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Uromastyx problems
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by Snake17 on October 15, 2004
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I have a Uromastyx achantinorus since june and it fed well up untill now. In the last week or two it has been eating very little, a insignifiant amount of food. I think that this is about the perioud when they hibernate in north-africa. But I keep it`s temp up to 40 degrees celsius +. I don`t know if there`s something wrong with it. I am very atached to it and would hated if anything were to hapen to it. Does any one keep this species? Mine is wild caught. Any help, advice, tips or info would be highly apreciated. Thanks.
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RE: Uromastyx problems
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by Buzztail1 on October 15, 2004
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I don't keep Uromastyx but I have seen this problem with many North American snakes.
They tend to ignore the conditions that they are currently living with (summer temps, plenty of food, etc) and follow their instinctive heritage and seem to say to themselves "Hey, it's October, I should stop eating and look for a good campsite for the winter."
It is really hard to overcome the genetic timeclock.
Some animals will survive not being cooled down and some do poorly if you do not match their normal conditions. I am not sure which category the Uromastyx falls into.
Hope this helps,
Karl
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RE: Uromastyx problems
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by Snake17 on October 15, 2004
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Thanks for the info. i`v also observed this with some native snakes. I hope it will start eating normally soon though. I hope some one here has a Uro though and can give me some direct advice.
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RE: Uromastyx problems
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by KINGRIUS on October 15, 2004
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Hey, when you (Karl) say that some N. American snakes don't do well without brumation, do you mean their health declines? I personally was not planning on brumating my collection if at all possible. But if the snakes health is at stake I'll do what I have to. Currently, all three of my hots are still feeding well.
Thanks,
Darius
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RE: Uromastyx problems
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by Buzztail1 on October 15, 2004
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Darius,
What I meant is that some snakes, particularly wild-caught (WC) copperheads, diamondbacks (eastern and westerns), and more often snakes from more northern than southern locales have already imprinted a hibernation/brumation schedule.
These snakes tend to quit eating at a specific time October/November(?) and will refuse to eat regardless of what temperature you keep them at. If they start this period of non-eating with good body weight etc, they may survive their self-imposed winter without cooling but it will be stressful to them and thus make them more susceptible to their naturally occurring parasites. They may survive just fine but would do better with lower temps and less light because they would tend to move less and metabolize less muscle tissue.
The converse, oddly enough, also seems true. Snakes from the more southerly locales (southeastern Georgia for instance) may not normally hibernate/brumate at all. Several friends have reported losing Canebrakes (they died) that I have given them, shortly after bringing them out of a cooling period. My belief is that the snakes just did not know how to slow down their metabolism to match the imposed hibernation period and tended to metabolize their body fat and then muscle and subsequently died.
Please keep in mind that I am not a scientist but rather a keeper with over 40 years experience keeping snakes. These are just personal observations and are not presented as scientific fact.
Just trying to share and help out,
Karl
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RE: Uromastyx problems
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by paleoherp on October 16, 2004
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hi alex the species that you have lives in places like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt,
Mauritania, Western Sahara, Chad Mali, Niger
N Sudan it goes through an inactive state from october to febuary , if its wild caught then this is natrual for it, so feeding excreation and metabolisim may be greatly reduced , keep an eye on your lizard if you see serious problems with its health let the people on this site know . but at this time of the year its normal for it to go through this inactivity.
Hope this helps you ,
SHAUN
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RE: Uromastyx problems
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by Snake17 on October 16, 2004
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Hi Shaun, thanks for the info. So should I continue keeping the temp up or should I just leave it at room temp? Please answer.
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RE: Uromastyx problems
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by KINGRIUS on October 16, 2004
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Thanks Karl. I was anxious to get back here to see if you'd replied and have just now managed to do so. Since all of my hots are c.b. it looks like I probly don't have to worry too much. The only one I might worry about is my w.c. e. kingsnake that looks like he's been through a winter or two. I appreciate the advice.
Darius
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RE: Uromastyx problems
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by paleoherp on October 17, 2004
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hi alex alot of breeders recommend nightime drops to 60f and daytime temps around 70F the would usually be a change in light aswell around 9-10 hours a day. as i ve said it usually last from october to febuary with that species.
people only do this if they plan on breeding them some people don t bother at all in changing the temputure.but if you see serious problems let everyone know.
hope this helps ya ,
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