Uromastyx care?

[boosh96]

I'm pretty interested in getting a small species of Uromastyx, probably an Ornate Uromastyx. Are they best kept like monitors, with diggable substrate and 130-150 degree basking temps? How can you get a dry diggable substrate?

[boosh96]

If I use a 4' x 2' x 2' stock tank, what's the best way to create a good basking spot and make sure the ambient temps are warm enough? For basking, I'm thinking I'll line up three 5 1/2" fixtures with 50-75W halogen bulbs and aim for a basking spot of 130-140 degrees. Now, what's an ideal light arrangement that'll create a good temperature gradient? Any questions or other kinds of feedback are welcome!

[Starbuck]

i've not kept urns, but SMY on this forum has a pretty concise thread about how he set up a stock tank for some small varanids and it seems to be working surprisingly well. You should check it out for some ideas.

[StudentoReptile]

When I had mine, I just used a MVB (Mercury Vapor Bulb) as a primary basking lamp, and a 75 watt CHE for ambient.

I kept the Saharans, a few Malis, and one Egyptian. No experience with Ornates.

[smy_749]

IMO, people keep these species incorrectly as well. I see alot of 'pellets' , or play sand and bone dry enclosures that are super hot with no place to retreat. This is not how this species functions well in the desert. Uromastyx are a burrowing species. They need deep substrate that holds a solid burrow. Like I said in your other thread, the best option I've seen available is the burrowing clay crap they sell, but you'd need about 20 bags of it to fill a trough 6 inches (you'd need a foot or so for them to have enough room for an actual functioning burrow).

3 x 50 - 75 watts will cook your uro and create ambients that are much too hot. your basking spot will also probably be 200+ .

To give you an idea, I'm using a 48 watt halogen 6 inches away and getting 150-160, a little farther away its at 130. They create their burrows underneath the basking slab as well. Weather is getting colder and although I keep my heat at 68-70, enclosure seems to be cooling off so I added a regular 60 watt incandescent on a thermostat and it adds a decent amount of extra light. Hot side is 90, cold side is now 79 (was 73 earlier) and basking as I've already stated.

Ofcourse, keep in mind I dont use UVB. You could probably get away with a lower wattage MVB bulb. I wouldn't aim for much more than 70-100 watts total.

[boosh96]

IMO, people keep these species incorrectly as well. I see alot of 'pellets' , or play sand and bone dry enclosures that are super hot with no place to retreat. This is not how this species functions well in the desert. Uromastyx are a burrowing species. They need deep substrate that holds a solid burrow. Like I said in your other thread, the best option I've seen available is the burrowing clay crap they sell, but you'd need about 20 bags of it to fill a trough 6 inches (you'd need a foot or so for them to have enough room for an actual functioning burrow).

3 x 50 - 75 watts will cook your uro and create ambients that are much too hot. your basking spot will also probably be 200+ .

To give you an idea, I'm using a 48 watt halogen 6 inches away and getting 150-160, a little farther away its at 130. They create their burrows underneath the basking slab as well. Weather is getting colder and although I keep my heat at 68-70, enclosure seems to be cooling off so I added a regular 60 watt incandescent on a thermostat and it adds a decent amount of extra light. Hot side is 90, cold side is now 79 (was 73 earlier) and basking as I've already stated.

Ofcourse, keep in mind I dont use UVB. You could probably get away with a lower wattage MVB bulb. I wouldn't aim for much more than 70-100 watts total.

Thanks for the help! I'll keep that in mind when I'm making the setup. I'm thinking I'll at least test a mix of burrowing clay, topsoil, and sand so I can see how that works. Will I need UV for a Uromastyx? Also, do they need extra humidity in their burrows like Savs do or do they need a DRY burrowing substrate?

[smy_749]

Thanks for the help! I'll keep that in mind when I'm making the setup. I'm thinking I'll at least test a mix of burrowing clay, topsoil, and sand so I can see how that works. Will I need UV for a Uromastyx? Also, do they need extra humidity in their burrows like Savs do or do they need a DRY burrowing substrate?

Yes, you need UVB. I can't really think of any burrowing substrate that is dry enough to hold a "dry burrow" and allow for digging/burrowing. If they can burrow down and make a nice den, it will be humid.

[TarantulaSteve]

Leave wet sand in the sun until all the water is leached out and you will have a diggable substrate, used it for a dune scorpion (much smaller amount of sand). There is also something called excavation clay, which a friend of mine told me is great for burrowing species but I havnt looked into it at all.

Another thing I will highly suggest to you is going with good ol' bioactive substrate. Dirt and sand from outside. if you can keep the entire top open for ventilation you shouldnt have any adverse humidity related affects on the uro, although you might need more lights to keep your temps up.. Everything is a trade off. They do need burrows with high humidity 80-100%.

I used to have an Ornate, got it as a bday present, and kept it on mullet seed and provided a plastic den with a controller to keep humidity between 80-100%. Thats what was suggested... Dont know if thats a good way to keep one, as it died of internal parasites a couple weeks later. Never trusting a pet store again.

[boosh96]

Just for the sake of clarifying, am I going to want to shoot for a basking spot of around 130 degrees?

[smy_749]

The problem with sand as you mentioned for burrowing, is the basking bulb usually will dry it back out to the point of it becoming bone dry play sand again. And boosh, between 130 - 160 is good.

[Pirarucu]

Setting them up like monitors works wonders. Deep soil and high temps make for a happy lizard. Our U. philbyi will actually use basking temperatures of 140-170.

[TheFrogman]

I almost bought 2 Red Uromastyx, they are gorgeous but I went back to my "Mom n Pop" Pet Store and they were all gone. Hello he had 6 Reds and 4 Yellows, where did they all go? I asked and the owner told me that they came in to work that morning and they were all dead...how sad.

Sorry for the story but I really want one or two so bad, they are gorgeous.