1. how do i tell if its a male or a female?(ill post a picture either today or tomarrow)

2. he/she seems to be sleeping alot. all yesterday he was sleeping during the day and slept all night, it this good?

3. this is how i have his/her tank set up.
*40 gal breeder w/ 50 pounds of play sand(non-calcium)
*2 lights, 1 100 infared red light that i leave on 24 hrs a day and a 100 watt basking light which i leave on from 6 in the morning untill about 9 at night.

4. how can i tell if hes eating. ive been giving him mustard leaves and small carrot peices.

the people at the pet store said he is a juvanile. and to describe him alittle he is like a dark brown with yellow spots on the edge of his belly and a almost neon yellow belly

If you look for a post titled "link to old posts" you will find quite a few threads where most of your questions are answered, check there to get further info on your questions (and others you probably haven’t’ thought of yet )

From your deion (neon yellow belly) you have a U Geyri also known as a Saharan Uromastyx and it is a male, not a Mali. A picture of the belly will confirm that it is a Saharan and probably either a young adult or an older juvenile. Whether or not it is a Mali or Saharan the advice below still holds true.

A 40 gal tank is usually considered the minimum size for 1 uromastyx. personally I would think of going a bit bigger in the future but for now it should be fine.

Playsand is one of the substrates that a lot of people use (the other is millet) and is fine as long as your uro does not eat a lot of it. A few grains of sand ingested with the food will not harm a healthy well maintained uro but if you have a messy eater you might consider changing to a non-loose substrate (even millet can be problematic if the uro ingests large quantities of it) otherwise playsand works fine.

You mentioned the type of lights but not the temperature. Wattage and type of lights really don’t matter as it is all about the temperatures with these guys. The most widely agreed upon temps are 80-85 for the cool side and 100-105 for the warm side. These are ambient or air temperatures and should be measures with a probe thermometer (find one at your local home improvement store for around $10) about an inch off of the substrate and in the shade if possible.

If the room where the uro is at does not get too cool at night you can turn off all of the lights at night and let the tank cool down to around 70 degrees. They need a cooler down time at night to stay healthy. If the temperatures frop below 65 at night then some sort of supplemental heat is in order.

Basking (surface temperatures) should be around 120, you need an infrared non-contact thermometer to measure this and you can pick them up for about $25 online or at some electronics stores. A range of basking temperatures is a good idea, if you provide a range you can have the temperature go from 110-125 or 130 and your uro will pick the temperature he likes.

If you do have a Saharan I suspect your temps might be a little low as if it old enough to show a neon yellow belly then it is male and the entire uro should be yellow with patches of brown when fully warmed up not a dark brown with spots of yellow at the edges. If it does turn out to be a Mali then ignore this paragraph, but always check and double check all of your temperatures.

As for food I feed mostly escarole, curly endive and dandelion greens. Mustard greens can be problematic when fed as a staple. Mustard greens contain both goitrogenic compounds and oxalates. goitrogenic compounds can cause thyroid problems and oxalates bind calcium. Other food like thawed frozen peas and other frozen and fresh veggies can be added to the diet in small amounts for variety. You should supplement calcium poor foods like peas with a dusting of calcium powder and you can also give a powdered vitamin supplement once a week or so.

You did not mention that you had UVB lighting. This is something else you will need. Either a fluorescent tube UVB light like a reptisun 5.0 or a mercury vapor bulb can be used. If you go with fluorescent then place it within 12 inches of your uro (8-10 is even better) UVB is needed by the uro to produce vitamin D3 to make use of calcium. UVB can also be provided in warm sunny climates by exposing your uro to unfiltered natural sunlight for an hour or so a couple of times a week.

Your other post asked about breeding and they usually need to be 2-3 years old and go through a cooling period to be bred.

If by sleep 15 out of 24 hours you mean for the remaining 9 he is actively moving about then I don’t think you have any problem. Actually even in the peak of summer when I have my lights and heat on for 16 hours my uro is not "active" for as long as that. he will be out of his hide for about 12 hours but a lot of that time is spent basking in a moderately warm spot or under a rock with just his head poking out.

You say that you have the heat and lights on from 6 am to 9pm for a total of 15 hours so basically your uro should think it is summer.

Activity varies from uro to uro but in the summer my uro comes out after his hide warms up enough and he has warmed up a bit. He usually basks for an hour or two to really get heated up then goes exploring and running around for an hour or so. The rest of the day is usually spent eating some greens, more basking, retreating to a shady hide to cool down a bit, running about frantically, then repeat until the heat lights go out and he decides it is time to hole up in a hide for the night.

If by active you mean he does not come out of a hide at all for 9 hours out of 15 of heat and light, then I have a suspicion that your temps might be low. Best thing to do at this point is get some equipment to monitor the temps in the tank and do it regularly. So many uro problems are preventable by just providing the proper temps and diet.

his a a link to pictures of him and his tank

my male saharan is the big one on the left lookin up:

and again on the left:

Yep without a doubt a male geyri (as others have said).

You mention liquid b2 supplement, I assume you mean liquid d3 supplement also sometimes called solar drops.

There is a group of people that believe you can supplement reptiles with vitamin d3 and not provide any UVB. If you look through the old posts there are a couple with some debates on the subject including uro_fans opinion on the liquid d3.

To sum it up in my own words, vitamin d3 is toxic if given in large doses and the liquid d3 is the most concentrated of all. In my opinion the convenience of supplementing with d3 (if it works at all) is not worth the risk of poisoning my uro.

D3 made by the uro from UVB rays is safe and self limiting. The uro will only produce what he needs and any excess is broken down. This is not true with dietary D3.

It is a controversial subject to some and you will need to make a decision on what you are going to do, but I personally would recommend using a good source of UVB light.

On another subject I would say that your tank looks like it is way to cold. I see you are using one of those stick on strip thermometers. Those things are worthless as far as measuring temps in a a uro cage. In one picture it looks like it is reading 85 degrees and I doubt your tank is even that warm with a full open top.

You need to get the hot side up to at least 100 degrees. You may need to partially cover the top and add more bulbs. You really are going to need a good thermometer. If money is tight i would prioritize the digital probe thermometer ($10) first then a good source of UVB light ($20-$40) next then a infrared thermometer to check basking temperatures next ($25)

Sorry about the mix up on the liquid supplement, I got your reply and another one mixed up.

B2 is riboflavin and is included with most vitamin supplements.

The uro-dust is a good product. It is not nearly as concentrated as other vitamin supplements as for the most part it is made from natural sources. It has much safer levels of D3 and other potentially toxic vitamins (A and E).

I really do think a UVB light is the way to go. As you found out they do mark the good ones up quite a bit in retail stores. Buying online is really the cheapest way to go. You can find reptisun 5.0 36 inch lights for around $18. Add a 36 inch shop light fixture from your local home improvement store for $10 and you are good to go. I have a 4 foot cage so I use 4 foot shop lights that hold two bulbs, you could put the UVB tube in one socket and a plain old tube ($5) in the other for some extra light.

Another option is one of the new 10.0 coil lights. They are getting pretty good UVB reading from these over on the UV meter forum. Just screw it into a regular socket and you are good to go.

To get your uro within 12 inches just make a raised basking platform out of wood or tiles for your uro to climb up on and get closer to the heat and light. One type of platform you can make is called a Retes stack and if you do a search on it you will see some examples. This allows your uro to get closer to the heat and light to bask and move away when he has had enough.

For cheap heat light I personally like the plain old halogen flood lights from the hardware store. They are only about $5 and put out a ton of heat and last forever. Put the light over the basking platform and then check its temperature with an infrared thermometer. Then just raise or lower the platform to get the right amount of basking heat.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the riboflavin. Uro-dust contains pretty much everything a uro needs when used as a supplement with a good staple diet. 100g of endive contains .075 mg of riboflavin. While that may not sound like a lot a healthy 100Kg human only needs 1.7 mg. Now I know I should not compare human nutritional needs to reptiles it does show that probably not much of this vitamin is needed.

I would guess if the uro was eating so poorly it was not getting enough riboflavin (or other trace nutrients) then you would probably have much more serious problems on your hands like calcium deficiency.

In addition to the staple greens, small amounts of other fresh veggies, and occasional calcium dusted peas mentioned above I use uro-dust, calcium powder, and pelletized finch food as supplements. I only offer the pelletized finch food once a week in limited quantities. It probably isn’t really needed but they are vitamin fortified and I figure it might help fill in any nutritional gaps. I very rarely (once every 2 weeks or so) dust with a general vitamin powder, if I wasn’t using uro dust and finch pellets I would dust more often.

There are several ways to get these guys the proper supplements, I prefer using the less concentrated forms (uro-dust, finch pellets) but dusting with a general purpose vitamin powder in proper amounts would work fine also. The trick is finding a good vitamin powder that is not over concentrated with the vitamins that could lead to a toxic buildup (A, D3, E). Feeding good healthy staple greens is always the first step in providing the proper nutrients.

Good to hear you found a fecal pellet, always a good sign that they are eating.

When I use rocks from outside (or anything non-porous) in the cage I soak it in a 5% bleach solution (1 part bleach to 20 parts water) then rinse several times with plain water. Washing and baking as stated above is another method.

Nice to hear you are thinking about building a cage. Front access cages of any size are very nice to have as it makes access and cleaning much easier. It can be done very cheaply too if you don’t bother with the fake rock walls like I did.

Good to hear you are getting your Mom involved (much easier to have a partner in the care instead of arguing with someone).

Have fun, and stick to the basics (temperature, good food, and UVB) and your uro should do good.

I personally would prioritize a probe thermometer and UVB lighting above an infrared thermometer (even though the infrared thermometers are just plain cool and fun to play with )

I checked several home improvement and department store sites and probe thermometers run from $10-$18, the $18 one even included a humidity indicator which is nice. Just get a plain old indoor outdoor thermometer with a probe.

If ordering online is a possibility try to get your UVB bulb that way as you will only need to spend $18 for a good quality bulb. An extra day or two waiting for it to arrive should not be a problem your uro. The fixture to hold the fluorescent bulb could be where you spend the most money. If you go with an aquarium hood style then you will probably blow the rest of your budget on that. A 36 single or double tube shop light should not run more than $20 max. Just make sure to get the kind that is ready to plug into a wall socket and not one that needs to be wired in, and remove any plastic cover over the light if there is one (probably not) . Single or double doesn’t really matter, if you get a double you could just put a cheap fluorescent tube in the other socket or add a UVA light like a reptisun 2.0 at a later date.

So $10 for a thermometer $20 (max) for a fixture and $18 for a bulb would leave you with around $32 (depending on tax shipping to play with). Again personally instead of spending that right away on the infrared thermometer I would hold on until you have taken some temperature readings with the new indoor/outdoor thermometer. If it is too cold use that money instead to buy another dome light and bulb to heat things up.

Hopefully after all this you still have $15 to $20 left. Use that to take a fecal sample to a reptile vet to check for parasites. I would like to say do that first but it is kind of a chicken and egg problem. A uro without proper heat is not going to last long anyway. You really do need to do both but as long as you don’t see any major indicators of parasites (runny discolored smelly stool, or rice like particles in the stool) I would have to go with getting the temps correct first. A full blown vet visit for an exotic pet will run you more than just doing a simple fecal test, but most vets are happy to run a fecal smear for you without a visit.

After all that is done save up some money for the infrared thermometer.

Again all of the above is just my personal opinion on how I would prioritize purchases in this situation. In the long run getting heat, UVB, and diet correct will save you money on vet visits for a sick lizard.

this is all i can think of or wait, what kind of foods should i buy?
right now im giving him mixed vegtables(carrots,peas,corn, i took out the lima beans because i didnt know and the green beans also) and mustard leaves and turnup greens. i wasnt planing on ever feeding him crickets or insects( correct me if im wrong) but i herd there not all that good for them.

tell me if i have them in the riight order of buying

it sounds like you are doing pretty good within the short time you have had to learn and within your budget.

You are not even close to the first person to come on here and find out that what you were told at the pet store was not quite (or even totally) the correct information. Uros in my opinion are not a beginners lizard. Now that does not mean a beginner cannot own one and do great things it just means they are more difficult to take care of than a "beginners" lizard. You do have your work cut out for you but you are making good progress already.

It sounds like the equipment purchases you have made so far will probably get you going for now.

I almost hate to bring it up at this point but I hope the "basking rock" you bought is not one of the plug in heated kinds. If it is don’t open it and return it for a refund or credit. There have been numerous reports of them burning lizards. With the old ones some had a problem shorting out and getting too hot. The newer ones do not get as hot but there is another problem. Lizards in general and uromastyx in particular sense heat and light from above. They know when the top of the head and back get too hot it is time to move to a cooler area. If they are heated from below they will sometimes sit on the heat source too long and get overheated and possibly even burn themselves.

For anyone else reading this thread undertank stick on heaters do not have the same problem as they are much cooler and have a layer of substrate to insulate them from the heating element. Even then I personally add another bulb rather than an undertank heater.

If it is an electric heat rock and the store won’t take it back, you can still use it just don’t plug it in. If it isn’t that is great.

As for food check out Deer Fern Farms care sheet if you haven’t already. It has lots of good info including a good section on feeding. Deer Fern Farms is one of several great breeders and really care about the animals.

I think I went over this before but a major portion of the diet should be some combination of staple greens which include:
escarole, curly endive, dandelion greens. I have also heard that arugula is a pretty good staple green but at least in my area it is more expensive so I rarely buy it. Other things you could feed in smaller quantities or in a pinch are kale, collard, or even romaine. These last three things have nutritional problems so try not to feed very much of them. There are quite a few vegetables than can be fed in small quantities but most should be supplemented with calcium, things like peas, green bean and lentils. Again these all have some nutritional problems so try very hard to get some of the staple greens listed above and feed the majority of those. I usually can find escarole and curly endive all year round in larger grocery stores that carry a good selection of greens for only about $2 a head and they last me at least a week. Depending on your part of the country you may need to try a natural or whole food market to find them. In the summer and other times of the year dandelions can be had for free if you collect them in an area you KNOW has not been sprayed with pesticides or heavily fertilized.

As far as heat at night it gets cold at night where these guys live in nature and they are well suited to handling cold nights down to about 65 to 70 degrees. It is actually very healthy for them to cool down to 70 degrees at night. If they stay warm all night the metabolism stays high and they aren’t able to rest properly. I know it seems strange that such a heat loving lizards needs to be cool at night but that is how they work. So check the temps and if it dips below 70 at night then yes you can provide some heat for him at night.

Hopefully when you find a reptile vet and get a fecal sample tested it will come back with no parasites. If it doesn’t check with the store you bought it from as some will help out with the medications needed to treat your lizard for parasites for a short period after you bought it.

By the way say thanks to your Mom for getting involved and helping out. It is great to see a family that wants to do the right thing.

Doug is a great guy, one of things that amazes me about him is his willingness to take his own time to help people out over the phone. I met him recently at the Pacific Northwest captive breeders expo and he was going in about 6 different directions helping people out.

As for getting another Uro, the best course of action would be to get a female of the same species. BUT and this is a big but, you MUST be prepared to house them separately if they do not get along. There are cases when a male and female of the same species do not get along and they must be separated. I personally would wait until you have built/bought a bigger cage for your current uro then you will have the old cage as a quarantine/home cage for the new uro.

Again personally I would wait and get used to caring for the uro you have and make sure you have the basics down. Someone else can jump in about whether it is better to start pairs out young or if there is any problem bringing them together later. I suspect that it would be no more of a problem to introduce a second one later but since I only keep a single uro I only have anecdotal evidence to that statement.

Scrabbling at the glass is fairly common as is bolting as soon as you come near the cage... especially for Saharans. If this happened at 2 in the morning then I would suspect the night temperatures are still too high. I doubt if you know if the uro you have is wild caught or captive born. If you check out some of the threads on acclimation/behavior you will find some tips on getting these guys settled in to the new home and happy. Covering all open sides with paper is usually the first step. I know it can be tough to do as you want to see your new pet but letting them settle in to the new environment with minimal stress is important for the health of them also.

Saharans can be very skittish and you should be prepared for him to be wary of you even after he has acclimated. My saharan after a year has finally reached the point where he does not immediately bolt for a hide when I approach the cage, but he still will not come near me and does not like to be picked up. I am perfectly fine with this as my goal has always been to provide the most natural stress free environment possible. If i don’t fit into that picture then I am fine with that and am happy to observe him from outside the cage.