Uggie the Uromastyx

[Little Wise Owl]

Simpleyork's thread motivated me enough to post a thread about my new Uromastyx. She's a WC (I'm assuming) Red Nigerian. Very easy to handle and supposedly a great eater. She hasn't eaten for me yet but I'm giving her two weeks to settle in. Also, I'm assuming she's a female due to the absence of large femoral pores and no apparent hemipenal tail bulges.

Here she is on my lap on the way home from the expo. Once she warmed up in the sun, she wanted to explore and run around the truck:
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/407635_10152156763525134_656197528_n.jpg

Sleeping on her basking rocks:
http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/10283_10152157366655134_1902268274_n.jpg

[Lankyrob]

Isnt letting a reptile free roam in a vehicle a pretty irresponsible thing to do?

Nice lizard tho :)

[Little Wise Owl]

She wanted to run around the truck doesn't mean I let her ;)

[StudentoReptile]

"Nigerian" is a inaccurate label only indicating where the species is exported from. U. geyri is not native to Niger. The more accurate moniker is Saharan Uromastyx.

[Little Wise Owl]

That's what I thought but wasn't entirely sure. Thanks for clarifying.

[simpleyork]

thanks for the photos
these guys are starting to grow on me My favorites are the Saharans and ornates

[UwabamiReptiles]

Nice uro, looks nice and fat, especially if its wc.

[Little Wise Owl]

She finally decided to come out of hiding today:
http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/189019_10152166868745134_1240333669_n.jpg
http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/308044_10152166873265134_475857750_n.jpg

[marvelfreak]

Cute little Uro.

[Little Wise Owl]

I remember when I first saw Uromastyx, I though "Wow, those guys are ugly. I'll never be keeping one of those..." And here and I am and I think she's absolutely adorable lol

[Little Wise Owl]

With a heavy heart, I regret to inform you all that Uggie passed away yesterday. We thought she was sleeping as she didn't look ill, discoloured or deflated. She literally still looks healthy even in death.

I have no idea why she passed. I have a feeling it simply had to do with her not being able to acclimated properly to captivity due to being an import.

My little sister is heart broken.

[lady_bug87]

aw that is terrible! I hope you still have the name of the person you got her from so you can let them know there may be a problem with their stock especially if there is a failure to thrive

[Little Wise Owl]

I emailed them right away once I found her.

[lady_bug87]

where did you get her?

[Little Wise Owl]

Simply Reptiles.

They're in Oshawa

[lady_bug87]

ah I thought they had a ban on reptiles in the shawa?

[Little Wise Owl]

Maybe I got the town wrong since they just opened up a store...

[lady_bug87]

*shrugs* doesnt matter really... are they going to examine what happened?

[Little Wise Owl]

I just got off the phone with them and they said I could have another Uro for half price or another reptile of choice for half price. I don't really want another Uro since almost all in Canada are imports. I think my Uro was one of their only at the time so I don't think they have any others to worry about.

[simpleyork]

I was told saharans are really hard to get going
Sorry for your loss

[War Machine]

I've been a bit discouraged with simply reptiles lately. Kind of upset with some of the way they keep their animals. And the methods of keeping they preach.

But then again, what reptile shops actually know how to keep their animals? Lol

[StudentoReptile]

That's odd. I never had any problems with mine, nor anyone I've known who has had them, nor have I had any issues keeping them alive at the pet shops I worked at. The only few times I have trouble with ANY Uromastyx species was wit hatchlings (and this was 8-10 yrs ago when husbandry for Uros wasn't as refined as it is now).

What was your set-up like again? Mind you, I'm not trying to chastise or finger-wag....just want to help you pinpoint what could possibly have been the cause. Just the simple fact that they "were WC and didn't acclimate well" doesn't quite fly with me, because most Uros of any species are WC, and for the most part, they are fairly resilient lizards. And for the same reason, I wouldn't want you to be turned off Uros completely simply because they are WC either.

[Little Wise Owl]

She was in a 3.5ft long enclosure. Basking spot was 110F, warm side high 80s, cool side high 70s. Humidity was kept low. 10.0 repti sun UV tube 12" from her. Offered collards, mustard greens, dandelion greens, squash, green beans, millet and lentils daily. Had hides on each end of the enclosure and non-adhesive shelf liner was used as a substrate (I've used this for my beardie and leopard gecko for years)

I only witnessed her eat only a couple times.

The only weird thing I noticed about her was that her abdomen would swell weirdly when moved or handled (which we only did twice. once on her first day home and again a week and a half later only for a couple minutes). This wasn't the usual "I'm upset and making myself look bigger" like I see with many lizards... She felt and looked oddly bloated for a bit and then would go back to her normal fat-looking self.

[Aaron_S]

I've been a bit discouraged with simply reptiles lately. Kind of upset with some of the way they keep their animals. And the methods of keeping they preach.

But then again, what reptile shops actually know how to keep their animals? Lol

Anyone that I worked in.

[Aaron_S]

ah I thought they had a ban on reptiles in the shawa?

Some herps. Not all.

[StudentoReptile]

She was in a 3.5ft long enclosure. Basking spot was 110F, warm side high 80s, cool side high 70s. Humidity was kept low. 10.0 repti sun UV tube 12" from her. Offered collards, mustard greens, dandelion greens, squash, green beans, millet and lentils daily. Had hides on each end of the enclosure and non-adhesive shelf liner was used as a substrate (I've used this for my beardie and leopard gecko for years)

I only witnessed her eat only a couple times.

The only weird thing I noticed about her was that her abdomen would swell weirdly when moved or handled (which we only did twice. once on her first day home and again a week and a half later only for a couple minutes). This wasn't the usual "I'm upset and making myself look bigger" like I see with many lizards... She felt and looked oddly bloated for a bit and then would go back to her normal fat-looking self.

Basking temps could have been higher (maybe closer to 130-F).

Humidity is rather debatable with "desert" lizards. The growing trend with Uromastyx is similar to that of monitor lizards: having a humid burrow is beneficial. Although the ground climate is arid and dry, the temps and humidity within the Uro burrows can be quite different.

Did you happen to soak yours when you first got it? This is something often recommended to be done with new arrival WC Uros. And also periodically with hatchlings and with gravid females.

Not sure on the bloating thing. Would have had to see it firsthand.

[Little Wise Owl]

What does soaking do? I didn't soak her.

Another thing I noticed is that she did not defecate/urinate at all in my care.

[StudentoReptile]

Soaking helps hydrate them after the long arduous process of being collected from the wild, sitting in a warehouse somewhere before being exported to the U.S., then sitting in another warehouse before going to the U.S. wholesaler dealer, and finally arriving at whatever venue you got it from. It probably received no food or water during that time.

Yes, "Uromastyx don't need water, because they get all the required moisture from the food they eat." Even that is somewhat debatable, but even if true, that only applies to healthy animals being kept in a proper, stress-free environment...NOT the extreme conditions they are exposed to in that 3-4 day process of being collected and shipped. When most WC Uros (as are a LOT of WC animals) arrive in the U.S., they are dehydrated.

Mind you, I'm not getting on to you.

How long did you have her? The lack of elimination could be a symptom of dehydration.

[Little Wise Owl]

I only had her for 3 weeks.

[StudentoReptile]

Hmm...3 weeks is not a terribly hard time, and even as much as a WC Uro goes through, I believe whatever caused her demise was probably in the works before you acquired her. Maybe all those little things would have made a difference, maybe not.

But do not beat yourself too badly over it. It is the unfortunate reality of dealing with WC herps. Some do not always make it. Hopefully, I've given you some helpful info should you ever decide to give Uros another shot.

[Little Wise Owl]

I kind of wished I could have gotten a necropsy done on her but it's too late now.

Thank you for the advice.