Uromastyx owners and fans go to great lengths to make sure their exotic pet lives in a fun and comfortable environment. Making sure the uromastyx heat temperature is right is a big part of this.
When making a home for your uromastyx, you need to think about a few things. Getting the heat temperature right is likely one of the most important things. They need everything to be just right where they live.
You need to know the right uromastyx heat temperature if they aren’t living in their natural environment.
Uromastyx Natural Habitat
Uromastyx comes from Northern Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia all the way to northwestern India. Because they live in a wide area, their natural habitats are different. Some like to live in rocky cracks, while others like to live in burrows or sand deserts.
Uromastyx comes in many different colors. Their heads and bodies are covered with small scales, and their tails have big, spikey scales. Uromastyx aegypticus can grow to be 30 inches long and weigh several pounds, but most are less than 14 inches long.
There are 20 different Uromastyx species and subspecies:
- acanthinura
- aegyptia aegyptia
- aegyptia leptieni
- aegyptia microlepsis
- alfredschmidti
- benti
- dispar dispar
- dispar flavifasciata
- dispar maliensis
- geyri
- macfadyeni
- nigriventris
- occidentalis
- ocellata
- ornata ornata
- ornata philbyi
- princeps
- thomasi
- yemenensis
What are ideal heat temperatures for uromastyx?
Uromastyx are used to living in hot deserts (ideal humidity around 10 percent to 25 percent ). The cage should have a hot spot where the heat temperature is over 120°F during the day, but the lizard should also be able to go to cooler places where the temperature is in the low 90s or 80s.
Spotlights with incandescent bulbs can provide warm places to warm up. Undertank heaters can be used to add more heat, but these animals are active during the day, so they keep their bodies warm by basking in the sun. Spotlights are a better approximation of how lizards that are active during the day get their heat.
Your Uromastyx needs to be in the sun or near a fluorescent light that gives off UVB. Most so-called full-spectrum lights don’t make UVB, and neither do plant grow lights.
There are several UVB lamps on the market, such as the ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 UVB fluorescent reptile Bulb and ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 UVB compact fluorescent Bulb. These two UVB lights need to be changed every year and should be placed at a maximum distance of 12 inches from the animal, with no plastic or glass screen between the lamp and the animal. Other UVB lamps include the T-Rex Active UV Heat and the ZooMed Powersun UV.
Your Uromastyx needs an ideal UVB and heat temperature, which these two lamps provide. They need to be changed every three years. The animal should be at least 6 feet away from the lamp, and you shouldn’t put a plastic or glass screen between the animal and the lamp.
Uromastyx is becoming more and more popular as pets because of their size, color, and the fact that they are usually pretty calm and friendly. Because of their size, what they need, and how long they live, these reptiles are intermediate-level pets. If you take good care of them, they can live up to 25 years! So make sure you know the right Uromastyx heat temperature.
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