Uromastyx
Most Uromastyx species currently in the U.S.
seem to have fairly similar requirements so
I'll lump them together for the purposes of
this care sheet. Please look at care sheets
posted at The Uromastyx Home Page2 (http://web2.airmail.net/troyj/)
for more detailed information on a variety of
Uromastyx issues. Also check out the Uromastyx
listserv (to subscribe: send the command: subscribe
uromastyx-digest in the body of a message to
"majordomo@icomm.ca"). This is an excellent
forum for posting questions/sharing information
concerning Uromastyx.
Lighting/Heat
First and foremost, Uromastyx
are heat lovers, the ultimate heat lovers! They
must have a basking site that reaches between
100F and 120F (air temp, not rock temp which
will be higher yet). No, that's not a typo,
one hundred to one hundred and twenty F! This
is actually easy to produce with a Zoo-Med or
comparable reptile backing bulb shining over
a smooth piece of slate or other suitable rock.
Just make sure the light is placed high enough
to prevent the animals from accessing it. Do
NOT use hot rocks or similar "in-cage" electric
underbelly heaters. These will not suffice and
can cause serious injury to your animals. An
under-the-tank heating pad is ok but only for
supplemental heat, the basking site is still
essential. The area farthest from the basking
site should be in the mid 80's F, permitting
your animals to self-regulate their body temperature.
Night temps should be much cooler, typical of
their desert homes. Most people shoot for the
low 70's in the summer, the mid 60's in the
winter. In reality, their desert burrows probably
get down into the mid to high 50'sF much of
the year. I suspect the difference in nightly
lows isn't critical as long as the cage reaches
the preferred daytime highs.
Along with the basking
lights, we recommend installing a UVB producing
bulb such as Zoo-Med's Reptisun 5.0's. The usefulness
of these bulbs is debatable and some breeders
feel they are a waste of money ($20 to $30 ea.).
UVB initiates the conversion of vit. D3 precursor
into active vitamin D3, and in theory these
bulbs produce enough UVB to stimulate this reaction.
Some breeders choose to simply add vit. D3 to
the diet and dispense with the bulbs. We prefer
to avoid synthetic vit D3 as it has been implicated
in increasing metabolic problems in Uromastyx
(unproven, but suspicious correlation). Thus
we use the UVB bulbs. These must be mounted
within a few feet (some say one foot) of the
basking animal to be effective. We've sunburned
pineapple plants from 18" with new bulbs, so
that's the distance we shoot for in the breeding
pens. These bulbs gradually loose the ability
to produce UVB with use and should be replaced
annually to biannually (look for a change from
bluish white to a clearer white glow with age,
blue = good, white = shot).
Bedding
Uromastyx are burrowers
by design and must be provided with some form
of low shelter. In our ground breeding pens,
we use 1/4 height cement blocks. In the upper
cages and hatchling tanks, we build plywood
platforms. The goal is to produce a shelter
just high enough so that the Uro's can feel
the top of the shelter while standing inside
it. For bedding, the opinions vary. If you use
sand, make sure it is a natural sand (rounded
edges) like beach sand or washed playground
sand. Man made sand (from crushing gravel)has
jagged edges which interlock, leading to gut
impactions in animals that swallow it. We personally
don't like sand and restrict it's use to the
egg laying boxes. We've tried bark, which the
Uros loved but the dust produced was unacceptable
and picking out fecal pellets was far too difficult.
We then switched to rabbit pellets which are
still our bedding of choice for hatchlings.
It tends to break down too quickly in the adult's
cages, so we are now experimenting with bird
seed (millet/sorghum seed with the sunflower
seeds sifted out to ease cage cleaning). This
seems reasonable so far but the Uro's definitely
have more difficulty moving around on the less
stable surface it provides. On the plus side,
if the Uros drag damp sand into the bedding
or pile bedding in the nest box, the seeds sprout,
unlike rabbit pellets, which mold. We considered
using calcium carbonate sand (Calci-sand, T-Rex),
but other Uro keepers have told us the dust
produced is too great to be acceptable bedding.
Housing
Uromastyx are generally
non-social. Two mature males may not be kept
together! Sooner or later one will attack the
other, possibly causing serious injury. We've
even had yearlings do this. Females vary greatly
in temperament. Most get along fine with a male,
but we've had a few exceptions (note: Moroccans
in particular tend to be exceptions to this
rule). Some also tolerate other females in the
cage, but many of ours have become very belligerent
towards all other Uros, male or female, once
they are bred and begin seeking a nesting site.
Most are very moody the first few days post-laying
and may need to be separately housed for the
remainder of the season. The aggression can
be subtle and easily missed if you're not around
the animals throughout the day. Periodically
examine your animals, noting their weight and
the condition of the skin along their flanks.
Individuals intimidated by others tend to gradually
loose weight. Aggressive animals tend to bite
others along the flanks, leading to distinct
thickening of this area. If allowed to continue,
this can lead to significant tissue damage,
even if the biter never directly breaks the
skin. If you wish to try to house several together,
introduce them to a new cage simultaneously.
Uros are by nature territorial, and even calm
animals tend to attack new individuals place
in their cage. Speaking of cage size, the larger
the better. Our ground pens run 4' long by 3'deep
by 2' high and house trios to 1.3 (number of
males to number of females). We use Vision brand
3' cages for housing single individuals and
compatible female pairs. Vision 5' cages are
used for our primary stud males to which we
cycle several females in and out of throughout
the breeding season. Hatchlings are kept 5 per
cage in all glass 2' square tanks, 12" high.
Uros are active creatures and like to run around.
Shoot for as large a cage as you have space
for.
Diet
Uromastyx are primarily
herbivores, with a taste for insects on the
side. Our primary diet is composed of Collard
greens, Kale, Dandelion greens and flowers,
frozen mixed vegies (peas, cut green beans,
carrots, corn, lima beans - all thawed before
feeding of course). We supply other flowers
when in season (cats claw to hatchlings (a late-season
dandelion-mimic), nasturtium, rose, pumpkin/squash).
We the vegies once per week with Miner-Al -O
mineral supplement (no vitamins added, just
various minerals, primarily calcium). We feed
a different food item each day, alternating
from the above group, rather than mixing the
whole lot together and feeding the same feed
daily. We also don't pre-chop the food. We tear
it fresh into each cage into chucks several
inches square and let the Uros bite off the
size chunk they wish. We do this with hatchlings
as well - so far no problems. Uros like to snack
throughout the day, and we found that finely
cut vegies just dried out too fast. Fresh carrots
and green beans are another matter however.
These tend to be too large and tough for some
Uros to bite off a chunk, and so must be chopped.
As far as vitamin additives, we general avoid
them although others use them regularly with
no problems. We've heard of too many Uros with
metabolic problems that "seem" to be associated
with vitamin supplements, especially D3. We
do however offer a dish of "Pretty Bird" brand
finch pellets to our Uros at all times. This
is a synthetic bird seed which has multiple
vitamins added and is much better digested than
most bird seed (check your fecal pellets, you'll
find a lot of undigested bird seed in it if
you really look). Hopefully if the Uros main
diet is lacking in some nutrient, they can make
up for it as needed by eating the finch "seed".
When available, we also try to keep some cactus
pads in each cage (Opuntia sp, commercially
produced as human grade food, de-spined at the
store). These last for days, allowing for periodic
nibbling at will. We also offer an occasional
cricket and weekly superworms (Zophoba sp.).
These are a great way to tame your Uros. Most
are addicted to superworms and will go to great
lengths to procure them. Conventional wisdom
suggests gravid females fed a slightly higher
than normal amount of insect matter produce
better clutches, but the sample sizes are still
pretty small. Remember insects are excessively
high in phosphorous which causes the body to
excrete calcium into the feces. Be careful to
supplement w/ calcium whenever you feed many
insects and never feed too many at one sitting.
We don't normally offer water to our Uros. The
exception is for newly acquired animals or individuals
which haven't kept up a large gut mass of digesting
food (their natural source for water). Under
no circumstances should you put a water bowl
in their cage. Take the individual to a tub
filled with approximately 1" of warm-to-the
touch- water. Some will drink on their own,
others can be enticed by dripping water on their
snout. Leave the undisturbed for a few minutes
after drinking to avoid them regurgitating any
water. Truly dehydrated animals may need to
be tubed with an electrolyte solution. See your
vet if you are unfamiliar with this procedure
Breeding
Most breeders believe
Uro's need to be put through some form of winter
in order to sufficiently cycle to induce breeding
and fertile egg production. We tried a short
winter of the low 70's in 1995-6. We got breeding
activity , but no egg production from our ornates
(the only species we attempted to breed that
year). We then switched to consistent temps
in the mid to lower 60's and successfully produced
5 clutches of ornates that year but lost several
animals immediately post-hibernation. Last year
we went for a constant 55 F thinking that maybe
we had overwintered too warm, causing our mortality
problems. Yet we still lost most of our breeding
age ornates and our only pair of Sudanese! Our
two 2-year-old CB ornates bred but nether of
our surviving older females have bred yet (one
does however appear to be cycling and she was
late last year as well). Our Mali's were all
pre-conditioned in Mali last winter, so their
breeding for us this year was not due to anything
we did. This coming winter we'll probably shoot
for the low 60's F for every one except this
years hatchlings but try to warm up to the mid
to upper 70'd most days. We'll keep several
of our best individuals back at warmer temps
just to be safe! For egg laying, we use 5 to
10 gal. tupperware tubs, lids intact. We cut
a 3"x 2" tall oblong hole approximately 2 "
up and away from one corner. The insides are
half filled with a 50:50 mix of peatmoss and
playground-grade sand moistened just enough
to allow it to hold a tunnel. Our long-term
established wild-caught animals and captive-breds
use this setup without hesitation. Most of the
newly imported Mali's have balked and buried
their eggs in the rabbit pellets heaped up in
a corner of the cage. We remove the eggs as
soon as they are detected and place them in
slightly damp sand. If the eggs are slightly
flaccid, we dampen the sand to a greater degree,
then repack the eggs in drier sand in a day
or two. The term "damp" is overly vague - we
strive to add enough water to change the color
of the sand, but not let it really feel wet.
Grey suggests 4 parts vermiculite to one part
water by weight (Vivarium, 1997,8:6). Uro eggs
mold easily, so excessive water is to be avoided
at all costs. Within a few days, the eggs seem
to seal and become very tolerant of dry conditions.
The trick is to get to that stage. As a side
note, be sure to trim the toenails of your gravid
females a few weeks before they lay. They are
notorious for nicking their eggs while burying
them. Uro eggs relay their fertility and viability
status very clearly. Fertile eggs have a distinct
red circle (the developing embryo) clearly visible
at the time the eggs are laid. We orient our
eggs so as to position the embryo at the top
of the egg, but it's highly unlikely that this
is necessary. Fresh eggs are somewhat water-ballon-like
when laid, but good eggs usually firm up and
whiten within a day or two at most. Eggs which
are distinctly yellow or in which you can see
the contents moving around inside in a two-toned
pattern (milky yellow in a clearer yellow) are
already in the early stages of disintegration
and will not hatch. Dud eggs will begin to smell
almost immediately and are often easy to detect
in the incubator within 3 to 4 days. Duds also
often keep a faintly oily look to them and rarely
firm up. We incubate in sealed tupperware-type
containers with the eggs completely buried in
the sand. This seems to help avoid mold problems.
By sealing the containers, we also avoid the
need to keep checking the mixture for proper
dampness. Last season we incubated at 88F but
had quite a few embryos die just prior to hatching.
While it may well have been due to some dietary
problem (vit A and D3 are the likely culprits)
rather than temps, this year we are incubating
at 85F just to see it's impact. Since Uros likely
bury their eggs fairly deep in the desert to
avoid their drying out prior to hatching, 88F
seems a bit high. We incubate our veiled chameleons
(which come from a similar habitat) at 82 F
and most veiled breeders still consider this
too high. We'll see I guess. Hatching occurs
in about 60 to 70 days. The hatchlings are quite
vigorous and ready to feed within a day or two.
Treat them as you would adults, but slightly
cooler. Watch for signs of aggression. Dominant
animals will significant repress the growth
of the other hatchlings housed with them.
