Uromastyx - My New Uro is Incorrigible

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#2090000

Redtailed Uro
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My New Uro is Incorrigible

This is my new Uro Anubis Link Yes he is as deflated as he looks. He is one year old and I bought him from a breeder at a Pennsylvania reptile show three weeks ago. He hardly seems to touch his food but will eat apples and pealed grapes from my hand. I think his is acclimating and getting used to me, but I do live with a roommate and it can get noisy. I am really worried about his weight. I emailed the breeder to ask what they feed their uros, trying to give him a more familiar diet, however the breeder told me that his company feeds their uros spinach, oranges, other semi-questionable things but also bok choy, apples and romaine. I try to feed him a mix of dandelion leaves, bok choy, romaine, iceberg, collard greens, occasionally carrots, and (moistened) green split peas, sunflower seeds, corn, and millet. he gets a calcium+D3 supplement once a week and powdered juvenile iguana pellets once a week, both dusted on the salad. He really doesn’t seem to be eating this. In conclusion HELP I don’t want him to die!

10/30/09 11:52am

#2090004

Jbreddawg
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Message To: Redtailed Uro In reference to Message Id: 2090000

My New Uro is Incorrigible

The condition of that uro is deplorable. Right up there with some of the worse that have come across this forum.
Others may disagree with me but if you paid money for a uro in that condition then what were you thinking ? I would take it back immediately to the (breeder) Hard to believe anyone who breeds uros would sell something that looks like that.

With all that said, I have seen worse on this board come back to health so all hope is not lost.
The diet your trying is almost all wrong other then dandylion and bokchoy.
You should not be feeding sunflower seeds or corn at all.

That is long term bad husbandry at it’s best. Hopefully you have him set up properly ? Let us know all the important stuff like cage size,temps, uvb,etc... The more you can tell us the better.

10/30/09 12:12pm

#2090033

Obi Carl Kenobi
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Message To: Jbreddawg In reference to Message Id: 2090004

My New Uro is Incorrigible

Thats terrible!!!! let us know the facts that jbreddawg asked for (quickly) so we can help

10/30/09 01:37pm

#2090040

Redtailed Uro
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Message To: Obi Carl Kenobi In reference to Message Id: 2090033

My New Uro is Incorrigible

What I want information on is some foods that will help fatten him up. If he is willing to eat fruit like grapes and apples I was thinking of putting mushed up apple and grape in with the greens and hope that in trying to eat the fruit he also eats the greens and seeds. What other kinds of seeds do you recommend?

10/30/09 02:29pm

#2090041

Rtl402
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Message To: Redtailed Uro In reference to Message Id: 2090040

My New Uro is Incorrigible

You need to put in some effort in reading some of the caresheets and old posts. There is going to be no quick solution for this problem. The uro is in need of beneficial vitamins, not the quick cure.

That being said... DAILY foods that should be fed are: escarole, curly endive (also sometimes called chicory), dandelion greens

Rotational foods that should also be fed randomly each day (or every few days): bok choy, watercress, arugula, radicchio, shredded carrots are ok but contain a lot of salts, so i would avoid this until your Uro is healthy again. Shredded squash is also ok, again I would hold off on this for a while.

Stick with staple foods, with a little rotational stuff mixed in from time to time.

10/30/09 02:38pm

#2090056

Jbreddawg
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Message To: Redtailed Uro In reference to Message Id: 2090040

My New Uro is Incorrigible

What you want and what the uro needs are two completely different things.

A quick diet change is not going to fix him. He has serious health issues from bad husbandry. Let us know how YOU are now keeping him so we can help you to provide the proper housing. All the food in the world isnt going to help if his husbandry isn’t correct.

10/30/09 03:17pm

#2090069

Redtailed Uro
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Message To: Jbreddawg In reference to Message Id: 2090056

My New Uro is Incorrigible

Hot side has ~105 and cold side has ~90 depending on ambient room temp. He has two hides on either side of the tank. He is on felt reptile carpet with tile over part of his heating pad in the basking area. Incandescent basking bulb for UVA and florescent tubes for UVB, R-zilla Desert series. He has his hides and a large piece of driftwood that he basks on and climbs over.
What I want to know is how to get him to eat the greens. He will eat fruit from my hand but won’t take the greens out from the bowl. And in response to the earlier suggestions that "I should review the care sheets," I have, and the care sheet from Deer Fern Farms, and the breeders I got him from, and Wikipedia articles, and Chicago exotics, and for more websites than I can remember right now; I currently have a four page combined care sheet on just the lists of foods I should give him and it keeps growing. Need I state that very few websites are even in agreement on their food including many people on this forum? Regardless of getting him the right foods, my most immediate concern is getting him to regularly eat anything, be it a daily or weekly recommended dietary staple.

10/30/09 04:05pm

#2090110

Jbreddawg
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Message To: Redtailed Uro In reference to Message Id: 2090069

My New Uro is Incorrigible

Whats his basking spot temp ? How big is the enclosure ? What I dont think your understanding is that uro’s dont just not eat. There’s usually reasons. There’s tons of foods out there for them but if you dont get to the root of the problem all the food in the world isnt going to help.

Why do you have a heating pad in the basking area ? Uro’s need their heat from above. Heating pads/rocks can burn them . They dont sense heat as well from their bellies and can do internal damage .
Basking spot should be around 120-130 , warm end around 90’s-100 , cool end 80.

Sounds like you dont have a hot enough basking spot but your cool end is too hot. Small enclosure ?
Most of the caresheets out their are either old and outdated or just plain wrong.

If you want him to eat, you must first make sure everything is up to par as far as husbandry.
You said you only had him for 3 weeks, some uro’s take months to acclimate . Are you holding him alot ?

10/30/09 05:51pm

#2090111

Foghukaup
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Message To: Redtailed Uro In reference to Message Id: 2090069

My New Uro is Incorrigible

My uro sadly looked like that when I rescued him from the pet store, and I had your same problem for the first month of his acclimation. Since your Uro is starving to death, feed him as much of whatever it is he can eat. If fruit is all your uro can stomach, feed him vitamin dusted fruit and maybe a little bit of millet. When my uro was in that state, all he would eat were dandelions and these generic reptile pellets. I think the pellets expanded his taste buds and now he eats everything, but still prefers dry foods to wet vegetables. In fact, he won’t eat any greens until the heat lamp has dehydrated them slightly. If your uro prefers dry foods, make sure to give him water once a week to supplement his diet. I hope my experience helps you! Uros are amazingly resilient, so keep feeding and feeding until he gets some meat on his bones.

10/30/09 05:53pm

#2090192

Sahells Mom
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Message To: Redtailed Uro In reference to Message Id: 2090069

My New Uro is Incorrigible

Quote:
have, and the care sheet from Deer Fern Farms, and the breeders I got him from,

Lord knows any care sheet from the breeder you got him from, should be used to line his enclosure after you get rid of the reptile carpet!! He is eating out of your hand, because he doesn’t have the strength to get to his food bowl. Listen to Reddawg. What is he basking on, on the hot side? It should be rock large enough for his body. (He can’t digest without heat of about 125-135 minimum! My basking spots range up to almost 140). So, husbandry is directly linked to getting him to eat!! It is NOT just that he is not eating! He is dying! You need to find out why he isn’t eating, not how to make him eat! BTW, the green grapes, cut, are a good way to keep him hydrated right now. He is dehydrated, as well. It is possible that you are too late to revive him at this point, depending on the problem. The problem is not that you can’t get him to eat. He is not eating because of a problem.

10/30/09 10:52pm

#2090231

Patches107
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Message To: Sahells Mom In reference to Message Id: 2090192

My New Uro is Incorrigible

Well I can tell from the picture his cage is only maybe one foot deep, so it’s definitely probably either 20 or 30 gallons, and if thats the case, sorry, but you gotta upgrade to at minimum 4x2x2 foot. But that is probably not the main reason for not eating.

If it comes down to it, to keep him alive, from what I understand, mixed vegetable or squash or green bean baby food can be offered, as it has necessary water and mashed vegetables in it.

Also, it is brumating season, a lot of uromastykes will eat less, but this may not be the case with yours, but I thought it’d be worth pointing out.

Oh, and another thing; you should bring a fecal sample to a vet that does exotic or herp exams to check for parasites. This could very well be the problem.

10/31/09 01:29am

#2090331

Sugar Snap Pea
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Message To: Patches107 In reference to Message Id: 2090231

My New Uro is Incorrigible

True, even with distortion from the camera’s depth of field, the tank looks on the small side. Please take a look around Craigslist or a neighborhood pet store for a larger tank on sale. The larger the better. 4x2x2 is a good minimum to aim for, and Anubis has a fighting chance, he might be starved or sick, but he’s got a burning look in his eyes that says he hasn’t given up yet. Don’t give up on him and certainly, don’t refrain from getting a bigger tank while he’s getting better.

Send a fecal sample to the vet, you might not be able to do this right now but watch for poop.

And keep up with the feeding. I’m glad you found better choices, also peas may be better than millet or other dry foods, anything moist is better than dry at this stage. Just remember that any creature even humans when they have been starved will not eat much again immediately. Don’t worry too much if he doesn’t eat like a normal uro does. It’s good news, he’s eating the more digestible food items like fruit directly instead of needing syringe feeding. You might want to check out Melissa Kaplan’s website on food items specifically for emaciated/dehydrated herbivorous lizards.

10/31/09 02:07pm