My little sister's mali's tail is looking a little funny. I know they grow darker with age, but his tail is turning sort of a brownish color and it appears to be losing its spikeyness. We took him to one of our local exotics vets but I don't think she had ever dealt with uromastyx health issues before. She basically told us that since he was eating and he was fat that he was fine. I'm a little worried that his tail isn't shedding properly because although the rest of his body has been shedding his tail hasn't. I'll post some pictures of his tail, and if anyone knows what's going on or has any ideas on how to treat it, that would be wonderful!

Attached Images

IMG_1669.jpg (19.4 KB, 13 views)

If I recall losing tail spikes is due to improper shed,...but I may be wrong.
We have several Uro keepers here that may help.
They are going to ask you about the housing,...substrate, temps, humidity, lighting, etc.
It will save time if you go ahead and give them the run down!

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Thanks for the heads up! He's in a 70 gallon glass tank with bird seed substrate (mostly millet). He has a large half log to hide under, a flat rock under his basking spot to sit on, and a large piece of drift wood in the back of his enclosure to climb on. His humidity is about 15% (although it is probably lower since the gauge is reading 15% all over our house), his basking spot is 115 F and the cool side of his cage is 86 F. To heat his cage we are using a 150 Watt spotlight bulb, a 60 Watt ceramic heater, and an under the cage heater on the warm side of his cage. Hope this helps!

The basking site temp is kind of low. I would aim for around 130 F.
You should be supplying some kind of UVB light for him.
It's hard to tell exactly what could be wrong with the tail. If it had been burns the vet would have noticed.
The tail tends to shed less frequently than the rest of the body and a lot slower. Since it covers most of the tail area I highly doubt that it is dry rot.
It could be he is rubbing it on something like the rock. That would account for the worn down appearance as well as the darkened state.
Keep an eye on it and see if you can determine if it's getting worse or better.
On a side note. Birdseed does not make a good substrate. Sure big breeders use it. But that's because of it's tidyness not because it's good for the Uro. A mix of dirt and playsand is better.

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

I forgot to mention that in my above info, but she does have a UVB bulb on him as well, sorry about that. I'll be sure to change his substrate and raise his basking temps, and I'll keep an eye on his tail. Thank you so much for the help!

i think you should just monitor the tail daily and see if you see changes. looks to me like he/she may need to shed that tail. i would think that 15% humidity or lower is kinda too dry if its a year long constant. i am shure there are days in the wild that the humidity goes up and down not drasticly but I wouldnt think that mali africa stays the same humidity all year round as well as any other country. i would try to see if you can get that humidity up a little bit on occasion. if you change to sand that is easily done by pouring a bit in the sand near the hottest site in the enclosure. but dont over do it. add like 1/2 shot glass in the early afternoon and then check it 2-3 hrs later. if you need more wait untill it drys up again and then try a bit more water. then when you find a constant try it for a few days and then go back to normal for a month or 2 and then do it again
just a thought but im no professional

sometimes the problem with increasing the humidity for animals who do not require or cannot tolerate higher humidity is that sometimes the substrate can mold or it can lead to infection. i have a rosy boa and they are from very dry regions as well. they do not tolerate high humidity very well at all.

__________________

yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear