i heard from a succesfull breader that you should feed malis crickets when they're young because in the wild they eat crikets because they are fast and skinny and when they are older they dont because they are to fat. thanks

Kinda agree. When young their diet can be supplemented with crickets. But not everyday. Because they are vegetarian they lack the neccessary "equipment if you will" to properly process large amounts of protein matter. Definitely with adults don't feed them crickets. While a few here and there won't harm them they really don't require them in their diet.

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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

ok im curently feading my mali crickets 3 days a week and I feed him 3 crickets.

This is a really interesing point, and I've heard very similar things from everyone. As a new Mali Uromastyx owner i've never had one thing defined to me...what is an adult? At what age/size does one consider the Uro an adult?

Hmm that is interesting. Really I would think they reach "adulthood" upon breeding age. I've never raised any from hatchling to breeding age. I've only worked with adults. As far as I know Mali's can be bred around 1 1/2yrs to 2 yrs of age.

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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

Realize as well that Uros are a slow growing reptile that breeds only once a year. Hardly a profitable business. They are capable of living for decades. Well two probably anyway. They just aren't kept in proper conditions most of the time that would enable us to see their longevity. But that is pretty much the case for most herps I guess.

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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

From what I understand, crickets serve no nutrutional value unless you gut-load them first. Our Mali Uromastyx is almost 3 years old (about 15 inches long) and we feed him no crickets. He loves cale and green beans, shaved carrots, romane lettuce, dandelion greens and birdseed. Just make sure your coat some of their feedings with some sort of supplement like Urodust and about once a week add some Reptical to their diet.

I did a quick search and this is what I found on the nutritional value of crickets
per 100 gr
protein - 12.9 g
fat - 5.5 g
carb - 5.1 g
Calcium - 75.8 mg
Iron - 9.5 mg

So they do have some nutrional value. But it can be greatly increased but gutloading them. You also see that they are high in protein which isn't good for Uros.

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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

That is one reason. Another is because of the fact that crickets generally carry a good amount of calcium which is crucial for hatchlings to acquire while they are growing. Their softer, weaker bones require a small dosage of calcium in order to grow healthy. I personally believe 3 crickets is too much for one uromastyx to consume every week. A healthy diet should consist of maybe one a week. Also, I wouldn't ever feed my mali kale, although it is something they enjoy. Unfortunately, kale has the potential of binding calcium within their systems. Supposedly romaine lettuce has no nutritional value though as it only holds too much water.

i've read that you can feed younger mali's a few crickets like every few weeks but I personally wouldn't make it a habbit, i give mine a cricket like every month and a half as a treat.