turned out well, it's 5' x 3' x 30" and has about a foot of diggable soil substrate. Initially he just barely dug up under his basking spot for the longest time, not really utilizing all that depth of soil i'd provided, really just using the surface and just burrowing under his basking spot.

That all changed a week ago.

I noticed he was getting a bit less active, was slowing his eating gradually, and i had expected it somewhat with the season approaching, the last couple winters i had started brumating him in mid-late October though. Well i pulled up his basking spot to have a look and *whoah* he's not there... Now his cage is as close to escape proof as i can think, even if i left the door open he could never get out so i was a bit puzzled. Then we noticed it, he had burrowed up under the big rocky soil hill. he left a telltale pile of fresh soil outside the entrance that was at first hard to spot under a rock. He's down in there pretty deep where it's cool so we'll see how it goes and when he decides to come back out.

Anyways just thought i'd post a little update on what he's been up to, i thought it was pretty interesting that he did it on his own without me manually lowering the temps but i suspect it was brought on by the seasonal earlier night time. He's in the basement but there is a window nearby that adds ambient supplemantal indirect light, along with it being close to "that time of the year" i think all factored into it...

I suppose it might add some more credence to the soil substrate and more natural behaviours school of thought, but i'll leave that up to discussion

Ok enough typing, hope you're all well and i'll make much more of an effort to try and contribute here again..

Spanky

It is my first year with my guys, my mali and somali. So I've never gone through the brumation process. I've noticed this lack of appetite and lack of social behavior, as well. What is the best way to deal with "this time of year"? What do they require? I'd like everyone's opinion on the subject, please.
Bri

Well i may have spoken too soon, looks like Tank was only speding some time down below possibly to prep and get his den ready for winter? He came back up yesterday and was sunning himself and doing all the regular stuff, looks very healthy and all as well.

What i do is scale down his basking and feeding schedule. I take a week of only feeding every second day, then a week of only maybe 2 feedings total. While this is happening his light/basking timer is set down to only 8 hours a day for the first week, then down to 4 hours a day the following week that he only has one or two feedings available. I then give him a few days to empty his guts without any fresh greens or veggies at all and the following week it's only on for two hours a day and this is my setting for the rest of the next 3-4 months (Nov - Feb-ish).
I always, ALWAYS, 24-7 have his bowl of dry mixed seeds/peas/lentils out for him to snack on if he feels the need to munch at all. You may see him/her out once in a while during the winter, or you may not.

I then reverse the process to bring him back out. Usually i'll see him out during the second week of bringing him back out but by the time the lights are back on fulltime, he's out basking again fulltime.

Not everyone brumates their Uros either. I had Archimedes for over 7 years and never once brumated him, though he did slow down a little in the winter, probably because I kept the house cooler and hence his ambient temperature. There are a lot of schools of thought on the topic, one that it is part of their natural cycle and should be done to keep them at their healthiest, one that it is only necessary in nature due to their environment and lack of available food during that time period so in our environments it is not necessary, one that says it is only necessary if you want to breed them... and I am sure there are others.

You should read up as much as possible before making a decision for your guys.

Good to see you back Spankenstyne! Glad the new tank is a hit and everyone is well!!

Elizabeth
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1.0 Mali Uro Archimedes (May he rest in peace)
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

Oh i agree 100% with what you say. Uro keeping is still so relatively new that we know so very little in the grande scheme of it all yet.

The jury's still out on whether brumation is needed or not but imo it gives the little guy a chance to recharge and us keepers get a bit of a break in the day to day schedule as well.

Archi still kicks much arse, great lookin Uro. Great to see you still here too