Today I got myself a Uromastyx lizard that is very underweight (approx. 70-80g at the moment). I took it on as a favour to a friend that had 2 males together (the other male is fine) in the hope that separating would help. Does anybody have any tips on getting it to attain a healthy weight? In every other sense it seems healthy (no abnormalities in defecating, it's eating fairly well) - I've not ruled out worms but I've been advised to try a few other tricks first (one theory is that he's dehydrated), if nothing has improved by Saturday I'll look into worming treatment and see if that helps. There are some pictures attached, another thing I ask is if anybody can ID the species of Uromastyx I have - I'm thinking Mali from pictures but I can't be sure and would love to know. Regards
I've kept an Egyptian for 3 years. He's a beautiful lizard, but a frustrating charge. Heat is incredibly important, and my best luck has come with a T-rex mercury vapor bulb. I change it once every 4 months to keep the UV strong. It also puts out good heat. One thing I'd advise is to have a night heat source from above (not a heat mat). I use a ceramic emitter or a infrared bulb. I don't like for my nighttime ambient temps to get below 80. It leaves them vulnerable to RIs and also can encourage hibernation in long term cases. Hibernation and feeding can be the most frustrating apsects of uro husbandry. Sometimes, even a healthy uro won't eat every day. If temps are too low, they will shut down for 3 months at a time if provided the neccessary hide spot. Flat rock stacks, and lots of them, should be provided at the warm and cool ends of the gradient. If you look into my cage, you see more stone than sand, and this seems to be what they prefer. They come from a rocky environment, not a sandy one as many believe. Lastly, for weight gain, I reccommend feeding some thawed frozen peas with the greens they need. As for greens, I feed only dandelion greens, escarole, and endive with a 50-50 ratio to some spring mix from the grocery. I also feed Mazuri tortoise pellets, finely crushed and sprinkled on the veggies. The tortoise pellets and peas seem to bulk mine up, but you don't want the uro to get hooked on peas, so proceed with care. Hope this helps, -Matt
