Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friend's father recently got a lizard from his friend, anyway I ended up with it. They informed me it was male, but I think it's a female. Also, since i have received this lizard, it has been clawing at the glass cage for hours until it tires itself out, EVERYDAY. I took it out of the cage and it bolted to my vent and got caught up in there. When I tried to remove it, it started to make this "snake like' movement with its body and i actually heard hissing. Since that incident a couple of days ago, it seems like it's very agitated and scared. I feel like it truly hates it in captivity. I feel horrible because this lizard has been passed around, and I am very much trying to take care of it, I can't help but to wonder if it's aggressive and that's why maybe previous owners did not what to deal with it. If anyone has any suggestions because I think it's an amazing creature, and I would love for it to be as comfortable as possible, please let me know. If more pictures need to be seen to determine the sex, please let me know as well. Thank you!

here is another picture of it.

and another...

All of those behaviors are normal for a very stressed out uro. They're not overly aggressive lizards at all, but when they're scared, they'll fight, just like anything else. Don't worry about the sex - it really doesn't matter. Might be male, might be female. Behavior and care are the same.

You've got to give it time to calm down. Every time it gets moved to a new environment (even if it's in the same cage), its whole world is turned upside down - it's terrified. So, how can you make it as stress free as possible?

Step one. Make sure it's in an appropriate cage. It needs to be large enough (minimum of 36" x 18", but larger is better). It needs to have appropriate temperatures throughout the cage: most of the cage around 100F, about a third of the cage around 85F, and a basking surface temperature around 120F or a little more. This needs to be accurate, so use digital and/or infrared thermometers. Make sure there are several low, snug hiding places it can cram itself into throughout the cage. It needs to feel safe, and can't do that if there's nowhere to hide. If it's in a good environment, the glass dancing will stop, or at least be minimized.

Step two. Is it eating? Make sure it has fresh food each day, including lots of dark leafy greens, shredded veggies like squash, parsnip, green beans, etc, and edible flowers like dandelions and nasturtiums. Don't add in the dry foods until you know it's eating well. Then you can add in seeds, lentils, and dry grasses. Do your daily food swap before the cage lights come on so you keep stress to a minimum. If it's not eating yet, be patient. It can take a while for it to calm down enough to feel like eating. A small, shallow water bowl might not be a bad idea until it starts eating regularly.

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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)

(character limit? Anyway, here's the rest: )

Step three. Leave it alone. Cover the sides of the cage with paper or something so it can't see any movement and bustle outside the cage. Don't handle the lizard unless medically necessary. Don't pester it. Don't stare at it. DON'T pull it out from a safe hiding place unless it's seriously important to do so. Give it time to settle into its new home.

If you're patient, it will calm down. Someday it might even be friendly, though some never are. At some point, a fresh stool sample should be taken to an experienced herp vet to check for parasites, which are likely. The stress it's under now and in the recent past are likely to have increased any parasite load it was carrying.

Hopefully this is helpful - I don't know your experience, so put down everything I thought might help. So if I'm telling you things you already know, well...better safe than sorry.

Good luck.
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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)

Give it some place to hide where it can feel comfortable like a flower pot turned upside down with a little small opening made by cracking and shipping away the rim so it's just small enough for it to fit through. This tricks has work for me in calming down the Uro. Or you can find something that can be turned into dark hiding place for it. They will use it if you provide them with one. Mine spends an awful lots of time hiding and only come out to eat once in a while.

And lastly like Eltoro said make sure the temperature is hot enough because this species do well with very high temperature. Mine are more active when the temperature requirements are met. No guessing so use a digital thermometer to measure the temperature.

Thanks so much for your quick response. It eats, a lot. The previous owner told me romaine lettuce and peas, also some crickets one a week or bi weekly. I keep reading so many different things, I cannot really separate what's good or not. I feel like it needs a friend that's why I was curious about the sex, I don't care what the sex is, it's a lizard to me, haha. Yesterday the cage clawing only lasted an hour, he was relaxed a little more, but if I go in the cage to clean it or give it food, it will dart, hiss, and start slinking like a snake. Maybe just very territorial ? Anything other suggestions ?

I wouldn't feed lettuces of any type... They don't have much nutrients in them. I would feed what eltoro suggested. Those veggies are far more nutritious than lettuces.

And when you try to reduce stress, I would do things on the same schedules everyday. Feed him at the same time everyday and clean his cage at the same time and day every week also helps. REptiles are creatures of habits and like things the same everyday, so get into the habits of doing things the same everyday to become part of its routines.

Also, all the hissing and tail whippings would suggest you have a typical Uro... They are more of a display animal, not for handling much.

It's good that it's eating. Mostly just time and patience, then. Leave him alone as much as possible, make sure he has hides in which to feel secure, and let him get comfy in his own time.

As was mentioned, lettuce isn't really very nutritious. Peas are OK in limited quantities - they usually like them A LOT, but they're not good in large amounts. They're more of a treat, or an enticement to eat if they go off food for some reason.

And don't worry about him getting lonely. They don't. Usually a cage mate is more trouble than it's worth. I've only ever had one permanent pairing work out (so far) and it's a mother and daughter. All the other times didn't fly in the long term, so I have seven very large, very expensive to heat cages in my house now. Sigh....
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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)

Hi,
El Toro has given you excellent advice about husbandry and I just want to add, that the aggression is because the lizard is terrified. That will not change overnight. Uros are very intelligent lizards, and they have to feel safe, and to feel safe, two things must happen: they need a healthy environment and you need to earn his or her trust. You just have to keep working on it.

I would like to add one more consideration about your set up. I see that you have sand as a substrate. What type of sand is that? A stressed uro is more likely to develop intestinal impaction, so I would lose that sand, at least until s/he adjusts. Then, I don't recommend sand period. I have treated lots of sand impactions as a rehabber, so even though some people claim to use it and have no problems, I don't. I use tile and some people use millet, which is digestible, and a combination of tile and millet.

Good luck! Don't get discouraged.

I just want to respond further to your questions about whether or not this behavior is territorial behavior. It is not likely that. Uros exhibit territorial behavior toward other uros. This behavior toward you is fear. You are an unknown to him/her and a possible threat. The only way to minimize that fear is as we have said, make the environment stable, ie, proper temps, terrain, and food, and then familiarity/ normalcy.

Good luck!