Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi again every one,
Just thought I'd let you know how I'm planning to tame Frank, my Egyptian uro. So far I've done what malve85 said (thanks again for the advice malve) and I've put two more hide spots in, making a total of three, he makes most use out of the hide at the cool end of the viv, so it's good he's taking advantage of it and I'm sure he'll feel more secure now. I also placed a towel over the front of the viv, that has been on since last Sunday and I've taken it off today as I think it would be best for the next week if he can see me so that he gets used to the fact that I'm there and what I look like and so on, during this time I'll still not be touching him or getting him out. I'm also going to put an old t-shirt I've been wearing for a couple of days in his viv some time today, I've rippedd it in half so that he can't climb inside it and get tangled up. That should help him get used to my scent over the next week so that when he starts coming out it shouldn't take him as long to get used to me (hopefully any way). The week after that I'm planning on putting some boards up so he can't get where I don't want him to go, this will be in front of his viv so that I can just open the door and let him out, I will be sat there and he will be able to climb on me, I'm not planning on touching him much if at all during this period, all I want to do is hand feed him something he likes, that way I'm hoping it will do a few things, number one he will simply like coming to see me because he gets food from me, and also he seems to be a bit jumpy when someones hand goes near him, so hopefully my hand going towards him with food will reinforce that my hand going towards him is not a bad thing. I'm hoping that just doing that may help his behaviour in more ways than one, perhaps simply getting used to me will stop him from whipping his tail in his viv so much. The next step after that will be the same as before letting him out and so on but I will also begin stroking his back to get him used to being touched more, one of the main problems he seems to have is having his tail touched, so that is last on my list of things I want to try to correct. I have been doing some research and found a site on taming reptiles, I think it was called reptile ranger.com, any way it said on there if they have a problem with their feet being touch of something then touch that area briefly and then give them a treat, and keep doing this and as he get more and more used to it do it for longer until it's second nature to him and he doesn't even think about it any more. I'm planning on using a paint brush for that as a whip form his tail even at the size he is now (aprox 16”) needs to be avoided, I'll gently brush it over his tail and then give him a treat and keep working on that.

I think that is pretty much it, so what do you all think about that? does it sound like a good plan? would you do anything different or add anything to this regime?, also what would be good to use as a teat for hand feeding? Something large enough to hand feed but also something that uro's love to eat?. I'll list his behaviour problems below so you can see more clearly what I have to achieve and then you can advice me better on each problem.

1. He whips his tail when you put your hand in his viv to put food in etc even if you don't go near him, he only seems to do it once but I'm only in there briefly so he might do it more if I was in there for longer.
2. He also whips his tail the first time you touch him when he comes out of the viv and then seems to calm down, I know this from the first and only time I got him out the day after bringing him home.

So really putting it like that It doesn't seem as bad, mainly a tail whipping problem really, I'm told he has never tried to bite his previous owners and that he never hissed at them (although he did his at me in his viv the day after bringing him home) I just hope he will respond and gradually improve and that he doesn't get worse. Any way sorry for such a long post, just wanted to run my plan by you all to see what you think, any insight and advice to the behaviour I've described would be much appreciated, ie is it a big problem and really difficult to correct or is it not as bad as I'm thinking.

Thanks for reading
Martin

some uros never adjust well to handling. Just like snake species, some uro species appear to be more inclined to human interaction than others, with individuality within those species. Egyptians can be either incredibly docile, or holy terrors from articles and information I have read about them. I have a five year old mali I purchased as a baby. She still does not tolerate handling well. She will tail whip and run away like crazy. I do not want to stress her so keep handling to a minimum like during cage cleaning, routine inspections, etc. I know she will never be a lap pet to the degree a bearded dragon, cornsnake, or ball python will be. She isnt super shy and will bask out in the open during the day and feed. She just jets away when I open the cage and is very skittish when humans approach her directly. My younger male mali is also a bit skittish, but less prone to run away when held in hand. Not uber tame, but better than the older female. Still, I dont consider them lap pets and keep handling to a minimum. They can stress easily if constantly harrassed. I know you are excited about the thought of having a nice big eygptian uro to hold and interact with. It can happen, but at their pace, and maybe not at all.

Hi,
Thanks for your insight in to uro's, I'm always interested to hear different opinions as it gives me a better idea of how to proceed. Going on what you have said I think my plan should still fit in with the way they are as he doesn't seem to be shy about coming out of his viv and as I mentioned I won't even be touching him at first if I can help it, so I guess I'll just have to try my best and see what happens and if I don't see any improvement then maybe as you said he is just one that isn't going to calm down. It is weird with him though as you mentioned about handling, well he doesn't seem too bad with being picked up, as he crawled over to me from his previous owner when I went to collect him and seemed quite calm about it and then again the day after I got him home I let him out and he tail whiped once when I first put my hand near him but then let me pick him up and put him back in his viv and he didn't freak out or wriggle, so that is maybe one of the biggest pluses I have with him, that one of the hardest things to get them used to is already not too bad, in fact very good from what I can tell, but who knows what behaviours I'm going to come across. That’s why I want to take it slow so that I can find out his quirks so that I don't push it too far too quick. Any way time will tell I suppose, I'll let you know how I get on with him.

Cheers
Martin

Thats cool. I am glad you realize this could cause stress and you will be on the lookout for overstressing him. If he starts going off feed, etc., leave him alone. Remember, his actions are saying "leave me alone". Hopefully reinforcing with gentle handling will let him realize its not too bad. I would assume giving in to his bluffs reinforces to him that they work and he wouldnt give up doing them if it keeps him from being picked up or handled. Its a two edged sword for sure in some cases. Just keep an eye on the stress levels and be patient.

If you are going to handle him, I find that reptiles tend to stress out less when you learn to become part of their routines. For examples, cleaning the cage at the same days and time, feeding them exactly at the same time everyday.... So, this means: if you can handle him exactly at the same time and days, it would stress him out less, and he'll probably be more likely to calm down, expecting to be handled as part of everyday routines. Hope this help!

Hi,
Thanks for that, these are exactly the ideas I'm after, and then I will have lots of things to try. I think at least at first I will be letting him out pretty much the same time every day as he is only out for a certain part of the day so I will have to fit in with him there, as I know you don't mess with lizards when they are sleaping so there is no way I'll be disturbing him, and just common sence would tell me that even if I hadn't read it lol. That is one thing the previous owners said to me, he said he doesn't like to be mest with when he's asleep, and I wrote back and said, we'll I can understand that as I wouldn't like it iether, lol. I don't want to slag the previous owners off or anything as I'm not the type of person to do that, however it's things like that that make me think they didn't have a clue, and perhaps they may have mistakenly contributed to his behaviour. Any how I'll be posting how I get on with him when I start his training/ taming, so keep a look out.
Thanks again
Martin

Hi Martin,

Listen, I've got an Egyptian Microlepis Uromastyx that I've had for about 10 years now. He still whips his tail if I get too close to him from some angles and sudden motions will almost surely cause him to whip and run to his hide. At 18" tol, a tail whip direct hit from him will draw some serious blood. So I typically give him a wide birth, or allow him to see everything I do. If I'm not using both hands, I hide one behind my back so he isn't worried about it. He has amazing eyesight.

Here's the thing you've got to understand. These creatures are the product of thousands of years of breeding. Their brains are puny and most of what they do is based on all of those years of instinctual survivalist behavior. In the wild, their tail and speed are their only self defense. So don't expect to "train" him to keep that tail under control and become docile. It's no more in their nature than it is for a snake to stop striking at prey.

You'll need the patience of Job if you truly expect to make any headway. Here's a couple of tips, make your motions slow and predictable when around your uro. Always remain where he can keep an eye on you. If you want to give him a treat, offer a nice fresh dandelion flower. My Gus loves 'em.

Finally, heed the words from those guys above. If things aren't going your way, you're likely stressing him out. Give him a break and try again later. Much later.

Good luck,
Craigo

Hi, thaks for that, I guess only time will tell really. I've had him out a couple of times now and done a bit of work with him in his viv and I think it's promising so far. I won't go in to it too much as I'll post an update on how I'm getting on in a few days or so, but it seems he's not to bad at all apart from the tail whipping every now and then, he's not shy about comeing up to me and only tail whipped at me once and that was half harted lol, he'll let me pick him up no problem infact when picked up he's really supprisingly calm and I asked his previous owners if he had always been so calm when picked up and they said yes he has, which is an amazing bonus for me. Having worked with him a bit I'd say the problem isn't as bad as I thought and I think he's aprox 80- 90% where I want him to be really, it just seems as though the tail whipping doesn't match the rest of his personality but I'll keep going with him any way and see if I can reduce the ammount of tail whipping at least, so far so good though, and I'm very hopefull. I'll keep an eye out for stressing him too much though as you guys have said and then go back to him at a later date if I have to. As mentioned I'll post an up date at some point so you and everyone else can see how I'm getting on.
Cheers
Martin