Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new to the forum here...and have never been in a situation like this before with my Uros. I currently have two seemingly happy Malis...my female I have had for about 6 yrs.,however, 3 days ago I ran into someone at a local pet store that had a Red Niger Uromastyx that he said wasn't eatting and after chatting with him, he asked if I wanted him, which I of course said yes. Turns out he had him for about a month and a half in an enclosure that wasn't hot enough and the little guy is emaciated beyond belief. I have been trying to get him to eat with no luck. His tank I set up for him is reading 125 in the basking area and he seems fairly active and alert most of the time, though not straying far from the heat side. I have tried EVERYTHING, giving him veggies and greens dusted with Sandfire Uro dust, canned tortise and iguana foods, pellets...you name it and no luck. I got to the point last night where I finally juiced his greens, mixed in some spirulina for added nutrients and syringe fed it to him. My vet will be out of town until next Tues. and I'm really afraid I'm gonna loose the little guy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Not an expert, but I had a wild caught that did not start eating after arrival, the guy I bought him from suggested canned peas and that worked.

That's all I have.

good luck.

Is an impactation possible? Parasites? In otherwise healthy animals sometimes those can be a cause of not eating.

I don't think he is impacted. He has had two BM's since I got him...that was actually the first thing he did when his temp got up...looked over at me and "plop" right on the rock I gave him for basking.

What about animal matter...Insects...crickets, mealworms. Sometimes hunger strike uros can be enticed out of it by something new.
Flowers....Mine love dandelions...which will be scarce very soon.
Just some ideas...Good luck ..keep us posted.

Al;biet not a staple food source>>I am new to the forum here...and have never been in a situation like this before with my Uros. I currently have two seemingly happy Malis...my female I have had for about 6 yrs.,however, 3 days ago I ran into someone at a local pet store that had a Red Niger Uromastyx that he said wasn't eatting and after chatting with him, he asked if I wanted him, which I of course said yes. Turns out he had him for about a month and a half in an enclosure that wasn't hot enough and the little guy is emaciated beyond belief. I have been trying to get him to eat with no luck. His tank I set up for him is reading 125 in the basking area and he seems fairly active and alert most of the time, though not straying far from the heat side. I have tried EVERYTHING, giving him veggies and greens dusted with Sandfire Uro dust, canned tortise and iguana foods, pellets...you name it and no luck. I got to the point last night where I finally juiced his greens, mixed in some spirulina for added nutrients and syringe fed it to him. My vet will be out of town until next Tues. and I'm really afraid I'm gonna loose the little guy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

if you don't want to keep juicing his food, you can always try baby food like the peas or the mixed veggie kinds. i used those on helga when i first got her and she wouldn't eat anything (she was in a similar situation to your guy).
bee pollen from a vitamin store can sometimes entice them to eat, it comes in little granules.
if you didn't soak him when you got him, you could try that also. he could be dehydrated too. just be sure to dry his tail afterwards
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vonnie
***The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage.
— Mark Russell***

I would like to thank everyone for their advice. I gave him a dose of Jumpstart earlier in the evening and just now gave him baby food veggies...corn/sweet potato, zucchini, peas and carrots. I'm going to alternate this with his juiced bok choy, collard greens and endive and mixing them with his uro dust until I can get him to the vet.

The uromastyx dust has bee pollen in it...but still no luck on him eatting on his own. I'll leave his fresh veggies in there too just to see if he gets sick of me prying his mouth open and shoving a syringe in it! This little guy is giving me fits and keeping me up at night worrying about him! Thanks again!

Just wait till he's healthy enough that you can't get his mouth open for the life of you! I recently took in a wild caught mali from where I work who was in pretty bad shape (parasites)... The first dose of meds was easy, vet opened his mouth and got them in no problem... 2nd dose 2 weeks later was a different story... A vet and at least 2 nurses surrounding this little lizard trying to get him to open his mouth to no avail... they even tried using an applicator stick and it broke! It was good to see his strength (and attitude) come back

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1.0 RES, Spunky
1.0.1 Mali Uromastyx, Ajani, Guban(Goober)
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa, Nico
0.0.1 Northern Blue Tongue Skink, Owajabi(Jabi)
3.1 Cats
1/2.0 rabbit (friend and I went 50/50)
0.1 Gerbils
1.0 Betta, Nigel