Unexpected Breeding

Hi, all. I run a pair of small pet stores in Florida. Before everyone flames me (because yes, I know that most pet stores don't have a clue how to properly care for their reptiles!!) please let me say that I've been doing herps most of my life. We rescue snakes and iguanas and ferrets and...well, just about anything else that needs help.

Our breeder sent us (what he thought was) two young male urys, one yellow mali and one yellow niger. They're in a large tank, so we've always kept them together. They snuggle together under the lights, eat ravenously, and show no signs of aggression toward each other. They've grown well, and are the sweetest things!

Fast forward nearly a year...and suddenly I find that my niger is doing the wild thing with my mali! "He" (obviously a she) is now starting to get chubby, so we definitely have eggs on the way.

I have an incubator ready to go, but I know that a ury's requirements are different from a bearded dragon's. My question is: How? What temps and humidity should I prepare? How long will my mali gestate, and how long after laying will it take the eggs to hatch (if they're fertile)? What should I feed the hatchlings, and how much? (Probably a stupid question, as hatchlings are always voracious.) Anything else you can tell me?

I appreciate your help, and look forward to any feedback and advice you can offer.


Jo O'Brien
Rainforest Pet Stores

First off congrats!
And now here goes........They usually lay a dozen to 20 eggs.
Put the eggs in damp vermiculite and incubate at about 86 with relative humidity.
In about 100 days you should have some babies hatching.
They are born very weak and don't have a high survival rate.
They eat the same as adults just chopped very little. And they eat alot of little crickets as hatchlings.
This info is coming from the book:
"The guide to owning Uromastyx." By Jerry G. Walls

By the way, Gestation is anywhere from 30 to 60 days!

Thanks very much for the quick reply!

Could you please define "relative humidity?" I got a good digital thermometer/hygrometer, so I'll be able to closely monitor the temps and the humidity. How much humidity is the proper amount?

I'm assuming, same as with beardies, it's pinhead or 1-week old crickets to start, with finely processed veggies. Separate tank, of course, so the proud parents don't mistake them for lunch. And a fairly small tank, at first, so they don't have to work so hard for their crickets. Misting at least 3x a day, etc. until they're big enough to drink from a shallow bowl.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks again!!

Oh.......do the babies need it as hot as the adults? If not, what would be their optimal temps as they grow?

Thanks!!

I used to breed Malis.

I incubated the eggs at 92 degrees.

Doug Dix (Uromastyx Guru) incubates at 92-94 degrees.

Look up Deer Fern Farms, which is Doug Dix business. He hatches a bunch of them every year.

Doug

93 degrees + or - 1 is were you need to be. Deerfernfarms.com is the perfect place to go. He can tell you anything.

I would really love to hear how this went for you. I have never heard of accidental Uro Breeding. I have always heard it was really quite tough.

I am also curious to see if your Mali and Niger had fertile eggs.