Mali Uromastyx, help me?

[sammmycakes]

So I've made a few other posts about this guy but today he really worried me.

Is a mali uromastyx supposed to move extraordinarily slow? He has since I got him but my boyfriend recently got a 2 yr old Dimar Uromastyx and he runs really really fast.

Also today I was applying Shed-Ease to a hard spot on Anubis' (mali) side and he stepped off my knee to get away and just kind of fell over? He got right up and looked at me but it just seemed like his reflexes were slow. Is this normal of a 6 yr old Mali? ( he didn't fall far since I was sitting on the ground, about an inch or so)

He reacts fast if I rub him on the wrong spot of his face and he shakes his head really quickly like he's saying no, he just walks super slow and doesn't climb his log very well.

IS IT NORMAL ?

 

[Spikeshuman]

Could be that hes not warm enough. They are very sluggish if not kept at proper temperatures. What are the temps in his house like? Also.. full grown uromastyx do tend to slow down a tiny bit.. but not like what you are describing.

Did you mean uromastyx dispar? Cause I have never heard of dimar.

 

[sammmycakes]

Could be that hes not warm enough. They are very sluggish if not kept at proper temperatures. What are the temps in his house like? Also.. full grown uromastyx do tend to slow down a tiny bit.. but not like what you are describing.

Did you mean uromastyx dispar? Cause I have never heard of dimar.

oopsies yes I did mean dispar!

His house is about 115 and his basking spots about 125. the "cold" side is sitting just about 100 and he has a heating mat under his sleeping log. The tanks still set up the same way the previous owner had it except I increased the basking bulb because it was quite cold before. He's not near any windows or vents so there is no draft.

He's quite active when he comes out and he always makes his way over to the tiles infront of our fireplace but still very very slow.

 

[Spikeshuman]

Well he shouldnt come out of his tank/vivarium for more than a few minutes at a time. We can't play with them like we do our beardies because they can suffer and even die from the stress of being at low temperatures too long. I only take my guy out when its above 98 outside, and I let him run around a wood enclosure that sits over my concrete drive way. How big is the house he lives in? Your basking temp is fine. The ambient temp in the hot side should be around 100 and the cool side should be at 80, no more than 85. Your guy has no where to cool down if he needs to. At 6 years old.. hes by no means "Old", so I would definitely be concerned about his lethargic movement. They are not great at climbing logs.. they do much better with rocks. If you even out his temps and he still is super slow and wobbly I would take him to a good herp vet. Call ahead and make sure they know about uromastyx. My first herp vet is amazing with iguanas.. beardies.. etc. but he knew nothing about uros and his advice/treatment almost killed my baby.

 

[sammmycakes]

Well he shouldnt come out of his tank/vivarium for more than a few minutes at a time. We can't play with them like we do our beardies because they can suffer and even die from the stress of being at low temperatures too long. I only take my guy out when its above 98 outside, and I let him run around a wood enclosure that sits over my concrete drive way. How big is the house he lives in? Your basking temp is fine. The ambient temp in the hot side should be around 100 and the cool side should be at 80, no more than 85. Your guy has no where to cool down if he needs to. At 6 years old.. hes by no means "Old", so I would definitely be concerned about his lethargic movement. They are not great at climbing logs.. they do much better with rocks. If you even out his temps and he still is super slow and wobbly I would take him to a good herp vet. Call ahead and make sure they know about uromastyx. My first herp vet is amazing with iguanas.. beardies.. etc. but he knew nothing about uros and his advice/treatment almost killed my baby.

Thanks so much for the reply. I did not know much about them until after I had already brought him home and started researching. His previous owner was not the greatest and seems to have given me a lot of false information. The room he is in is very very warm because of our fire place so I thought it was okay to take him out. When I put my hand in he licks me and crawls right onto my palm. His tank is about 55G with a wire top lid that I partially cover with a towel to hold the heat in. I also know there is a debate about them needing UVB. His previous owner never gave it to him so I never tried but I do notice his back right leg bends funny. Do you use UVB for yours? I have a great vet that knows a lot about uros I just haven't been able to get in to see him since I first posted. I am still trying though!

I really appreciate the replies, I really love this guy and want to do what's best for him.

 

[Spikeshuman]

Oh my.. I just thought UV was a given. My guy has a 36 inch reptisun tube right in the middle of his tank and I am concerned that he does not get enough UV.

They absolutely need UV. They come from the outskirts of the Sahara desert. Lots of sun there!

My guy has a heat lamp, an 80w halogen as a basking lamp, a 50w halogen to keep the cold side at 82, a reptisun uv tube, and a high cri compact fluorescent bulb to try to fill in parts of the spectrum that the other lights do not. Finding out what light bulbs heat your habitat properly can be a long frustrating process. It took me about a month of buying and returning bulbs and taking temperatures all day long with an infrared temp gun to get it right. Basically its best to try to replicate natural sunlight as best we can.. which is difficult.

These videos relate to any reptile pet. It explains how they need their heat, uv, and other light to fill in the spectrum. Ignore that it is promoting their own light bulb.. just note how they need several different lights to create the proper habitat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8-EjjO7Jhps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-OyVVYA_js8

 

[sammmycakes]

thanks so much!


i agree that they need the UV the previous owner said he "didn't believe in it" which bothered me. Do you think it would benefit him in anyway if i added it now since i believe he's fully grown?

I am new to uromastyx as i said, but i've always used uv on all my other guys.

When i adopted this guy I didn't see him before I said yes, I saw the guys setup and attitude and decide to take the risk and hopefully give him a better home. (my friend also took his crested gecko) Anubis didn't come out of his hide for over a week after I'd brought him home and when he did I was amazed. He's so handsome and wise looking.

I really appreciate all your help. any tips or tricks I should know?

 

[Spikeshuman]

I would definitely still give him UV. It isnt just to prevent mbd, its required for proper behavior, including feeding.

Tips.. read urowiki there is a TON of info there.. you wont read it all in one day.. but its always there to refer to. There is a great facebook page, just titled Uromastyx. Its great for questions, tips, suggestions. There are two other uro pages on facebook, Uromastyx lovers and uromastyx club, those two are more just people sharing their pictures.

I am really glad hes got someone that is going to give him proper care now. I hate to see animals that get the short end of the stick because their owner didn't take the time to learn about all their needs.

Im not sure if we talked about what he eats.. veggies are similar to a beardie diet. Collard greens, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, any type of squash. I feed my guy lentils as a snack.. he loves them. I also feed him mazuri tortoise pellets as a little dietary supplement. I grind them into a powder and hes got a bowl of lentils and powdered tortoise pellets that he snacks on every evening. Feel free to ask me ANYTHING else.. I love helping out and sharing about my animals.

This is my guy right after a bath.. before I found out that getting them wet can be fatal. Oh yeah.. another tip.. don't give him any baths.. or get him wet in any way.. and dont give him a water bowl in his house.

outside on a hot day

Lifted a tile to clean and found him sleeping underneath. He such a sound sleeper he didnt even notice me.

 

[sammmycakes]

AWWW! He is so sweet and adorable!

Okay I'll go and grab the UV today then! I've read a lot of the urowiki page. I don't have facebook though so that's a no go. I might get my mom to join them though so I can read lol. I've actually emailed back and forth with Douglas Dix from Deer Fern Farms and he's helped me quite a bit too.

Anubis eats collard greens and dandelion greens, and one time he snatched a bit of red kale from me that I was giving my beardies. He liked it. He LOVES raspberries. If he sees me with them he will stand with his face pressed against his tank. He also loves lentils and the iguana pellets, finch seed and split peas. I find he eats them in the evening like your guy does.

I knew about not giving him the water bowl, but I did give him a bath once because he really has this horrible, painful shed (when he wakes up I'll post some pictures for you) But after I was advised not to I just apply the shed ease to him. It doesn't seem to be doing much. Any tips to help the shed?

 

[Spikeshuman]

I have only had Gordo since last February and he has had one shed.. which hes really not finished yet. He shed his face, legs, feet, and most of his back. He has shed still on his belly.. a bit of his back.. and 3/4 of his tail. I dont do anything to help it. Not really sure if I should. Some of the more experienced owners use mineral oil on a qtip. I have not tried that yet.

My guy loves the iguana bites. They are little green wet cubes that smell like fruit. I have not tried raspberries. I have iguana pellets.. but he really does not touch those, nor does he seem to like bird seed at all. I bought a huge bag of millet when I got him.. and I still have not had to refill the bowl, nearly one year later.

 

[sammmycakes]

Hmmm. I'm still waiting for Anubis to wake up,he likes to sleep until about 3ish and then stays up til about midnight (even though his lights are off by 9:45) i'm wondering now if I should change his schedule, but all my reptiles are on the same schedule so it might mess me up a bit!

You should try raspberries! I gave some to my boyfriends uro the other day and he also went crazy for them. Maybe I'll pick up the iguana bites today, my beardies have always hates the beardie bites (small pink fruit scented cube things)

I've read the shedding does take a long time and it can seem like they're shedding pretty much nonstop because it's so slow, but Anubis has this one spot in the center of his back that looks almost like it was a pimple that burst and is now shedding? and also a very hard crusty bit on his side. He's had it since I brought him home but it looks very uncomfortable. I sometimes see him rubbing it on the sides of his rocks?

 

[Spikeshuman]

I would try the mineral oil and qtip on that spot. My beardie wont touch beardie bites either,which is why its taken me a year to even try the iguana bites.. but he seems to love them. Strange that he stays up when the lights go out. Sometimes Gordo is still awake when his lights go out.. but he makes his way to his bed within 5 minutes.

I find that if Gordo's warm side isnt hot enough.. or if he falls asleep on the cold side.. he does not wake up till about 3 or so. Is Anubis cold by any chance? It needs to be about 100 for them to warm up and wake. Gordos lights go on at 7am. They slowly heat his house to 100 by about 8am... then it takes Gordo another two hours of warming up to wake.. and hes out and about by 10am. If there is any drop in temp.. even by a tiny bit.. he doesnt wake up till very late.

 

[sammmycakes]

Hmmm that could be why. He's getting a little better now since I added another head lamp sort of in the middle of his tank so now he has the 150W above his basking rock and a 75 W in the middle? He has a very low temp heating pad on his sleeping side that the previous owner had attached and he really seems to like it. If I turn it off he will come out but if it's on all day I think he likes to stay warm on it all day?

I got some pictures of the shed for you to see!

This is his full back:


This is that weird spot right in the middle of his back that I said looked almost like a popped pimple:


And this is this crust painful bit on his side, it's right above his back leg:

 

[Spikeshuman]

Other than the crunchy bits.. that's what Gordos back looks like too. Some shedded.. some not.. and some lifted and flaky. I would try to work on the crunchy spots as best you can. Try some mineral oil. Also.. if you want advice from serious uromastyx keepers.. check out this site.

http://www.repticzone.com/forums/Uromastyx/index.html

 

[sammmycakes]

So I thought I'd give you an update. Anubis saw the vet today, he does indeed have MBD. 2 fractured ribs, and had a severely broken knee that was ignored and did not heal properly. Those marks on his back, they are burn marks.

My heart broke today thinking of how miserable he must have been before he came into my home. I'm doing everything I possibly can to try and bring him back to health.

Thank you for all your help!