Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone! I just recently purchased my very first Uro. I have spoken with Doug from Deer Fern Farms and am getting a cage from him and have set up my enclosure as per his caresheet. However I am having a few problems. Here's what's going on....

1. My mali baby (Ulysses) hasn't eaten yet. I've offered greens as well as thawed veggies (peas and carrots) and the tortoise diet. Mazuri I think its called (softened with water). I also have a dish of juvenile iguana pellets available and he is bedded down with bird seed. So far, it doesn't appear that he's eating.

2. He panics when I put my hand in the tank. He will go crazy and try to run up the side of the tank, frantically trying to escape. When I go to grab him he sways his body in a snake-like motion and will attempt to hit me with his tail. As he's tiny it doesn't really hurt and I grab him up anyways and hold him until he's settled down...but I can imagine that as he ages the tail smack will begin to not feel very good.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get him to eat, how to tame him down a little and help him relax, and also should I be offering water for now since he isn't really eating? Or should I soak him to get the water, or would that be too stressful as he is obviously not comfortable with human contact yet? Thanks for all of your help!!

I just got our first uro from doug too, in december, an algerien.

OUrs didn't eat for the first few days either, i wouldn't worry, he'll eat, just give him some time.
I use the Mazuri pellets too. my uro jacques wouldn't eat the "meatloaf" that doug described so we make him little 'sandwiches ' instead in order for him to get the mushy/vitamin stuff in him. This is what we do:

- put a tsp. of mazuri pellets in hot water to soften, drain.
-mush up pellets with spoon and add supplement to mush, mix up!(minerall if its a weekday and uro dust if it's a weekend day)
(we don't use peas any more because they can bind up their tummies, we only did it for the 1st week, but you don't have to use peas and corn).(u can also add SMALL amounts of other veggies to the mush like squashes, green beans, etc. but the greens are more important than the veggies!
-take fresh greens (box choy, turnip greens, dandlion greens,etc.) and break off 6 little shapes (approx. 1in.x1in.)
-spread the mazuri/vitamin mush on the shapes to make little sandwiches!
(Makes 3 sandwiches) ENJOY!

This is what my girlfriend devised to get jacques to eat the mush/vitamin stuff, cus before we gave him the greens and the mush and there was no way in hell he'd eat that mush!(Doesn't it smell good tho?!) So just spread it on the leaves.

ours eats usually 2 out of his 3 sandwiches a day, but sometimes he'll eat every other day. it's sporadic, like he won't eat 1 day and the next he eats all 3.

i found out that in the winter they slow down sort of, the older lizards 'brumate', you can read abou t this on borederview bearded dragon's site, but ours shouldn't be brumating. Yet jacques loves to sleep! we have to make him bask sometimes, then he heats up and runs around like a psycho!

About taming him, just keep at it with the handling. I've heard about the 'S dance' people on this forum have mentioned it but i have not seen it myself, it is an aggressive behavior. I'd let him get settled, leave him alone for a day or two if he is THAT mad, and then slowly work on handling him. be persistent, that's what i 've found works. Mine doesn't want me to go near him either when he's awake, but he loves to snuggle when he's sleepy. get him when he's tired, he won't care where he is!!Take him out when he's sleepy and hold him then, you'll see him run under your pillow, your shorts, anything to snuggle and hideaway, it's funny.
Make sure they have a hide box in their cage!

Oh yeah, and we never SEE ours eat! he does it when we aren't home. So don't expect to see him do it, count how many sandwiches you start with and count how many are left when you get home from work.

About the water, I've read that they can't have standing water in their cage because they need to have low-humidity and the water raises the humidity. they will get the water they need from their greens, plus Doug says you can give him a hot bath in shallow water once a week just to make sure.

If you continue having problems getting him to eat, i'd call doug, he's really helpful!

Remember to give the uro some space to eat, leave the room and let him do his thing, ours always does stuff when we're not looking!

Good luck and let me know how the sandwiches work!don't eat the mazuri, it doesn't taste as good as it smells! (we're kinda crazy )

~kristen

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1.1 Bearded dragons (Kunja and Lily)
1.0 Algerian Uromastyx (Jacques)

Thank you for your advice!

I disagree with kirby's thoughts on persistently handling your new uro. Your little mali is exhibiting a stress response (snake dance, agitation, skittishness, etc.) to being in a new situation. Until the uro acclimatizes to its new surroundings, you should minimize handling as much as possible.

I'm not sure how you're housing your uro but you may want to try covering all surfaces of the enclosure with something (paper towel) so it can't see what going on outside its little world.

Based on personal experience I've found that uros can take a long time to acclimate to new surroundings. I am currently dealing with a very nervous u. geyri hatchling (born July 2005) that is only now beginning to show signs of settling in to his/her new home.

Although the temptation to treat a uromastyx like a puppy is strong, you have to keep in mind that it is a reptile.

Hi Spikey,

So will leaving him alone completely cause him to be more difficult to tame down later on? His tail smacks already don't feel good, I can only imagine what it will be like when he's an adult. I tried holding him this morning when he was cold and that went over better. He almost seemed content to be warming up in my hands. I figure that I won't handle him again until tomorrow morning at the earliest. I just don't want to try to wrangle an adult if he's going to be nasty. What are your thoughts on feeding? Should I soak him in some warm water and see if he looks better? I'm concerned that he's getting dehydrated, but I'm also worried about fungus growth or tail rot if I wet him down. What are everyone else's thoughts?
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Can you describe your setup?

(size, temps, lighting, food you're offering, etc)

How you long have you had this uro?

Do you know its weight/age? (you mentioned baby in your initial post...)

You long have you noticed that he/she hasn't been eating?

Did you purchase the uro locally? (or have it shipped?)

Did you have the uro checked by a vet after you purchased it?

The tank is temporary and admittedly too small. However I have to wait until Feb. 26th to get my custom tanks from Doug. It is the same footprint as a 25long. My temps are 115 in the hot spot and it is a gradient down to now about 82. Its alot of work to keep that gradient, I have to shift the lights several times a day, but with the tank being so small its insanely difficult to keep them in the same spot and get the right temps. I spoke with Doug at DFF this morning and he gave me a few pointers about helping the temps for the time being. I am using a 100watt ceramic heat emitter, a 50 watt flood light with silvering on the back (solely for night and day phasing) and a full spectrum bulb that is suspended in the tank about 12 inches off the animal.

I got the mali on Saturday of this last weekend, so I've only had him a few days. I have been offering a spring mix every other day, and a pellet of mazuri softened in water with peas, carrots, and corn every other day. I do not know its age (although it is obviously young) and I haven't weighed it yet. I purchased it from a breeder at an expo that I attended this last weekend. As of yet I haven't seen it eating. It has not seen a vet yet.

Sounds like a pretty reasonable start!

I think you'd probably agree that getting your uro eating is more important that dealing with the "personality" issue. Sounds like its probably just getting used to its surroundings. I would recommend the following based on my own personal experience acclimating a very young uro (I picked up my cb u. geyri when he/she was 1 month old):

- isolate your uro as much as possible (eliminate handling completely, move enclosure to a low traffic area, keep other pets, little kids away from the enclosure)

-put something around the outside of the tank so your uro is not disturbed by the "outside world"

-offer fresh greens everyday (even if it seems your pet is not eating; you never know if they're darting out of their hide for a quick bite)

-do not supplement (uros don't seem to like the taste much; get it eating first then worry about supplements)

-make sure you've got your temps right (this plays a much more important role than you may think). I was told that young uros should be kept at a lower temp than adults (105 - 110 max temp). however i found that my uro only became really active/hungry once I boosted the basking temp to 120

-be patient! don't everreact.

worry about handling your uro once you've got it eating.

this is pretty basic care advice but hope it helps

Thanks a bunch!! I agree that getting Ulysses to eat is significantly more important than handling him safely. He is currently soaking in some very warm dechlorinated water in my bathtub. I think that dehydration is beginning to be one of my primary concerns with him. As far as the greens go, I have been offering endive with some romaine lettuce, is there a green that they tend to prefer over these? I have heard dandelion greens, but unless that is purchasable at the grocery store it is not likely to happen as I am in the middle of winter in Oregon....not much is growing. Thanks to everyone who responded. I think that I will hold off handling him unless absolutely necessary for a few weeks. One last quick question if anyone is lurking tonight, should I towel (paper) dry his tail when all done soaking, or blow dry?

Romaine lettuce is not the best choice for greens as it is mostly water and very little nutrients. You can buy dandelion greens at the grocery store (that's where I buy mine). They usually have them year-round since they come from different places. A lot of the ones I get come from Texas. Mustard greens are good too, as is escarole.
For tail drying, I use a blow-dryer. The sound may freak him a bit so just be careful. It works very well, I've never had a problem with fungus or tail-rot.

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1.1 Mali Uromastyx (Ra, Isis)
1.0 Satanic Leaf-tail Gecko (Diablo)
0.1 Satanic Leaf-tail Gecko (R.I.P. Samael)

Lots of good advice given. Mine is, check the ingredients of that "spring mix" against the reccommended vegetables in the care sheets. There likely will be a big discrepency.

lol, welcome to my world. i got an egyptian baby in october and since my sister has met him, she has dubbed him heart attack. he absolutely freaks out if you go near him. i just moved and am in a temporary house so i haven't had a chance to try this method yet but my good friend swears by it (the temp house has two black labs and a chesapeak bay retriever who would love to snack on him) but somewhere safe and quiet, let the animal roam around maybe like the bathroom or bathtub (obviously covering things he could get wedged into) with you sitting quietly in the room, maybe reading a book, balancing the checkbook, yadda yadda. my friend says you have to let them be free in order to help them tame down but they will also start to see you as warm and non threatening

however, let you little guy get settled for at least two weeks. he was probably taken from the wild, quarentined, put in a small container for a show and the whisked off to your house, stressing the poor little guy to no end. blocking his whole view for a couple days with paper isn't a bad idea and each day remove another piece, but it is generally best to keep three sides of the tank covered at all times.

if you didn't soak him the day you got him it probably isn't a bad idea to do it now. they can get very dehydrated in the capture/adoption process. i think someone on here just mentioned they blow dry the uro's tail i definitely recommend him going to see a vet as parasites can cause them to stop eating. just keep giving him food but if it gets to be too long you can try wiping baby food on his lips, veggie of course, and seeing if he will lap at it.
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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***

jen, you don't have to blow dry his tail, just make sure it drys after he's out of the tub.

You can bathe his once a week, and after he gets outta the tub, just put ulysses under the basking light and make sure he basks, the heat will dry it out fine, that's what Doug told me to do.

I'm sure you COULD blow dry, but that'd be scary for him i'd think and a waste of time when you could just have him bask more naturally.

Yeah, I would not give him any type of lettuce, it doesn't has as much nutritional value as other greens. I use collard greens and turnip greens alot b/c they have the most Calcium.,I also use dandilion greens, kale,bok choy, and mustard greens. Endive and escarole are ok too , but not as full of Ca as turnip tops or collards. if you go to Borderview bearded dragons' site under 'nutritional values' they have a chart of each vegetables values of Ca, protein, etc. I hope that will help you!

Once he IS eating his greens, and you want to add the supplements, try to mix it in the mazuri mush and spread a thin layer ON the greens like I said before. I found it to be the only way i could get my uro to eat the vitamin/mush. Maybe your's will eat the mush on it's own, i don't know, but you can try to spread it, that way he'll eat it with the greens and he won't know!

Good luck!

~kristen
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1.1 Bearded dragons (Kunja and Lily)
1.0 Algerian Uromastyx (Jacques)

Thank you for your advice!

jen, you don't have to blow dry his tail, just make sure it drys after he's out of the tub.

You can bathe his once a week, and after he gets outta the tub, just put ulysses under the basking light and make sure he basks, the heat will dry it out fine, that's what Doug told me to do.

I'm sure you COULD blow dry, but that'd be scary for him i'd think and a waste of time when you could just have him bask more naturally.

Yeah, I would not give him any type of lettuce, it doesn't has as much nutritional value as other greens. I use collard greens and turnip greens alot b/c they have the most Calcium.,I also use dandilion greens, kale,bok choy, and mustard greens. Endive and escarole are ok too , but not as full of Ca as turnip tops or collards. if you go to Borderview bearded dragons' site under 'nutritional values' they have a chart of each vegetables values of Ca, protein, etc. I hope that will help you!

Once he IS eating his greens, and you want to add the supplements, try to mix it in the mazuri mush and spread a thin layer ON the greens like I said before. I found it to be the only way i could get my uro to eat the vitamin/mush. Maybe your's will eat the mush on it's own, i don't know, but you can try to spread it, that way he'll eat it with the greens and he won't know!

Good luck!

~kristen
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1.1 Bearded dragons (Kunja and Lily)
1.0 Algerian Uromastyx (Jacques)

Thank you for your advice!

Thanks a bunch Kribby. I will go and get some dandelion greens and turnip tops. I'm concerned about using collards and kale however because they have been known to bind to calcium and not allow it to be absorbed. I think that he ate this morning, but I'm not sure. There was a small piece of greens in the middle of the cage that wasn't there when I went to bed. So there might be some hope. I can't wait to get those cages from Doug. This moving lights around at least 4 times a day is starting to get a little time consuming. But, I gotta do what I gotta do.

Does anyone have some of the custom cages from DFF? Can you tell me a little bit about how they work for the temperature gradient? I'm sure that since they're coming from Doug they'll be awesome, but I'm just curious. I'd be pretty thrilled to not to moving lights all the time. Thanks again!