DeVackHerps said:
but i know they love greens, and seeds. (parakeet, cockateil)
I beg to differ here. Seeds larger than parakeet seed is bad, bad, bad and can cause impaction. Most cockatiel blends on the market have sunflower seeds in them which would be very bad for the Mali. So NO 'TIEL seed, ever.
DeVackHerps said:
ive seen a full grown mali crack glass with a tail whip.
I have never, ever heard of a Mali, even a large adult, tail whip hard enough to crack glass. In fact I've never seen a Mali do anything that even looks like tail whipping. I have had them thrash a bit when I pick them up but it's nothing I'd call actual tail whipping. In fact I've never even seen a large iguana crack glass with a tail whip. I have seen Iggys break their tails while whipping the glass but for a Mali to crack glass, well I'm from Missouri and you have to SHOW ME because I don't believe it.
If your Mali isn't eating, here are a few pointers that should help you get him/her to eat.
They need a super hot basking area from about 110° to 130° with the cool side going down to around 80° during the day. At night turn off the heat light and let the whole cage cool down to around 80°. They like tight hides so give him several hides both on the hot side and on the cool side. Remember they are diggers so any rocks you place in the enclosure need to be placed on the bottom of the tank, not on top of the sand. He could, and will, dig under the rock, rock falls on Mali and you have a dead Mali.
Offer him leafy greens chopped up such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion leaves & flowers, romaine lettuce, etc. I also give mine Rep-Cal tortoise food on top of the greens. They love it.
They do not need water in their enclosure. Keeping a water dish in their enclosure will only cause tail rot. They get all the moisture they need from their greens. I make the "salad" and I always mist it with water so there are water droplets all over the food.
Now if your animal isn't eating, that's another story. I would soak him/her in about 1" of lukewarm water for 15-20 minutes and let him drink if he wants to each day until he is eating well. It will also aid in his shed as you stated you think he is shedding.
I find that the problems many people have with the uromastyx in general is that they don't give them a proper basking area. People think that a 90° basking area is okay but the animal isn't warm enough and therefore won't eat.
As for color, your animal won't color up, even if it's an adult, until it has warmed up under the heat light. So if you're heat light isn't getting him warm enough, he will never color up. Now if it's a female, it won't color up but will stay brown. I have seen some high yellow females but they are in the minority.
So tomorrow check your temps under his basking light and see if that's where your problem lies.
Good luck with the little guy, they are neat, neat critters and very docile.
