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I just received a couple young philbyi this morning from Kevin Switzer (great guy, highly recommended) of Switzer reptiles out of CA. Regardless of the cold weather they came out of the box and bag alert and ready to roll.

So far so good!

(apologies for the crappy images--shooting under mixed and MVB lighting is a major pain)












Crossing my fingers for a pair!

Matt

Congratulations Matt. They look great. Are they in the new enclosure?

Thanks Tom! Currently they are in the new six footer but I've been toying with the idea of swapping them with my larger Ornates, which are in the four footer. Not sure yet...

Hey guys, I just wanted to post an update and pose a question for those with more experience. First, the smaller/lighter of the two weighed in at 18g a month ago and is now at 24g while the larger/darker of the two was at 25g and is now at 29g. They are both doing great. And now the question: The darker individual is up earlier than all my other uros and tends to stay out basking all day, while the others all seem to be less active overall (I'm chalking this up to brumation). The other morning I noticed when the lighter individual awoke and slowly began leaving the hide, just beneath the basking area, the darker individual did a couple quick spins right above the other on the basking rock. She wasn't moving at the time, rather being pretty still with half her body poking out from beneath the rock just soaking in the heat. Generally speaking, as I understand, this could mean one of two things, either it's a sign of aggression or part of a courting ritual. Obviously they are much too young for the latter, but I was curious if maybe it was something else, only because they seem to cohabitate just fine often basking and eating together. Does this seem like a sign of aggression to anyone? Have any of you witnessed this type of behavior with young uros before? I also noticed similar behavior the first day I got them when the darker of the two did a few head bobs--this was within 15 min of being in the enclosure.

Thanks!

Matt

Could be aggression. Uros are notorious for not being able to cohabitate. I know many of you have been told otherwise but sooner or later there will be a problem whether it be as subtle and one of the animals not coming out to bask and eat or all out fighting. I have even seen this in aniamls only a few weeks old. You need to watch them all the time. How large are the animals? I highly doubt they are sexable as they look like animals less than a year old. If they were sent to you as a pair I would be pretty leary about whether they were sexed correctly. Just watch them and seperate if need be.

Tom Greb

Thanks for your input, Tom. I do understand that they are not necessarily social animals, I just have them housed together while they are young in hopes that they will get along well enough; I know very well that the probability of separating them in the future is pretty high. At this point I'd guess they are only a few months old (owned them for one mo), are right around 6.5" or so and are not sexed, this was known from the get go. I'll be monitoring physical signs as well as keeping close track of weight and if I see further signs of aggression or submission I will separate them. Either way, I suppose I should start building a couple more enclosures just in case...

Matt

Matt for your info from other breeders I have talked with you have a better chance of them getting on fine if you keep them together from the get-go like you are doing. Just keep an eye out for any decline. Also philbyi do seem to be one of the species that is a bit easier to cohabitate.

Tom

Yeah, that's the idea anyway (starting them off together while young). Of course if they happen to both be males it wouldn't make an ounce of difference so here's to hoping for a pair. On another note I had plans to build another six foot enclosure anyway, which would allow for an additional basking spot, which should keep stress down a bit. I didn't think it would work without raising ambient temps too high but as it turns out I get a 125-130f basking spot on one end, an ambient of right around 90-93f in the middle and ~115-120f basking spot on the opposite end with ambient temps in the mid to high 90's around both basking rocks/hides. The only issue is only one of the two spots will offer UVB, which wouldn't be so bad assuming they will take turns or share it. I'll see how it works out with my Ornates.

Thanks again!

My benti cages arew set up pretty much the same way.