In my "Least You Should Know About Uromastyx" section (a.k.a. "LYSK"), I had previously stated that both lettuce and insects are bad for uromastyx.
I was attempting to break down care information into the shortest form possible. The downside of this was that it made everything into a very cut-and-dry, black-and-white thing. But my reasoning for doing so came out of frustrations with meeting people on the internet who didn't take the time to read the detailed care information that is available and thus, did not take proper care of their uros. I had hoped that breaking everything down into short form would at least help.
But it has been pointed out to me that the more detailed care information available does not say that insects are simply "bad." In fact, many uro owners do feed the occasional cricket for protein (in addition to the daily mix of fresh vegetables, of course). And I had to admit that feeding crickets a few times per month is certainly not unhealthy. The problem occurs when ignorant owners and pet stores attempt to feed uromastyx an all-insect diet, which is unhealthy since uromastyx are primarily herbivorous. On the other hand, Draga, my Mali, won't touch crickets and I have never had a problem from not feeding them to her. And so, I figured that if I could simply discourage people from feeding insects altogether, then at least their uros would get a herbivorous diet, rather than a totally incorrect one.
I realized, though, that I could modify this statement and have it still make sense. Thus, I went from saying that insects are "bad" to saying that they should not make up a large portion of a uro's diet.
Onto the lettuce issue... I've fed my uro iceberg lettuce before and yet, I said that lettuce is "bad" for uros. The thing is, there is sometimes a reason to feed lettuce to a uro. Hydration. If I were to have placed a dish of water in her terrarium, it would evaporate in the intense heat and make the air humid, putting her at risk of respiratory infections. Thus, if I think that she is slightly dehydrated, I'll put a few small pieces of iceberg lettuce into her salad.
The lettuce issue wasn't one that other people questioned, but since I was making modifications, I wanted to modify that statement, too.
I also added several other statements that had not previously been included: that dark, leafy greens should make up the bulk of a uro's diet; that, if you do choose to feed your uro insects, you should "gut load" them first; that vitamin supplements such as Rep-Cal's Calcium with D3 (with the pink label) and Herptivite (with the blue label) should be offered. I felt that these were necessary statements and should not have been neglected in the original version (although all of this is covered in the care section.
And this is my reasoning for making modifications to my "Least You Should Know" section. Chances are, though, that if you've taken the time to read through all of this, you've taken the time to read through detailed, extensive care information, too!
PS: To call more emphasis to the LYSK section, I also added a text generator at the top of the main page, highlighting a different fact each time you visit my site.
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