Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, we are new to this forum and really worried about our uromastyx Skitters. We adopted him last year from a local shelter which told us he was a Mali and relativly old (3 long term previous owners). He's done well (until the last month)on a diet of thawed peas, romaine lettuce,dandelion greens over the summer, a sprinkling of bird seed and a dusting of calcium weekly. About a month ago he spent a 24hr period colder than he should have been due to his basking lamp burning out, but he never got any colder than 85 degrees. He has been off his feed since then, lethargic, and looks dehydrated. He also seems to have muscle weakness in his back legs. We've tried soaking him and he does puff up a little. We are careful to dry him off well and get him back to his basking rock. Help/suggestions please ??!!!

Don't have a specific answer, but a vet visit is necessary. If cold for too long, respiratory issues including infection can occur...

Thanks for the advice. We found a great reptile/exotics vet who diagnosed MBD Working on getting skitters healthy again

first thing i can tell is that the diet is not up to par. you are feeding foods that should be offered as snacks, not as a staple diet. you should be feeding curly endive(often called chickory), escarole, dandelion greens, radicchio, etc

there are some good care sheets here and on the urowiki as well. sounds like lack of nutrients and possible lack of proper UVB to me. What kind of UVB bulb are you using? My advise would be to be using a MVB from reptileuv.com they are the best option around. Provide proper heat and UVB levels.

Also, you didnt mention anything about night temps.. you said its never below 85.. at night there should be no lights on at all and should be around 70F or so. if your house gets too cold you should use a ceramic heat emitter which will produce heat, but no visible light to bring up the night temps. hope this helps a bit