Uro. Defense mechanism?

Spider Tyrant · #1 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006, 06:04 AM

What is the defense mechanism of a Uromastyx? Someone told me "tail. duh", but I have a hard time believing that this pudgy and lazy little guy could swing his tail with enough velocity to scare something away.

CruiserMaiden · #2 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006, 10:23 AM

From what I've found with my uro - he runs. They are very very fast when they are kept hot enough. That is Louie's first defense - run and hide.

They also have very powerful jaws if they were to decide to bite you - but so far with mine, good luck getting them to. I can't even get him to open his mouth. I've heard it hurts really bad when they do though. Look at those jaws - lots of muscle there.

They can whip with their tails but if they can do that hard enough to hurt you, I don't know. Louie will fling his tail around and claw at me if I scare him picking him up, but it doesn't hurt or anything.

Uros can be pudgy, but if they are constantly lazy and slow, you may want to look into your husbandry and make sure he is getting enough heat, UVB and the proper nutrition from his food/vitamins. I've found with Louie his colors get very very dull when he doesn't get enough UVB or heat so you could start there.

What kind of uro do you have?

Spider Tyrant · #3 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006, 02:07 PM

I picked up a Red Nigerian Uromastyx last night. He was sluggish even at the shop (where he did have proper lighting and heating, I checked).

I have never heard of a Uromastyx eating Tortoise food, but the people that gave him to the shop said he loved little Tortoise treats. Is this ok for him? I was very skeptical when I heard it.

Dont worry about my husbandry, I am very experienced with reptiles and will ask if I have any questions.

CruiserMaiden · #4 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006, 02:29 PM

I wasn't worried about your husbandry, just mentioned it as a lot of people think uros are calm and slow but you get them warmed up and that opinion changes. There may be something else going on with him if he is acting lethargic even under the right conditions, you'd probably want to get him to a vet (at least for an initial checkup if nothing else) if he doesn't perk up when you get him into his habitat, though I've heard they can take a couple of weeks to adjust to their new surroundings (Louie adjusted right away and was out basking the next day after I got him home).

Some uro breeders feed a mixture of tortise food pellets soaked in water with green peas mashed up as an additional food source to their greens, I've offered Louie dry tortise pellets mixed in with his seed mixture which he will munch on occasionally (I do this to make sure he always has something to eat if his greens are gone or they dry up in the heat, etc).

What are tortise treats? What I use is actual tortise pellet diet...

Spider Tyrant · #5 (**permalink**) 10-12-2006, 02:58 PM

I am not 100% sure what the treats are, but they are supposed to be soft and this guy is supposed to be addicted to them.

It is entirely possible he is merely adjusting to his new tank. I am going to go mess with his cage some to see if I can increase his activity by moving the light closer to his basking region (Everything I have said says they regularly bask in places up to 120 degrees while in the wild).

He hasnt touched his greens, and they said he was a voracious eater. I will give him some more time.

When looking at him and how he moves, I dont think he is unhealthy.

CruiserMaiden · #6 (**permalink**) 10-30-2006, 09:19 PM

I've heard that they can take several weeks to a month to adjust. I did not have this problem.

From my research before getting Louie, and my work with Louie, 120 is a medium temp for his basking. I have him a long sloped basking area under his MVB which gives him a range of 110-130 along that basking brick. The rest of his cage (he is in a 4x2x2 enclosure I built him) ranges in the high 90s/low 100s around his basking brick and down to the low 80s (almost room temp) on the colder side of his enclosure. He spends most of his time under or on the ground beside his basking area, but when he is actually out basking he is at the very top (130 degree area) of the basking rock. He spends very little time in the cooler side of his enclosure, but will go over there when he's running around or whatever.

I am by no means a uro expert - from just having one uro for less than a year so far but I appear to be the only one answering soooooo... I have a couple questions:

What size/type of enclosure is he in?

You said he is in a tank - are all the sides of his tank exposed?
I've heard of covering all sides of his tank with paper for a week, so he can get adjusted, then removing one side at a time until they get used to it. I used an opaque tub with Louie at first for the adjustment period, but then when I put him into a tank but he was very stressed by seeing movement around him all the time and things coming at him from above. I found that when I switched to a wood enclosure with a glass front it changed him tremendously because this way he can see me coming (and run if he wants to) and also all but one side of his enclosure is covered so he doesn't stress about the things coming towards him from all sides.

What kind of light are you using?

UVB is extremely important to these guys - I used a poor quality MVB one time and it didn't work out so well at all...

What are you feeding him?

Perhaps you could try going back to the store and finding out what exactly they were feeding him (and you can find out what these tortise treats are). It is possible they were feeding him something different than you are - I have seen a lot of petstores feed just spring mix or mixed veggies or even just romaine lettuce, whereas you may be feeding him something different that he is not familiar with (even though it is better for him...)

Just a couple thoughts. Answer those and I'm sure I can come up with more

Spider Tyrant · #7 (**permalink**) 11-05-2006, 12:27 AM

We are doing fine now. I am figuring it was just either something they were doing at the store, or he was just getting used to his enclosure. Though he is still far more lazy than any of my other lizards, I attribute that to his extremely laid-back personality.

How do you get your basking spot to 120? I can only get mine up to about 110, and I have been experimenting with all sorts of light brands and heat mats (the lights are UVB. I know what these guys need).

The treats are a combination of various vegetables, and are suggested for any form of turtle/tortoise, beardies, and uros.

CruiserMaiden · #8 (**permalink**) 11-09-2006, 07:51 PM

I just use a 100W MVB directly over his basking area. The bulb is mounted to the top of the 2' tall cage, and the bulb itself is like 4-6'' long so its about 18" or so from the floor. Then I have his basking area elevated about 4". I also have a UVB compact flurescent light on the other end of the cage in the same position for extra lighting over there but that doesnt provide a lot of heat or anything... That's all I use for heat for him but it has been working just fine for him this far (since April)

Louie in general is fairly lazy - he likes to bask all day, eat, bask some more... but he's not slow by any means. When he's basking he's constantly watching everything around him and when he decides to run around (which is a brief period every day or other day) he runs around like crazy doing the ''glass dancing'' thing and all that. And of course if you go to mess with him and he doesn't want anything to do with you, he's pretty quick then too.

I'm in the process of rearranging my cages in my room right now, and Louie is up for a cage cleaning probably next weekend so if you want I will take some pics of him and his setup, etc.

Good luck

Also - what brand are the tortoise treats? I'd like to get some to try for Louie

Spider Tyrant · #9 (**permalink**) 11-15-2006, 06:05 AM

I will have to look up the tortoise treats back at my place. They are a mixture of vegetables, so it is a healthy treat.

Meatloaf is captive bred, which would most definately explain why he is so relaxed. When he goes to bask, he closes his eyes and takes a nap. He can move quickly when he wants to, but I think I have seen him dart somewhere once.

Craigo · #10 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 09:57 PM

My egyptian uromastyx (microlepis) has drawn blood with his tail. He's got quite a quick whip with it! Imagine getting hit twice in quick succession with a bunch of rose thorns tightly space on the end of a stick. Ouch! Let me just say my wife's wrist and the back of her hand swelled a bit too after he got her.

Craigo

John_E_Dove · #11 (**permalink**) 03-24-2007, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spider Tyrant

What is the defense mechanism of a Uromastyx? Someone told me "tail. duh", but I have a hard time believing that this pudgy and lazy little guy could swing his tail with enough velocity to scare something away.

In the wild their first line of defense is their coloration which aids them in hiding. Their second line of defense is to wedge themselves into a crevice or borrow and inflate themselves so they are hard to remove then use the tail to swing at their attackers.
They may look slow and lazy but that tail can swing when they want it to.

lloyd · #12 (**permalink**) 10-09-2007, 07:11 PM

i have one running around my computer room as i speak. he can be quite fast when he wants to. he can also get an ouch out of me with that tail of his at times .

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