Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys. As some of you may know, I breed boas but I have a Uromastyx question for a friend of mine who has a single Uromastyx as a pet. Before I hit you with question, let me give you the background and the set up. Its an Egyptian Uro of unknown sex. Its approx 10 inches including the tail. He has had it for over a year but received it as an adult. He believes it may be 5 years old. Its kept in a 20 gallon long tank and the temps at the hot side are approx 110 degrees. The temps on the other side are 90. There is a hot rock and an undertank heating pad which is kept on throughout the day and night on the hot side. The tank has two 75 watt bulbs of unknown make which are purchased from the local reptile store. They get shut down at night for about 12 hours. The substrate is calicium sand and there is no water dish in the enclosure. The animal is fed a store bought bagged lettuce spring mix which gets dusted once weekly with calcium with D3. He is fed the greens every day from a plate and has been been fed 3 mealworms a week for the past month. He has fed on mealworms in the past but it is not a routine practice. So....here is the problem. The past week or so the animal has gotten very bloated and is visually swollen around his torso. The activity level has dropped off somewhat but other than that, behavior wise, he seems normal. Its still eating and has no exposure to another lizard. Do you guys have an idea what could be causing the bloating? Also, he has been defecating less frequently. Could it be impaction? If so, do you guys know what we can do BEFORE a vet visit is needed? Is there a quick fix? Do these lizards ovulate with out males being present? Any ideas or husbandry tricks or tips are appreciated, even if its about the set up. Thanks in advance. Mike Panichi
-----
honesty is my only policy

There are a couple of things that will need to be rectified with your friends’ husbandry. I will try and address as much as I can without going into too many specifics, for this, I would recommend that you and your friend check out some of the care sheets online. You can find some decent ones at deerfernfarms.com or check out Jerry G. Walls book on uromastyx care.

To begin with, a 20 gallon tank is entirely too small. You should consider a much larger enclosure, esp. if it’s an Egyptian. A proper enclosure for an animal of that size would be at least 36’’x24’’x12’’ (more on the enclosure in a second). First, I think it appropriate to tell you that if your friend does in fact own an Egyptian uromastyx, it is NOT fully grown. Egyptians are the largest species of uromastyx and can grow up to ~ 3 feet in total length.

With this in mind, you can imagine that these animals will need a fairly large enclosure to accommodate such a size. Your friend definitely needs a larger enclosure and it is recommended that an adult Egyptian be housed in an enclosure in the size range of 6’x3’(L x W). The basking temperature should range from 115-130 degrees F (some folks would say up to 150F but my experiences is that it’s a bit too toasty) which will most likely put the warm end of the tank in the lower 90s. I aim to keep the cooler end of the tank in the mid to low 80s.

As for the rest of the set-up, I don’t use heat rocks or under tank heaters for a variety of reasons. I hate heat rocks and most of this stems from when I first started keeping lizards back in the early 90s. I used them for iguanas and found out that the heat rocks are prone to hot spots and had an animal that suffered a severe burn from this malfunction. Of course the new rocks may be better, but why take the chance. Also, if you’re using a sand substrate, the heat pad will not radiate heat up through it very efficiently.

I also don’t use or recommend that calci sand garbage because not only have I seen the colored stuff dye the animals, there is anecdotal evidence that it can increase the chance of impaction, esp. if the animal is dehydrated. Washed play sand has worked well for me and many others, as has millet seed. You can also use (something probably very familiar to you as a boa breeder) newspaper or paper towels.

Your diet is not optimal and could use some adjustments. I would first check out the care sheets for diet and if you still have questions come back. Just to let you know, some will probably have a cow once they read that your animal is fed insects. While I do not offer any of mine insects (mostly out of laziness than anything else), you should be very conscious that these animals a strict herbivores and animal protein should be offered sparingly. I don’t think 3 a week will be an issue, just don’t go crazy.

As far as what your real question is, I’m not real sure what is wrong. A picture would definitely help. If impaction s your concern, I would monitor it very closely; the first signs may be lack of appetite, lethargy and fecal material smeared all over the base of the tail. It’s hard to really say much more without any more info but I hope this adds some clarity to the issue at hand.

Cheers,
Nathanael