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I have 5 uromastyx lizards, four are Malis (ages 4,5,7,and 8) and one is an Ornate (age 2 1/2). I know that my Ornate is a male because of his color and how his femoral pores bulge out, but I am having troble finding the genders of my Malis. I have gone back and forth with deciding the gender by the pours.

My first question:
Is there another way, other than to look at the femoral pores, to tell the gender. Because I learned the term "hemipenal bulges", but I do not know what that means. The way it was motioned was that you had to see more of the underside of the tail to see the hemipenal bulges.

My second question:
All of my lizards have separate cages and when I do let them interacted with each other, under my supervision, I notice that some will bob their heads, some will roll over and flap their hands, and at other times they will run towards each other and try to bite one another, before I stop them. I am wondering if males and female uros share different breeding behavores? If so, maybe this will be the way I can tell their genders.

Thank you all very much,
Natalie and her uros.

Natalie, at the age you post your Mali's, you should see distinct color differences between the males and females. The males usually have black heads and legs with bright yellowish backs, while the females tend to remain drab and more brown and tan in color. The head bobbing sounds male, while the arm flapping sounds female. Can you see distinct color differences in the animals that do these behaviours(black headed males bobbing while drab females arm flap)? I would suspect its the males fighting each other, and once again you can note if the black headed/legged males are the ones fighting the most. However, with uros even females can be territorial against other females as well as males.

Hemipenal bulges refer to the bulges the males hemipenes form in the vent region. If you look at the underside of the tails near the vent openings, males may exhibit more bulging below the vent due to the hemipenes. Females typically do not have a pronounced bulge below the vent. The females vents may also be smaller/less wide because they do not have to extrude hemipenes.

I am by no means a uro expert, but these generalizations hold true for most reptiles, and display/coloration differences with most lizards.

Good luck!

Thank you for replying to me message,

I understand everything you said, so thank you. I do want to say that the one Mali (named koofoo) you and I both think is a male (the one that is 8 inches and bobs his head when around the one who rolls over)is my lightest lizard in color. He is a light tan on his head, back, and tail and when he is under the light his under side, from his head to his belly turn white. The one who rolls over when around Koofoo (named Cairo) is darker on his back with a black tail and a darker brown head, but who also gets a white belly when in the light.

Maybe I have males who mimic female and female who mimic males. I am in the process of evaluating each of their behaviors when paired in twos (I am pairing each one with another lizard each time, so I can pair each possible set together). I also am recording their distinct features of them like; color, femoral bulges, himipenal bulges, and size.

I am sure with all of these factors I am recording I am sure I can make an to which are males and which are females.

Thank you very much for your answer,
Natalie

Hmmm... could be dominant and subordinate male behaviour, but really sounds like male and female behaviour. Alot like bearded dragons. The males head bob and the females arm wave. Color is a funny thing with uros, especially Malis due to females who mimic males at times in coloration. Apparently these females are more aggressive as well if I remember correctly. There are several websites on kingsnake.com to compare male and female coloration. Deer Fern Farms is a good one.

Good luck!! I am pretty sure I have a female based on age and coloration. I am thinking about getting a male and would really like to try and breed these amazing lizards!!

Hey thanks, and good luck to you on finging a male and, if you do decide to breed them, good luck with that too.

Natalie

If you can, post some pictures of each Uro, try to get a good shot of the whole Uro, its head and underside if possible. It is spring and possibly easier to sex by looking at the pores.

Okay sure,
I will try to find some good pics I already have and I will take new ones of their pores.

Natalie