" You can't really get fat from eating greens and veggies because there is not fat in it at all.'



This is not an accurate statement.



Uromastyx can become obese on a vegetarian diet and some species ( ornates quickly come to mind) seem to have more of a propensity for this.



I have turned down private purchases on animal that were grossly overweight that had been fed inferior diets high in items such as corn, peas, and other legumes.



The body will convert the carbohydrate and proteins from the food we feed into energy and just like the basic principle that applies to all of us, excess will be stored as fat. It does not take ingestion of a saturated fat or animal protein to have fat storage/deposits. As a captive uromastyx is limited to a confined space and activity is often restricted, it is not unusual to see a uromastyx that appears to be well over the weight of those typical found in their habitat.



So yes, a uromastyx can get fat from eating greens and veggies if the amount of calories ingested greatly exceeds that of the energy expenditure.



Artic,



You mentioned that you managed to get a small piece of the thickened tail skin off during bathing and also mentioned that there was blood in the bath water. I would not attempt to remove this thickened skin. I would however remove all particulate substrate so that it does not irritate this area.



This is likely a bacterial or fungal infection and there is always a risk that a condition like this can become systemic. It sounds as if you have concerns so my suggestion would be to refrain from further bathing and make a vet appointment and ask the vet to culture beneath the excess skin of one of the whorls. This culture could provide insight into an effective course of treatment by identifying the organism you are dealing with and the appropriate medication to treat the condition.



You stated that the enclosure given to you with this animal was designed more for looks than function- hopefully you have corrected this with a proper enclosure. If not, this should be high on your list of priorities as well.

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