I picked up a nigerian uro yesterday from someone who "wanted a change". He's a year old, but seems rather small (174 g). He's also molting differently than my mali. His nose has flaked to just behind his eyes, he's gone entirely grey (CDN spelling, eh). The only other place he seems to be flaking is around his vent. Sound normal?

The big question is he is really skittish. I'm sure the ride home in a box wasn't fun, nor the tank with zero substrate (only for the moment, he was supposed to come with everything, tank, light, the works!... and then there was a reneg). He just can't seem to settle. He's eaten, pooped, then spends the rest of the day trying to get out of the tank (20 gal). We've blocked off 3 sides with boxes (so he can't see out) and he continues to dig dig dig at the glass. Any suggestions to calm him down? He digs digs digs while in his hide too. I've turned the heat bulb off and left the full spectrum on to cool things off and that seems to have helped a bit, but I know it's not a long term solution.
Suggestions would be appriciated.

Chris.

NB - We've just adopted the Uro, rescued 2 1-month old Bearded Dragons (pic) and are now fostering a pregnant kitty (sweetest thing in the world) all in the same day. It's been a nutty 24 hrs.

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Congrats on the aquisition Chris. Finding a Uro for adoption isn't very easy. Almost all of the Uros I've had over the years have done what a lot of people call "the glass dance" Some can be cured of it by having 2 or three hides in the enclosure. One at the warm end, one at the cool end and one in the middle. This allows them to be secure at different temps. Having one hide forces them to choose between security and their required temps. Part of it as well is they do climb and quite well despite their short legs. I had a juvie Nigerian that was an escape artist. He was able to scale an electrical cord(no idea how)
Most Uros regardless of species are in a constant state of shed. There always seems to be some body part that's shedding. When you say "full spectrum" lighting I hope you mean UVB lights

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Do you mean that you have turned off any sort of heat to the tank?
Uro's are desert animals and require the higher temps to stay healthy.

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Merlin,
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Don't expect this uro to automatically do a happy dance for you...;-) Reptiles don't care too much for change. They need a good two weeks to settle in, get used to any routine, etc. The temps at night can get pretty cool for a uro...but by all means they need to stay up during the day. This will lead to more unwanted stress from temps being to cold...thereby leaving the uro even more prone to illness. Give it a chance. It will come around...:-D

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Veronica
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Not to mention they are truely cranky when they are shedding. Good luck with all your newbies.

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MARSHA
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Thanks for all the responces. Just to clarify; I turned out the light early (bedtime) hoping he would calm down. I would never leave out a heat source, yikes!
And yes, the bulb is a UVB 5.0.
Chris.

It's a good sign that he is so active. Instead of just hiding out all the time. Eating right off the bat as well shows he's not too stressed out.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa