Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I walked into my favorite local pet shop yesterday, and a few days ago they had gotten in 2 adorable, 5" baby ornate uros. They were eating, and active when I held them. They had nice pretty patterns but were not showing any color. ( Do the colorful ornates show color when they are this young or does it begin to develope with each shed?) I have heard that as adults, Ornates tend to be couch potatoes. I not sure if that is a bad thing or not.

I've read alot of nice reports about the Nigerian Uromastyx which I think is smaller than the ornate. People say they have great personalities, even as adults. I hope some of you have had experience with both of these and can share the pros and cons of each. Also, because these are small uros I'd think they wouldn't need as large an enclosure as the bigger uros would need. What is the minimum size tank you'd recommend for a single, Nigerian or ornate uromastyx?

Thanks for reading my post and hopefully replying to it.

I would personally go with the ornate. I currently have two mali's and I had a nigerian awhile back. The nigerian was wild caught and did not thrive or survive long in captivitiy. Within two months he was dead. Ornates tend to be captive bred and I have read they are much more prone to allow handling. Nigerians can be nervous and not like handling much. The fact that most are wild caught can lead to problems down the road and they may do well for several months before crashing. The males of either species will be more colorful. Male nigernians can be stunning with their bright yellowish green or orangish red coloration. Ornates are probably thought of as the most colorful of the uros and the females may be better colored than female nigerians. My choice would be the ornate.

For a baby uro, you may get by with a 20 gallon LONG aquarium, but an adult ornate or nigerian will require a cage with a floor space of four foot x two foot. The large cage is required to provide the appropriate temperature gradients. With a basking spot of 110 to 120 F, the space is necessary for the uro to get to a cooler temp in the upper 70s to low 80s as desired. This cannot be done with too small a cage. You can turn the lights off at night as long as the temps dont fall much below 70.

Good luck with your choice!!

I would also go with an ornate, but it's just personal preference. Ornates do tend to be more mellow on the whole, but every uro is different, so there can be skittish ornates and perfectly mellow geyri, so you never really know.

>>For a baby uro, you may get by with a 20 gallon LONG aquarium, but an adult ornate or nigerian will require a cage with a floor space of four foot x two foot. The large cage is required to provide the appropriate temperature gradients. With a basking spot of 110 to 120 F, the space is necessary for the uro to get to a cooler temp in the upper 70s to low 80s as desired. This cannot be done with too small a cage. You can turn the lights off at night as long as the temps dont fall much below 70.>>

I strongly disagree with part of this. Don't keep a uro in a 20 long. Some people will insist you can - and it's probably true with constant monitoring and a great deal of experience. However, for the very reasons mentioned in the quote above - you NEED a larger cage even for a smaller uro. They are also quite active and curious when healthy, so need space to run around. The very bare minimum is a 40 BREEDER cage (36" x 18" footprint) and a better choice is 4" x 2". But the uro isn't going to be small for long - why would you get a smaller cage now, only to have to replace it in a year? If you need to have a smaller cage for space or money reasons, get a different kind of lizard. If you want a uro, provide for its needs.

Also, ornates and geyri are roughly the same size. My larger geyri is longer than my larger ornate, but the ornate outweighs him. Ornates when young are pretty bland in color - males will color up with age. Females are usually less colorful than the males.

Basking spot should be 120F. Most of the cage should be around 95-100F and the cool end (about 1/3 the cage) should be about 85F.

Good luck! And let us know what you choose to do!
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.2 Saharan Uros (Joe, Arthur, and Hitch)
3.0 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, and Tank)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
1.3 Collared Lizards (Ripcord, Thiamine, Riboflavin, and Niacin)
1.0 Green Anoles (Sprocket)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

I agree with ET on this... you need a proper cage from the beginning. If your looking for an economical way to setup an enclosure for a Uro go to craigslist and find a used 75 gallon aquarium. These measure 48"x18" floor space. Personally I have used them and been able to achieve a good thermal gradient.

I currently have 2 malis, 3 geyri and 2 sudanese. Personally I see my geyri as the most active and the mali as the most tolerant to me being around them. Even just to take them out of the enclosure for a weight/length measurement is 10 seconds each for the malis... the geyri are fast and sometimes dont want to be bothered. My sudanese are WC are run when the enclosure door opens.