Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Uro Forum,

My name is John Wiseman and this is my first post on this forum. I breed BRBs and am active on the Rainbow Boas forum but just bought my son his first Uromastyx and wanted to introduce myself to this forum.

With nearly 75 rainbows in my collection I have been thinking a lot about starting a new project and at the Orlando Repticon my six year old made the choice for me. My son Xander found a black Uromastyx that he had to have. Even though I am not so familiar with the species I knew enough to recognize that a completely black Uro was rare. So here is my son’s new pet.

Thank you for your time,
John Wiseman
www.rainbowsbydesign.com

Edited on May 30, 2012 at 10:25:04 by PHFaust.

I could be wrong but it looks like a Mali Uromastyx. I think we need a better shot of it.

Let me know what you think, I am not an expert in Uromastyx.

Thank you for your time, John Wiseman

From look of the size of that thing and the color, I think it's a Mali. Here is a link you can look over to which one you've got.
http://www.deerfernfarms.com/Uromastyx_Species.htm

I did see that website which is one of the reasons I thought it was an Ebony Uro. He is black on the top where as all the Mali's I've seen have yellow on there backs. I wonder if there is an obvious size difference? This guy is big, even for "what I've seen" in the Mali's. Are the Ebony Uros smaller than the Malis?

I appreciate you response and insight, admittedly I am not an expert on Uromastyx. I am excited about this guy and would like to try and breed him. If you have any tips for that I would greatly appreciate it as well.

Thank you for your time, John Wiseman

I have no advice regarding confirmation of the species. It looks like a Mali to me, but I've never seen an ebony uro. One of my Malis is nearly totally black - there's just a hint of pattern on his back when he's very warm and feisty. Another was super yellow and vibrant and that has eased back as he's gotten older. The third was never as bright as the second. So there's variety, and it may be that the older they get, the more yellow they lose - I don't know. Plus it may look different once it's healthy and had a good shed.

What I will say, though, is that uro is emaciated. Try not to pick it up or mess with it (unless medically necessary) until it's eating regularly and well to avoid stress. Don't offer it dry foods like lentils or seeds until it's eating plenty of greens and shredded squash to avoid dehydration. Make sure to have a fecal check done if you haven't already. Several of my uros came to me in crummy condition - every single one of those had at least one parasite. They're all fat and sassy now.
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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)
1.2 Collared Lizards (Ripcord, Thiamine, and Riboflavin)
1.0 Green Anoles (Sprocket)
1.1 Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

A lot of Mali I've seen are huge, and fat.

Thanks for the advice Torey,

He has been eating good and putting on some weight. He eats leafy greens and crickets. He gets greens everyday and then crickets once a week. I dust the crickets with repti vitamins. He is in a 75-gallon tank with a UV/heat lamp on one side. To hot spot gets up to 100 oF. Any advice in the care for this little guy would be great, this is new territory for me.

Thank you for your time, John Wiseman

Hi John . I am THINKING(not 100% sure) your guy is probably an all black Uromastyx dispar flavifasciata. I think the common name is banded uro. Not rare but not common for the species. A few come in from time to time. Some people were trying to call them alfredscmidti but the origin is no where near the range of alfreds plus I think the scalation is not right etc. I think they get a little bigger than maliensis but like maliensis and dispar it is a subspecies of dispar. Hope this helps.

Tom Greb

Hello, again. You need to get your basking spot up to 120 degree air temperature or else they can't digest their food properly. These things need very high heat to digest their food and do well. My Uro seems to do better, too.

Uros are considered srtict herbivores, and while they will appear to do fine with the inclusion of high protein food items in their diet, these items, especially insect and animals proteins will do slow damage to the kidneys. These guys are not designed to process a lot of protein, so it often gets eliminated in the form of uric acid, and build up of uric acid in the kidneys and bladder can cause stones, which will kill the animal if not removed. The kidneys themselves will be damaged as well.

I know that a lot of care sheets suggest that bugs are okay for uros, but they really aren't even good for babies. Plant protein for babies and low, low plant protein for adults and they will live longer and stay healthier.

Doug Dix on insects:
While most Uros consume the occasional insect in the wild, these generally cause more problems than they are worth in domestic specimens. On very rare occasion, we may offer an occasional superworm (Zoophobia sp.) to individuals that are slow to settle in. These are a great way to tame your Uros. Many are easily addicted to superworms and will go to great lengths to procure them. Conventional wisdom suggests gravid females fed a slightly higher than normal amount of insect matter produce better clutches, but we have not found that to hold true. Most commercially available insects are excessively high in phosphorous which causes the body to excrete calcium into the feces. Be careful to supplement w/ calcium whenever you feed insects and never feed more than just a couple per sitting and only a few per week. Hatchlings in particular easily develop metabolic problems if fed too many insects. All in all, we strongly suggest you avoid insects in the diet except under special circumstances (for example for individuals that are refusing to eat or refusing to tame down).

Mine hates insects...but she loves her mustard greens.