How to Heat Uromastyx Lizard Habitats

Uromastyx lizards live in desert regions where they can enjoy and bask in the hot and dry air. If you want to keep a Uromastyx lizard at home as a pet, recreating these hot and dry desert conditions is necessary for your lizard's survival. Follow these steps to properly heat the habitat of a Uromastyx lizard.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cage
• Heat stone
• Sandstones
• Ceramic heat lamp
• 2 digital thermometers

1. Put a heat stone in your Uromastyx lizard's cage. The heat stone will give the lizard a warm place on which to bask. In addition, the Uromastyx lizard will use the flat surface of the heat stone as a place to lay and digest its food.

2. Pile several sandstones up to make a small cave for your Uromastyx lizard. Be sure to use the heat stone as the base of one side of the cave. The cave will give your Uromastyx lizard a place for to lie down and get some shade, yet still receive the necessary heat from the nearby heat stone.

3. Place a ceramic heat lamp on top of your Uromastyx lizard's cage above the area of the cave from Step 2. Point the heat lamp down towards the cave so the light shines on the cave itself. The heat lamp helps keep the basking area near the cave at a warm enough temperature for the Uromastyx lizard. The proper heat level serves an important part in helping the Uromastyx lizard digest its food.

4. Use two digital thermometers to monitor the temperatures inside your Uromastyx lizard's cage. Place one digital thermometer near the basking area and the cave. This area needs to have a temperature of at least 120 degrees F. Place a second digital thermometer on the other side of the cage to measure the ambient temperature of the cage. The cage should have an ambient temperature of between 80 and 90 degrees F during the daytime hours.

Tips & Warnings

• See related eHow article titled "Supplement a Uromastyx Lizard's Diet."
• Keeping the proper temperatures in a Uromastyx lizard's habitat is crucial to the animal's survival. If you don't maintain the proper temperatures, your Uromastyx lizard can die.

[emmylouandnick]

on 5/24/2009 How do I know what type of ants to feed my Uro,even though he is 8 yrs old, he still would rather have crickets than fruit sand romaine lettuce,(he will not eat spinach or collard greens!), which we alternate days! We have decided to try ants, to see how or if he likes them,but we dont know what kind or where to get them. Also does anyone have an oppion on maybe breeding him, the local pet store says he might be too big and old now.

[UROMASTYXsaver]

on 10/22/2008 Steps 1 and 2 are false. Do NOT ever for any reason even consider using a heat rock in a any reptile or snake cage, no matter what. Heat rocks are dangrous and could easily burn your reptile (or other animal) beacuse they are not the same temp accross the surface area. They develop hot spots which are very dangerous to reptile laying on what it expects to be an evenly heated area (i.e surface area is same temp) - DON'T DO IT! Use a ceramic, it will heat up the surface of the stone you put under it and that works better and it's cheaper!