My new little buddy

[MilkmanWes]

Isn't he adorable.

He is a Uromastyx, Mali we believe, but it's kind of hard to tell them apart.

A question for anyone else keeping them, how often should I expect bowel movements? twice in two weeks so far, but only the past couple days has he settled in enough to have picked up a strong really appetite. Given that they are a desert animal and have to conserve everything I am not really worried, but just curious since it has been rather sporadic.

 

[Gene]

Hey Wes!

He is awesome. Check out proexotics.com for some Uro care & info. That's something they are working hard on captive breeding.

Later, Gene

 

[petitegreeneyes]

Hi Wes,
I have had one now for over a year and she goes quite regular. But then she is a pig when it comes to eating her greens. That is a Mali that you have there just like mine. We call ours Maggie. When I first seen her I found her to be unique and almost prehistoric looking so I had to get one. She has lots of personality and loves to be hand fed crickets. Actually we have spoiled her a lot. I find her to be one of my neatest lizards other than my black & white tegu and of course my bearded dragon. You just got to love the spike like tail that they have.

 

[CIRE]

He's soooo cute!!! I love the way he looks....could you get some more pics of his head? (what kind of setup do you have him in?)

 

[MilkmanWes]

He started life out in a sterlite tub with the same fine playsand we use for our beardies and some rocks to dig under for a hide. His tail is very strong however and he used it to actually lift himself against the side high enough to get his legs over the edge. Came in one morning and he was gone. Turned around and he was wedged under the entertainment center not 3 feet away.
Dragged him out of there and got him a 50 gall or so reptile tank and moved him in there. Have read that some uros tend to stress with glass walls, but he seems pretty happy with it. Set him up with some black slate to hold the heat and keep his basking spot up around 115 or higher. Will take a pic of him in his home later today.

He is WC. Found him in a tub at a reptile show. The guy knew really nothing about them and was selling them really cheap. ($30 for this guy when breeders sell them for over $100) Really felt bad for them since they are a desert species that need high heat and they spent the two days of the show at 70 degrees without even a desk lamp over them. He was the healthiest of the lot so he came home with us. Though the next time I find fresh stool I am collecting it to take down to our vet.

Since I have had him with proper heat he has really bloomed in color and is showing a lot of bright yellows and greens. For the most part he is untamed, will start working on that with him eventually, right now I am just giving him lots of time and room to acclimate. He doesn't hide at the sight of us in the room anymore and as I already said, he has found his appetite so things are looking good for him.

Started reading about them a few months ago and started wanting one. I know they are not the most social of lizards, but they are so cute with their little toroise like face and big dinosaur tail. He has dragged that tail between my fingers, and it has scraped the skin open. They also can slap with the tail, but he hasn't tried that one on me yet, just puffing up and hissing.

@ petite - So what is the give away that it is a Mali instead of the other species? Except for size and color I cannot really tell them apart.

 

[xanadu1015]

Hey Wes,

What is this "black slate" you are talking about? Is it like a heat rock or some kind of substrate? Would it work for Beardies?



Laura

 

[MilkmanWes]

Dopwn at the pet store they sell rock by the pound for use in fish tanks etc. This is slate which is naturally black and its natural form is large flat sheets. Since it is black it is absorbing the heat very well when positioned under the heat lamp and when stacked makes for a great hide. Going to clean the dust off the sides of the cage and then I will shoot a couple pics.

Hey Wes,

What is this "black slate" you are talking about? Is it like a heat rock or some kind of substrate? Would it work for Beardies?



Laura

 

[CIRE]

When I had my leos, I made some hides out of pieces of slate that I bought from a place that sells bricks, stones etc...for home renovations and stuff...much cheaper there...

I can't wait to see some more pics....can you get some shots of him eating???
(what's his main food source...veggies?)

 

[MilkmanWes]

Here you can see the slate. Stacked it on top of some flagstone which is resting on a layer of repticarpet under the sand to prevent him from digging under too much weight and to keep the rock from cracking the glass floor.

He can either climb on top of it all or go inside the rock tee pee I made for him.

Also some pics of his face which he was kind enough to sit still for.

 

[moricollins]

not just main source of food, Eric, basically their EXCLUSIVE source of food is veggies (mustard greens, kale greens, various other greens) (pricey stuff sometimes).

I don't keep any, but i dearly wanted one.
Mori

 

[MilkmanWes]

We use the same romain based salad for him as we use for our beardies. Plus they like birdseed and beans like lentils, pinto beans, or split peas. He also gets the occasional dab of tofu. I have heard that they are exclusive vegetarians, but then there seem to be plenty of people interesting them in insects as part of their diet. As for pics of him eating, he is pretty shy about doing that when we are in the room, but I will try.

 

[moricollins]

You can feed them crickets occasionally as a treat (from what i've read), but they are TOTALLY unnecessary.

I've heard of dealers using crickets or mealworms to fatten Uro's up prior to selilng or going to Reptile shows (to make them at least appear fat and healthy).

Mori

 

[CIRE]

Thanks for the great pics Wes...that is one of the coolest reptiles I've ever seen...I think I saw some at a pet store about a month ago, but they were just babies...they were munching on some lettuce...looked so cute...and very much like when turtles eat...not to mention their turtle-like heads...

 

[petitegreeneyes]

Me again Wes,
If you work with him I bet you'll be able to hold and hand feed him like we do our big girl. My girl loves zuchini chopped up with her greens.