I added this page to post what some successful breeders and keepers
of Uromastyx do for there Hibernation, Brumation. Hibernation, Brumationseems to be
a key factor of getting many species of the Uromastyx to breed.
This information is provided for your information only. There is alwaysa risk
of death when cooling off Uromastyx for the winter. It should onlybe
attempted by those wishing to breed there Uro's and willing to takethe risk.
Authors posting there schedules on this page accept no liability
of loss of your animal, they are simply stating there schedules that
work with there Uromastyx to stimulate breeding.
Only attempt to Hibernate Brumate healthy adult animals.
Anyone wishing to add there Hibernation, Brumation schedule tothis page please
Email me. Jack Corzine, Le Roy Acres Web Services
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Ron Winkler
U.o.ocellata (Sudanese ocellates)
Summer: basking lights on for 12 hours, but as they receive alot of
outside light (close to a window) DL goes up to 15 hours.
Starting at the beginning of november:
1st week 11 hours
2nd week 10 hours, stop feeding
3rd week 8 hours
4th week till about 15 of december 6 hours
about 15 of December - till about 15 of January 3 hours
after the 15th of January I did the reverse of what I did in
november. I started to feed just a little at 6 hours of baskingand feed
normally at 10. After getting them started on greens I included
quite some insects for a while, especially locusts.
Worked really well for me last year. Both females were gravid.
Hope it'll work again this year (or I should say next year).
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One small note: The both scattered the eggs instead of laying
them in the provided box. I recently read an article on carpet
chameleons in which they stated that they only got natural
oviposition (i.e. digging of tunnels before laying eggs) aftera certain
period of brumation. Without this brumation the animals would
scatter their (fertile) eggs. While it could be that in my casethey
just didn't like the box, it may also be that while my brumationwas
good enough to get breeding it may still not be perfect.
Both their observation and if this has any relation to Uro'sare
things I'm not sure about, but I thought I would share it anyway.
Note: If Uro's try to bask even long after the lights are off
(for instance lights on for 3 hours a day, Uro stays out one or two
hours after that) or they see a significant loss of weight it is best
not to continue with brumation.
Ron
Ron Winkler
winkler@rulbim.leidenuniv.nl
Leiden, The Netherlands
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Troy Jones
administrators note: Troy is no longer
breeding Uromastyx of any species. His information is being left on this page as
informational content only.
U.ornate 1998 Brumation schedule
November 29th 1998
Sifted sand in all enclosures of Uro's to be brumated to make sureno
food left in sand.
November 30th 1998
Stop feeding all who are going to brumate this year.
** Need to give them a couple weeks to pass the food in there stomachs,
prior to turning out the lights
December 13 1998
Cut out all lights on those who are going to brumate.
I did offer the U.ornates 4 hours of basking every Wednesday and
Saturday but no food was offered for the whole period.
U.ornates do not seem to go into a deep hibernation, seems like moreof
a brumation. I offer short basking time a couple times a week and did
observe them basking on many occasions.
January 3rd 1999
Reset Lights Start Feeding U.ornates
Observed breeding 02/27/99 - 04/16/99
The three female U.ornates I had lay eggs this year did so 4-6 weeks
after breeding.
Troy
Arlington, Texas
troyjones@home.com
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Jason Shanaman
I think Uros can start to be brumated anywhere from Nov. to Jan. I
usually start brumation in mid December. The description below is whatI
have used to successfully breed Sudan Ocellated and Mali Uromastyx.I
have had a Moroccan breed a Mali female without any manipulation of
their environment. 12 of 15 of their eggs did hatch, leading me to
believe that brumation isn't ABSOLUTELY necessary for successful
breeding, but I think it does yield better results. I have also brumated
Egyptian Uromastyx in the same manner. Males attempted to breed , but
the females were a bit small and would not allow copulation to take
place. This schedule has been very reliable for me in the past three
years. Below is the basic outline.
1. I start by reducing the photoperiod to 8 hours of light instead of
14, which is what I use roughly. I alow the temps at night to dropto
the low to mid sixties. All heating is the same wattage. I do not reduce
the daytime heat at all yet. But remember, the temp is dropped at night.
I also reduce feeding to maybe three times a week. I keep them likethis
for two weeks. Most start to slow down after a week of this schedule.
2. Now I reduce the daytime heat approximately 15 degrees. Thenight
temperature remains in the low to mid sixties.
I don't use any fluorescent bulbs during this time. I feel they tendto
keep the animals active. I only use an incandescent bulb to heat the
cage. My cages are usually 3 feet by 2 feet or four by two feet. During
this time a 40 watt bulb is used. I normally use 100 or 150 watt bulbs.
Keep in mind that all of my cages are open top style. There are nolids.
Heat is not trapped at all. Humidity is very low in these types of
cages.
Ambient temperature is usually around 72 degrees. Their basking spotis
still warm, but not even close to normal. Food may be offered maybe
twice a week, but they usually show no interest. Food is not necessary
and the animals will do fine without it. I didn't offer any food lastyear and
they all did fine. If food is offered, a semi warm basking spot mustbe available.
In my experience, the photoperiod reversal and cool night temps arewhat
cause the animals to go dormant. Some lizards are seen on occasionbasking,
but for the most part they stay hidden. I believe a semi warm baskingspot is
essential in any case. If I notice any animal that is constantly baskingor is always
sleeping out waiting to bask, I remove them. This is almost alwaysthe sign of a
sick uro or one who does not wish to brumate.
3. Two and a half months later I return everything to normal conditions.
I feel that these conditions are similar towild conditions, maybe
not to a tee, but they do seem to work pretty safely.
Jason
jasonshanaman@webtv.net
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Eric & Suzy Sorin
This is what we did with our malis last year, and it worked, so we'rein
the process of putting them through the same cycle:
Pre-brumation: basking ~120F - 130F, 12 hrs. light
Day 1: all feed removed, down to 8 hrs. light, basking temp of 100F- 110F
Day 8: down to 6 hrs. light, basking temp of ~85F, water dish addedto
increase humidity (similar to hiugher burrow humidity)
Day 15: all UV and heat off, for 6-8 weeks (house temps ranged from65F at
night to 75+ during the day)
Day 64: up to 6 hrs. light, basking temp of ~85F, water dishremoved
Day 71: up to 8 hrs. light, basking temp of 100F - 110F, feed offerredin
small quanitites during "waking" period
Day 78: basking ~120F - 130F, 12 hrs. light
Courtship began ~2-3 weeks later (~Day 100)
Copulation was witnessed 6 weeks after return to normal conditions
Female 1 layed 10 eggs total, 8 fertile beginning 12 weeks after returnto
normal conditions (oviposition occurred over 2-3 days)
Female 2 was not brumated, but was mated by the male and produced 20eggs.
These were removed postmortem as she became eggbound. Treatment with
neocal did not help. We believe the binding was due toher smaller size.
Seems the males really need to go down much more so than the females...we're
brumating warmer this year due to the unexpectedly late onset of Fall,and
all animals have gone down just fine, with daytime temps in the 80Frange.
Eric & Suzy
Karnivor@aol.com
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Mark Walsh
Info on brumation. U.acanthinurus werneri, U.benti,
U.benti.ssp(mountain/rainbow), U.maliensis, U.ocellatus
Nov. 1 reduce light to 8 hours per day
2nd week turn off secondary heat lamp(I use 2 heat
lamps per 4 ft. cage.)and reduce feeding to 3 times
per week.
3rd week cut back light to 6 hours per day and stop
feeding greens, keep bowl of bean mix and dry alfalfa
or timothy hay in cage.
4th week turn off heat lamp, leave flourescent on.
Dec. 1 turn off flourescent. Night temps are about 65
deg. Day time in the low 70's.
Lights remain off during the week and on weekends I
will turn on 1 heat lamp and the flourescent for about
4 hours, Sat. and Sun. This will alow them to pass any
fecal matter still inside of them(which can be toxic
if not expeled)
Feb. 1 turn flourescents back on.
2nd week turn on 1 heat lamp for about 6 to 8 hours a
day and begin normal feeding.
3rd to 4th week turn on 2nd heat lamp, increase light
to 10 hrs. a day and begin feeding insects twice a
week.
NOTE: 2nd heat lamp is on for about 5 hrs. a day.
Mar. 1 light is increased to 12 hrs. per day.
Apr. 1 light is increased to 14 hrs. per day.
Breeding usually begins in March.