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SeanN042 Patches107 Patches107 Foghukaup Obi Carl Kenobi UROKEEPER SeanN042 SeanN042 Jbreddawg Radek |
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SeanN042 View Profile |
New Uromastyx Owner
About a 6-7 weeks ago I bought a uromastyx from the local "chain" pet store. I basically did this because I always wanted to own a lizard and just broke up with my girlfriend who refused to let me get one. The chain pet store also had a care sheet they gave me which from what I know now is not adequate for a uromastyx. Since I bought Kirya, my Uro, I have done a bunch of research on what exactly is best for her. I have moved her up from the 20gallon tank, the pet store recommended, to a 40 gallon tank. Replaced the sand substrate with wild bird seed. And have bought an extra heat lamp, ceramic lamp and another cave for her cage. I’ve been having problems getting Kirya to eat. I’ve offered her a variety of greens that have been recommended on this forum and even offered her a cricket. But she has mostly been eating the wild bird seed. The other day I decided to put the food on the substrate rather than putting it in her food bowl and she’s been eating all of it since. Anyone ever run into this type of behavior before? But other than that Kirya has finally adjusted to her new cage and is coming out more frequently and is an awesome pet. Just wanted to thank this forum for all the great advice. Had to spend an extra 400 bucks from what the pet store recommended it was definitely worth it. Any advise would be appreciated. Here’s a couple pics of Kirya and her cage:
Have added a Ceramic Heat Admitter since pic
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| 10/26/09 08:14pm |
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Patches107 View Profile |
Message To: SeanN042 In reference to Message Id: 2088868 New Uromastyx Owner
What everyone is going to tell you right away is you will have to upgrade once more to at least a 4’x2’x2’, or about 120 gallons long. I know you already spent 400, but I did too and went through the same ordeal, trust me, he’ll need it. Also, your girlfriend wouldn’t let you get one? Whaaat? Ridiculous! Also, the CHE from what I understand is pretty unnecessary unless it gets way to cold at night. Anyway, my mali Layton is the same way eating wise and has only eaten two or three times maybe, and I’ve had him almost two weeks. But it is about brumating time, and there isn’t as much of an appetite during this time. |
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| 10/26/09 11:36pm |
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Patches107 View Profile |
Message To: SeanN042 In reference to Message Id: 2088868 New Uromastyx Owner
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| 10/26/09 11:39pm |
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Foghukaup View Profile |
Message To: SeanN042 In reference to Message Id: 2088868 New Uromastyx Owner
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| 10/27/09 01:29am |
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Obi Carl Kenobi View Profile |
Message To: Foghukaup In reference to Message Id: 2088951 New Uromastyx Owner
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| 10/27/09 03:57am |
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UROKEEPER View Profile |
Message To: SeanN042 In reference to Message Id: 2088868 New Uromastyx Owner
#1 too high to get an accurate reading #2 they are usually not accurate. you may want to try paper towel,newspaper,slate tiles as substrate for a while until it’s eating well and acclimated. after that a natural beach washed playsand is a good choice as are others. get rid of the wild birdseed. if this uro eats a lot of the seed it will get dehydrated and the downward spiral begins. Some are fine on plain white millet some are not. it all depends. change your enclosure to at least a 4x2x2. get an ir temp gun for the basking area and digital thermometers for monitoring hot/cool zones. provide lower darker hides (you can make better ones than you can buy) and at least one in the cool end and also one in the hot end (more if possible). try feeding up off the ground, slate tiles on bricks works well. try a dish with a very small lip or feed right on the tile. sometimes uro’s will not eat unless it’s in a shallow dish.no bugs. I have a uro thaty will only eat in a very shallow dish the rest of my uro’s don’t care either way. good luck with acclimating this uro. temps,diet,housing,lighting will be a factor when acclimating a uro. purchase the right equipment asap. try and minimise movement around the enclosure and do not handle it at all.let it acclimate. if your temps,diet,equipment,housing and husbandry in general are correct it will acclimate and start eating/defecating regularly. get a stool sample to a qualified vet for examination asap. It looks in decent shape. good luck |
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| 10/27/09 08:12am |
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SeanN042 View Profile |
Message To: UROKEEPER In reference to Message Id: 2088984 New Uromastyx Owner
Also I live in Michigan so I have trouble keeping the heat up so that’s why felt I needed to use the ceramic Heat Emitter (we get cold winters). Once again thanks for the advise. I’ll post updates on Kirya sometime down the road to let you know how she acclimates. |
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| 10/27/09 09:06am |
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SeanN042 View Profile |
Message To: Patches107 In reference to Message Id: 2088921 New Uromastyx Owner
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| 10/27/09 09:08am |
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Jbreddawg View Profile |
Message To: SeanN042 In reference to Message Id: 2088868 New Uromastyx Owner
You may need the emitter to keep the temps up but you alos need some way to actually control them. Just sticking in a bulb or emitter and hoping for the best wont work. You need to monitor temps with an IR temp gun and a digital thermometer . You didn’t mention a UVB bulb ? Hope you have one , it is imperative for uro’s to receive UVB. Some uro’s on birdseed will often eat only that. I use and recommend playsand. Why have your uro going to the bathroom in something they will eat ? Seed will also grow mold,get bugs,and be quite nasty pretty quickly. Do not feed bugs, they don’t need them and their harmful. What kind of temps do you have ? |
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| 10/27/09 12:25pm |
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Radek View Profile |
Message To: SeanN042 In reference to Message Id: 2088994 New Uromastyx Owner
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| 11/01/09 04:34pm |
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