I would also go with an ornate, but it's just personal preference. Ornates do tend to be more mellow on the whole, but every uro is different, so there can be skittish ornates and perfectly mellow geyri, so you never really know.


>>For a baby uro, you may get by with a 20 gallon LONG aquarium, but an adult ornate or nigerian will require a cage with a floor space of four foot x two foot. The large cage is required to provide the appropriate temperature gradients. With a basking spot of 110 to 120 F, the space is necessary for the uro to get to a cooler temp in the upper 70s to low 80s as desired. This cannot be done with too small a cage. You can turn the lights off at night as long as the temps dont fall much below 70.>>

I strongly disagree with part of this. Don't keep a uro in a 20 long. Some people will insist you can - and it's probably true with constant monitoring and a great deal of experience. However, for the very reasons mentioned in the quote above - you NEED a larger cage even for a smaller uro. They are also quite active and curious when healthy, so need space to run around. The very bare minimum is a 40 BREEDER cage (36" x 18" footprint) and a better choice is 4" x 2". But the uro isn't going to be small for long - why would you get a smaller cage now, only to have to replace it in a year? If you need to have a smaller cage for space or money reasons, get a different kind of lizard. If you want a uro, provide for its needs.

Also, ornates and geyri are roughly the same size. My larger geyri is longer than my larger ornate, but the ornate outweighs him. Ornates when young are pretty bland in color - males will color up with age. Females are usually less colorful than the males.

Basking spot should be 120F. Most of the cage should be around 95-100F and the cool end (about 1/3 the cage) should be about 85F.

Good luck! And let us know what you choose to do!
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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)
1.3 Collared Lizards (Ripcord, Thiamine, Riboflavin, and Niacin)
1.0 Green Anoles (Sprocket)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

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