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Orni Skullkeeper El toro Rtl402 Skullkeeper Orni Shaunauro El toro Skullkeeper Skullkeeper |
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Orni View Profile |
To pee or not to pee?
I was always under the impression that uromastyx did not pee, or if they did it was rare.. but I’ve seen quite a few people on here mention their uros peeing a lot. Now I’m worrying that mine are dehydrated. I don’t keep water in the cage and i usually shake off the water from my rinsed greens because it’s hard to keep the humidity low where I live. How do your lizards get all their water? Gonna fill out that "answer before posting" thing before anyone asks. Don’t know that it’s needed, but it gives me something to do :P 1) How long have you owned the animal Yuri - I’ve had him since high school, can’t remember which year... so at least 4 years. Slagathor - a few months 2) Dimensions of the enclosure you are using. Measure it- do not guess or give gallon size Yuri is in a 4x2x2 foot glass cage Slag is in a 4ft L x 18in W x 2ft H aquarium while we get his custom made. 3) Species (if known), length, and weight of the animal Yuri is an adult Mali, at least 10 years old, 14ish inches long Slag is a sub adult ornate, haven’t measured his length yet. 4) Listing of all animals kept in the enclosure referred to in the post They live alone 5) Basking spot temperature and how that temperature was measured 120-130 in both, with a digital thermometer. Yuri has a "lower step" on his basking spot, I measured it once at 110. 6) Temperature throughout the rest of the enclosure (warm and cool areas) and how these temperatures were measured e.g. digital thermometer, stick on dial thermometer. Provide the nighttime temperatures as well. Night is 72-75 in both Slag’s day temps are 105(lower basking area)-> 95 -> 85 as of noon today, they’re usually pretty steady Yuri’s are around 100 - 80. 7) Acknowledge whether you are using a UVB bulb and if so, the brand, age of bulb, and distance from the bulb to the uromastyx Yuri has a zoo med 10 uvb bulb 8in from basking sight, his new mega ray is in the mail Slag has a 160watt mega ray about 14 in from the basking spot 8) Diet items being fed and how often each item is fed They mainly get dandelion with bok choy, peas, carrots, squash, and some random fruits. They get escarole and edible flowers when I get a chance to travel to the "big city," which isn’t very often. They also get lentils once a week. 9) List of the supplements being used, how much is used, and how often the supplement is used Use bee pollen about every other week 10) Type of substrate (cage bottom material). If this is sand, state whether it is calcium sand Washed play sand 11) Describe your animal’s daily routine. When it exits the hide, when it retreats for the night, how long it is usually out throughout the day, is it active during this time, how much time does it spend sitting on the basking spot…. Lights on 8-8. Yuri wakes a few hours after the lights come on, I blame it on him preferring the hide on the far cool side. Spends his time eating and standing around. He spends some time basking, most of his time next to the basking spot, and likes to wonder over to the food dish every now and then. He does get bursts of energy some times.. every now and then I’ll hear some sounds and come in to find him dash across the cage. Slagathor wakes early, basks and runs around.. I feed them around noon, he eats it all right away then basks, he’ll lay down next to the basking rock for a while and is usually running around again before night fall, Goes to sleep at about 7pm, one hour before lights out. 12) Describe your animal’s appetite. I swear slag eats his weight in greens every day. I had to limit his veggies because he’s picky and goes for them first. Yuri doesn’t go for the food right away, he’ll watch it for like 30-40 minutes first. He eats a handful of greens and will pick at the veggies, but never finishes all the food. 13) Describe any unusual behaviors you are seeing or any recent changes in behavior. Also note whether any recent modifications have been made to this animal’s environment. e.g new enclosure, move to another room, new heat bulb.... They’re like clock work... Slag ALWAYS poops on his basking rock, but that’s just annoying, not abnormal :P They’ve never ever peed. Slag’s poop is pretty wet I think, because it’s always smeared around when I find it. Yuri’s is moist, but firm. 14) Describe how often this animal is handled and the type of handling. I don’t take them out for play. I probably handle them once every other week for 1-2 minutes ... trying to teach people that reptiles aren’t monsters. During this time I’ll usually check them out to make sure they’re in good health. I also hand feed Yuri. Only got slag to take food from me like twice. 15) State whether the animal has been to a vet, when that was, and whether the animal was diagnosed with a medical condition. Also state whether the uromastyx has ever had a fecal check. If so states when the fecal check was done, what was found, and if medication was prescribed. Yuri’s been, nothing bad found... that was years ago. Haven’t taken slag in as he’s active and seems healthy. |
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| 08/19/08 05:41pm |
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Skullkeeper View Profile |
Message To: Orni In reference to Message Id: 1836347 To pee or not to pee?
You can drop a few drops of water on the lips with an eye dropper and see if they will lick it off if you think they maybe dehydrated . Just because they do not pee a lot does not necessarily mean that they are dehydrated . If you can posts some pictures of their undersides and top it would be helpful also. My Mali eats a lot of squash and the main fruit he gets as a treat is mango . Mostly I feed flowers as treats . I would have a fecal check done on both just as a precaution . I have mine checked once a year .Since its been awhile I would have them both checked asap to be on the safe side . They can pick up parasites from the veggies . Usually damp veggies is not enough to make that much difference in your humidity level. Sounds like you do not have the proper temp gradient or to low of basking temps . How are you measuring the humidity levels and what are they ? |
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| 08/19/08 06:16pm |
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El toro View Profile |
Message To: Orni In reference to Message Id: 1836347 To pee or not to pee?
As long as they’re eating plenty of leafy greens, they should be getting enough water, barring any health issues. You can shake off the rinse water or not - the greens themselves provide plenty of moisture. If you feed huge amounts of dry foods, it might be a problem, but as long as they aren’t showing other signs of dehydration (sunken eyes, etc), I wouldn’t worry too much. The thing to remember, too, about the "pee" thing is that yes, they do release excess liquid when passing feces, but the heat in the cage dries it out pretty darned quickly, so if you aren’t there to witness it, you might not realize how much they’re putting out. |
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| 08/19/08 06:42pm |
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Rtl402 View Profile |
Message To: El toro In reference to Message Id: 1836435 To pee or not to pee?
Feeding staple greens like endive and escarole every day will keep them hydrated, while using shredded carrots, bok choy and occasionally some lentils rotated in. |
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| 08/19/08 07:26pm |
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Skullkeeper View Profile |
Message To: Orni In reference to Message Id: 1836347 To pee or not to pee?
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| 08/20/08 07:35am |
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Orni View Profile |
Message To: Skullkeeper In reference to Message Id: 1836952 To pee or not to pee?
Yuri: He has a main basking spot and the basking temperature has varied there depending on what time of day I looked at it, but it’s always above 120. He has a lower step that I normally don’t measure, but I did once, it was 110 that day. The floor of the hot end of his tank measures around 100 and the far end of the tank is around 80. Slag has a larger basking rock, one side stays around 130, the other in the lower 120s. The floor next to it is in the low 100’s, 105 when I looked yesterday. The 95 was still on the "hot end" further from the basking spot, and 85 on the cool side. Yuri’s tank is made of thin glass, so it loses heat easily, he’s got 3 heat lamps right now. I’ll try to get some pictures if you want when I get my camera back from my brother. I live on the gulf coast, in Louisiana. The humidity around here at this time of the year is often HIGH. The humidity can be fine near the basking area, but shoot up on the cool end of the tank. Annoying. The cage I’m planning for slag is going to be made mostly of wood, so I’m hoping the added insulation (not screen top) will keep the moist air out. Yuri will get one some day as well. --- Mega rays have to be at least one foot from the basking spot. --- I have one of those cheap dial humidity readers, I don’t leave it in the cages b/c I only have one. I’ll mess with it today and get some readings. --- What do dehydrated uromastyx look like other than sunken eyes? |
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| 08/20/08 11:04am |
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Shaunauro View Profile |
Message To: Orni In reference to Message Id: 1837046 To pee or not to pee?
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| 08/20/08 11:33am |
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El toro View Profile |
Message To: Orni In reference to Message Id: 1837046 To pee or not to pee?
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| 08/20/08 11:48am |
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Skullkeeper View Profile |
Message To: Orni In reference to Message Id: 1837046 To pee or not to pee?
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| 08/20/08 01:04pm |
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Skullkeeper View Profile |
Message To: Skullkeeper In reference to Message Id: 1837140 To pee or not to pee?
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| 08/20/08 01:18pm |
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