Many uromastyx owners start worrying when they see that their uromastyx is not growing at all. There can be various reasons why your uromastyx is not growing. In this post, you will find possible reasons on why a uromastyx is not growing, what to do if uromastyx won’t grow and tips to help it grow faster.
Reason #1: Your uromastyx is not eating enough
As simple as it might sound, your uromastyx won’t grow if it’s not eating enough. You should feed your young uromastyx under 3-4 years old every day, but once it becomes an adult – at 4+ years old, you might feed 3-6 days a week only. This will ensure that no food is left undigested – healthy digestion will ensure a healthy appetite.
However, if your uromastyx eats almost only a little to nothing, there might be an issue. Lack of appetite might be caused by various issues or even due to a wrong setup. One of them might be that your uromastyx doesn’t like the food you offer, so it only eats a little not to starve, but doesn’t eat until it’s full.
Eating only a little will lead to slow growth. In the wild, lack of food causes a very slow growth rate – captive animals grow much faster due to good nutrition.
If your uromastyx doesn’t eat much – try to offer various types of foods to see what your uromastyx likes. But always make sure that leafy greens are the staple of the diet.
Low or very high temperatures in the tank might also cause poor appetite (low temps) or stress and dehydration (very high temps). Shedding or gravid uromastyx might also refuse food for a period of time. Make sure to have a basking spot on one side of the tank and measure temperatures with both digital thermometers and an infrared handheld thermometer like this.
Read all about the diet and best foods for uromastyx here.
Reason #2: Not enough protein in the diet
While uromastyx are not built to consume and digest much protein, they still need some amounts to grow properly. In the wild, they sometimes consume bugs, but in captivity, it’s better to offer high protein legumes and vegetables instead.
Once a week (or twice a week if your uromastyx eats daily), you can offer higher protein foods to aid growth. Uromastyx love beans and especially lentils (raw split lentils or whole sprouted lentils). You can also offer some bee pollen once a week for an extra protein and vitamin source. Don’t forget about supplementation.
Offer legumes once to twice a week – but make sure your uromastyx has eaten some greens first. For babies under 3 months old, you can crush the lentils in the food processor and sprinkle the food with lentil dust 1-2 times a week. For baby uromastyx over 4 months old, you can offer split lentils, whole sprouted lentils for protein. Beans and peas are also good for a protein source.
However, please do not offer a lot of high protein foods, as this will lead to kidney problems. Uromastyx should not consume too much protein. Ca:P ratio is also important, as well as amounts of oxalates and goitrogens in the food.
Find a full list of best foods for uromastyx here.
Reason #3: Your uromastyx has a parasitic infection
Parasitic infections stunt the growth of uromastyx and cause weight loss and general stress to the organism. Parasites can also cause diarrhea, bloody stool and wasting of the organism. Please get digital kitchen/jewelry scales that weigh up to 0.1 or 0.01 gram like this and keep the diary.
Weigh your uromastyx once in 2 weeks to see if your uromastyx is gaining (or even losing weight). Normally, uromastyx should gain a few grams each month.
If your uromastyx is growing slowly or not at all, seems lethargic and is losing weight, please take it to the vet immediately for parasitic testing. Before you take your uromastyx to the vet, take its fresh poop for an examination.
Poop must be fresh and often less than 2-3 hours old, as some parasites do not survive longer than that. Put it in the fridge to keep fresh and take to the vet as soon as possible within few hours.
Reason #4: Improper living conditions
If the living conditions are not ideal, your uromastyx will have growing issues, become stressed, unhappy and even possibly ill. Make sure you have a basking spot with temperatures 131-140 Fahrenheit (55-60 Celsius), with the cool spot temperatures of 80-85 F (26.6-29.4 C).
Also, you must have a high output UVB light (10-12%) and a bright light to help produce vitamin D, promote healthy behaviors and stimulate appetite. UVB bulbs must be changed every 5-6 months, while tubes – 10-12 months.
Humidity in the tank should be low (20-30%) and you must feed your uromastyx fresh greens, vegetables and some legumes. Please use digital thermometers and hygrometers to measure temperatures and humidity, as well an infrared thermometer for extra accuracy. Don’t rely on analog/stick on equipment as it’s very inaccurate. Also use a thermostat to control temperatures in the tank and avoid overheating.
Stress also plays a big role in how happy your uromastyx is and whether it’s developing normally. If your uromastyx is stressed, it will refuse food, hide more and generally develop issues.
Stress can be caused by too much handling, very bright light, too much noise and more. Small tank might also cause a lot of stress – an adult should be housed in a minimum 48x24x24 inches (122x61x61cm). Egyptian uromastyx need a tank that is at least 72x36x36 (183cmx91x91cm), as they get much bigger.
It’s however better to keep babies in a smaller tank at first and move to a bigger one later. That’s because babies might get stressed and overwhelmed in a big tank.
While the tank size doesn’t directly stunt the growth, it can lead to incorrect living conditions that will affect the growth and well-being. You might start with the smaller tank and switch to the final one after a year or so as well.
Reason #5: Uromastyx are slow growers
In general, uromastyx grow very slowly, mainly because they are strictly vegetarian and don’t consume much protein. Uromastyx are one of the most slow growing lizards.
A uromastyx is considered an adult at 4-5 years of age, so if your uromastyx is younger than that, there is still more growth to expect. If your uromastyx is eating, pooping and basking normally, it should grow until it reaches adulthood. Make sure to keep a diary and weigh your uromastyx every 2 weeks. If it’s gaining a gram by gram, then it’s all fine.
Some people also confuse species and expect their uromastyx to grow bigger. Various uromastyx species reach different maximum sizes.
You can find a list of species and their maximum size in this post.
Summary:
First of all, make sure to confirm what species of uromastyx you have. Check what maximum size they reach. Some lizards don’t grow much and then have growth spurts for the period of few months.
Make sure to review your setup and make sure that temperatures are ideal, and that there is a gradient and a temperature drop at night. The tank must not be too small, either, for ideal living conditions.
Review the diet as well, and make sure that you offer mainly greens and vegetables. But do not forget about a protein source – without protein your uromastyx won’t grow properly.
If you notice any other alarming symptoms, such as bloody or runny and smelly stool, lethargy, sunken eyes and others, take your uromastyx to a vet immediately.
Make sure to also take a fresh poop sample to the vet to make sure it’s not infected with parasites. Always do that with new animals, especially with wild caught ones. Quarantine new uromastyx and other reptiles for at least 3 months by keeping them separate from each other. Only agree to deworm your uromastyx if an infection has been confirmed. Otherwise, it can stunt growth.