Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i took over the care of my friends uromastyx because he no longer could
from looking at pictures of others, i can tell its maybe 1 or 2 yrs old
it loves to be held and crawl into warm, dark spaces and it hates being in a cage but my bigger problem is it wont eat! ive never see it eat and im worried about its health
it doesnt show any signs of infections or parasites, no open mouth, skin shedding, watery eyes, etc
but i dont know how to get it to eat
so far ive made the "salad" with carrots, peas, and romaine lettuce and occasionally a cricket but it doesnt touch it..
HELP!

here are two pictures of it, just wondering if anyone could tell me what particular type of uromastyx it is.
it looks kind of reddish in the photos but it is not, its dark brown with kind of black tiger markings

Everything you mentioned plus the picture is a poor indication of the conditions. First, what size enclosure do you have it in, what are the temps, etc etc...

As for it liking to be held, Uro's do not 'like' to be held. They will sit still in your hand because they are cold and lethargic. A Uro in good health will be very active, and will not sit still in your hand. Also, in the picture, its sitting out on a sweatshirt, very dark colors, meaning the Uro is VERY cold. This is bad. You need to be able to maintain a proper temp. gradient and basking spot for Uro's to properly thrive.

As for diet, crickets are bad, stop feeding even if the Uro ignores it, its a bad idea. Romaine lettuce is also not providing any nutrition, just water content. Uro's should be fed daily greens such as curly endive, escarole, dandelion greens. In addition you can feed on a rotational basis: arugula, radicchio, watercress, shredded carrots or shredded squash, bok choy and others as well. I would avoid feeding any lentils as the Uro looks to be very young, which should also be kept on a non-particle substrate, such as paper towels, butcher paper, newspaper, slate, etc. No sand or millet until the Uro is at least 6-7" in length.

Has the Uro ever been to a vet for a fecal exam? While there may not be visible parasites in the stool (which should not be runny) there could be an issue that can be seen by having a fecal exam done at the vet.

Hope this helps... any more info you can provide will definitely help in getting all your questions answered as best we can.

its being kept in a 10g enclosure right now i only have simple 60w bulbs above it right now which i know arent nearly warm enough..
and i understand they dont "like" to be held im just saying he always runs back up my arm when i try to put him back in the enclosure (probably bc my body is warmer, which i keep him close most of the time to keep him warm)
do i need uva or uvb bulbs or does it matter?
also how many should i use for a 10g enclosure?
and how do i regulate the day/night temps without leaving the bulbs on at night?
and i should use newspaper or paper towels for now until hes 6-7" rather than sand?
and he has not been to the vet that i know of, but i will surely take him tomorrow

im slowly learning about how to take care of him
the previous owner had no idea what he was doing or how to take care of it so i didnt know what to do, he didnt even know what kind of reptile it was
im sorry if you think im an idiot, im just trying to save him..

Don't worry about not knowing - worry about making it right! You'll need to make a lot of changes to provide a good home for him, and you're starting well by asking questions.

The 10 gallon is unacceptable for any length of time. He MUST be in a larger enclosure - the sooner the better. Uros require a large temperature gradient which is impossible in a 10 gallon. A good size to start with right now is a 40 BREEDER (meaning a footprint of 3 ft x 1.5 ft). You'll need to go larger later when he's bigger. It's not the size of the animal, it's the space required for the appropriate temperatures. Without the right temps, he cannot ever be healthy. UVB is very important and there are LOTS of crap products out there that claim to provide UVB. Make sure you're getting a good lamp. Quality lamps include Reptisun 10.0 (tubes only, not the coils) and MegaRay from www.reptileuv.com.

Also be sure to use accurate thermometers for finding your temps. Get digital ones with probes and/or an infrared temp gun. The basking area should have a surface temp of 120F. The warm half of the tank should be right around 100F. The cool end of the tank needs to sit around 85F. Night time temps can drop into the 70s. If your house gets cooler than that at night, a ceramic heat emitter or other non-light-emitting device is a good choice.

As mentioned in RTL's post above, the diet will need to change. In addition I would mention that you need to stop handling the uro until it has a chance to settle in. Uros need time to acclimate before they will be comfortable enough to eat in a new setting. That means no touching.

Definitely have a fecal check done by a good reptile vet.

The picture is a little dark and at a difficult angle to be able tell you species for sure, but it does appear to be a juvenile (which means paper, not sand, like you thought). Most likely it's a Saharan or a Mali - those are the most common in the US trade.
-----
Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, and Tank)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
1.1 Collared Lizard (Ripcord and Rorschach)
2.0 Green Anoles (Bowser and Sprocket)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

Ditto to everything mentioned by ET
The 10 gallon tank will do more harm then you can imagine, try and get a new enclosure ASAP. Check craigslist, people are usually selling used aquariums for a decent price. You can often find a 75 gallon tank (48"x18"x18" which is a good size to use) for $100 or less.
UVB is very important to a Uro, megaray bulbs are great, but unfortunately the SB bulbs that produce heat and UVB are on backorder. You could get the EB bulb, and then an additional basking bulb to get the temps correct. There is no set method to heat for day/night, it takes some messing around with different bulbs and positions to get the temps right.

If your room temperature at night does not drop below 75F, don't worry about nighttime heat. If it does, you can get a ceramic heat emitter, which will produce heat, but no visible light. This is best for Uro's at night, as those red night bulbs will throw off their sleeping patterns.

Change the substrate right away, paper towel is a good option, when you get the larger tank, you can find some natural slate at home depot or lowes very cheap, get 2 pieces and it will cover most of the tank, it holds heat very well and is very easy to clean.

I would also try and get everything setup before you get to the vet, as the medications the Uro may need will not be doing much good in the 10g tank.

Keep us updated. We will give you as much info as you need to help the Uro get setup properly and you will truly see how amazing they can be

thank yall so much!
i looked up uvb bulbs online.. what watt bulb is recommended?
im also picking up a 45g breeder today so how many bulbs should i get?
thanks again for helping!

45g breeder is still a bit small. try for a 75g (48"x18"x18" or larger. you will have to experiment with bulbs to get the temps right

Hey--and thanks for stepping up to the plate and taking the responsibility of taking care of this Uro from someone who clearly wasn't. You're a better person for it, and I salute you. It'll be so worth it.