Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just added a mali uro to my class zoo (12 corns, 4 beardeds, 1 tortoise, 2 leopard geckos, 1 tree frog, and one growing cockroach colony). He is eating great and poops on a regular basis. However, he seems to crawl immediately after in his poop. Thus, he makes a mess andis covered in it. What should I do to clean him? I assuming it is not a good thing to crawl in one's poop. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, since I am just learning - What are your thoughts on putting two together?

Thanks!

Brian Mulcahy

is he on any kind of substrate? my malis are on paper towels for various reasons and hugo is really bad about taking a poop and then walking through it. i always just assumed it was worse because there was no sand to stick to the poop but i am curious to know if it is just as bad with sand.
however, he gets "baths" more frequently than his cage mate. i stick him in some shallow warm water for a minute to loosen the dried poop on his stomach and then wipe him with moist paper towels till it is almost all gone and the switch to dry paper towels. when you are done be sure to really dry his tail because uros can get tail rot from trapped moisture
-----
vonnie
***The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage.
— Mark Russell***

Shock is on paper towels also. I haven't made up my mind about a substrate. I guess I am going to have to assign some class bathers for this little guy. Thanks!

Brian

I have mine on washed playsand. The sand does help to absorb moisture from "liquids" and also coats his stool. I got one of the flat front wire scooper sifters to clean out his cage. It's pretty easy to do and the sand needs to be changed about every 3 months to stay fresh. The wire mesh seems just right. I offer finch food and the scoop can get that too.

I also use washed playsand, but only do a complete sand change 1-2 times a year.

I wish I had had a teacher cool enough to have a zoo in his classroom! What lucky students!

What do you teach? Grade level? Private or Public? I am a University educator and am very interested in education in general.

Elizabeth
-----
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

I teach 5th grade in a public school on Long Island. I know a lot of people are scared to have "creepy crawly" things in their class, but I think it is a great motivator. I have the children learn about the animals and their habitats. After months of handling, they go to other classes and teach the younger students. This year I ordered safari shirts and hats for the children to wear when they give a lesson.

In addition, last year I had three clutches of eggs laid by my corn snakes. The class was lucky to actually see the eggs laid last year. We hatched 18 baby corn snakes and most of them went to students. This year I plan on setting up a live feed so the children can see the eggs hatch.

My only problem is I don't have enough room for the children. LOL!

Thanks for your advice!

Brian Mulcahy