I got 2 books on Uros for Christmas [3 actually if you count that my brother and my husband got me the same one]. But I do have 2 different books on Uros! Both of them outline basic Uro diet as the following:

Leafy greens, avoiding spinach
Thawed frozen mixed vegetables
Lentils [soaked]
Birdseed [the people in the excellent pet store near where I live say that their uros like finch seed the best, so I bought that].

Shadwell will only eat leafy greens. Everything else he ignores, or if he's feeling tempermental, will strew all over the cage, so I have a huge cleanup job the next day.

Will he survive on leafy greens? What should I do? Help, I'm worried.
Allie.

Greens ARE the best thing for them, they are mostly herbivores so lots of protien is not that good for them. We give ours small crix about once a month, other then that he ONLY gets greens and veggies...

Since info on uros is still scarce (though improving), a good diet to follow for them is a good iguana diet. Like this one for example: http://www.iguanaden.org/diet/dendiet.htm . No matter which route you go, make sure rinse the greens off not only to make sure they are clean but so your uro will also intake some water to keep him/her hydrated.

Good luck with your little one...

__________________
Jayr & Mandy Robinson
J&M Herp Shack
"Are you watching closely?"

Thanks for your reply. I read the Iguana Den diet, and I am feeding Shadwell a diet of mostly dark greens [although there is the occasional leaf of romaine] - our supermarket sells tubs of "Spring Green" and "Field Green" salad mixes which are made up of dark green leafy things, chicories, and spinach, and some radicchio, which is his favorite.

On the advice of both of the books I have, I have never fed the spinach to my uro. - is this your opinion as well?

The article at the Iguana Den said that iguanas don't need to be supplemented with Calcium if they are getting a dark green leafy diet and that UVB lighting would give them all the Vit. D they needed. Any chance that this could be true for Uros? Shadwell simply Will Not Eat if I sprinkle Calcium/Vit. D. supplement on his food - but he shows no signs of wasting away.

Will start rinsing his food tomorrow for hydration. It comes in a very washed form so I have never worried about cleanliness and hadn't thought about hydration - you can really tell that this is my first lizard, can't you?! It's a wonder he is still alive. And kicking. And apparently content.

Allie.

Oh, by the way, we give Shadwell 2 crickets every 10 days as suggested by the pet shop - they say that's all he needs for protein. Funny to see our normally docile, slow-moving lizard become the wrath of God in rapid pursuit!

Well that depends, does shadwell have acess to a uvb light?

YES!!! Spinach in HIGH in oxalates and can bind the calcium that shadwell needs...so, that alteast means not to offer it daily...

What books do you have for uros?

__________________
Jayr & Mandy Robinson
J&M Herp Shack
"Are you watching closely?"

Yes, Shadwell has UVB lighting in his terrarium.

The books I have are "Basic Care of Uromastyx" by Philippe de Vosjoli, and "Spiny-tailed Agamids: Uromastyx and Xenagama" by R.D. Bartlett [in the barron's educ. series].

Found a store tonight that sells many of the basic greens listed in the Iguana Den site. Bought collard greens, dandelion greens, red swiss chard, aragula, something else dark green - have forgotten what, and some radicchio simply because Shadwell loves it. Am rinsing it well and serving it quite damp as suggested for hydration.

Allie. Thanks for all your input so far, jmherp.

Hi Allie,

I have found the same thing with Spike. He won't eat his veggies if I sprinkle the calcium on them. The only way I can get him to take the supplement is on the crickets. I keep his uvb light on 12 hrs per day to make sure that he is getting enough light.

I have found that Spike likes his greens, but his absolute favorite is sugar snap peas. I add those to his diet as well as carrots and broccoli (fresh). I add a small amount of f/t sweet corn on occasion and he does LOVE the finch seed. I only offer that sprinkled on his food every other day cuz he tends to pick out the seeds first and skip the veggies.

I have also tried some fruit. Like small pieces of apple peel and red berries (raspberries and strawberries) but found that Spike isn't too interested. Some authors have suggested the dry iguana food as a supplement. I have not tried this yet. Another source said that rice (cooked of course) and wild rice with the husk still on are also good things to offer. Don't know if this helps....

P.S. I got your pm and will respond to that seperately.

__________________
Hard to notice, gleaming from the sky
When you're staring at the cracks
Hard to notice what is passing by
With eyes lowered

"The Leaving Song"- AFI

0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx (Spike)
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons (Hercules, Megora & Eeyore)
1.0.0 Bi-color Flame Point Himalayan (Koda)
1.2.0 Children (Dimitri, Mercedes, and Mariah)

Collards and Dandelions are great for them another is endive and escarole...

Ours seem to like green beans, lol...

__________________
Jayr & Mandy Robinson
J&M Herp Shack
"Are you watching closely?"

Haven't done much lizard-thinking because I am really sick. Bronchitis, and pleurisy and pneumonia in the right lung. Fun. Shadwell HATES collard greens, that is the lesson of week one of 'making your own lizard mix'. He was finicky and suspicious of everything but the radicchio for a couple of days but he seems to have settled down to eating all these strange new veggies - but he just strews the collard everywhere in kind of a frenzy. So I don't think I'll buy that again! I've tried him on all kinds of fresh fruit in the past, which he disliked, but will take up suggestions of sugar snap peas, endive, and escarole. Green beans have been tried several times, and rejected, although I might buy some for myself and microwave them up in some butter...yum.
Allie. Thanks for everyone's input!

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1.0.0. Niger Orange Uromastyx [Shadwell]
1.0.0. Great Husband [John]
1.2.0. Terrific Children [Diana, James, Aislinn]

Oh - I broke down and got him mealworms this weekend - this was a real test of my love for Shadwell as I think mealworms are the grossest things going. But I found a patient pet store employee who let me handle the mealworms until I was comfortable with them [they're really not so bad] so that I was able to unbag them and put them in Shadwell's cage. I must admit I was glad to see them eaten, though!

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1.0.0. Niger Orange Uromastyx [Shadwell]
1.0.0. Great Husband [John]
1.2.0. Terrific Children [Diana, James, Aislinn]