Abnormal urate

[sirenique]

While giving Bones a bath today, I noticed an atypical urate. His fecal matter looked normal (green, squishy-solid, healthy, well-formed)... but the urate! The yellowish part is hard, but I can break it apart with my fingers. The white part feels normal in consistency. He had a little trouble passing this urate today, but went right back to basking under his perch when he was finished in the bath.

Background, because I know you'll ask hehe: Bones is male, 3.5 years old. He is a free-range lizard, meaning he has a basking spot that reaches optimum temperatures, and is otherwise free to run around my apartment so he can explore, get exercise, and cool down when he needs to. I keep the ambient temp in the apartment at 77degF to 80degF, but there are cooler places that he can seek out if he's feeling overwhelmed. He has a heat bulb and a UVB bulb that I just replaced in January (ReptiGlo 10.0 linear bulb).

He is usually a healthy eater, and receives a salad every day of a green of choice (collard/kale/mustards) with a little bit of the hydrated Reptile Munchies Omnivore Mix included, or a random combo of blueberries/peas/squash/applesauce/pumpkin puree/corn/cukes/celery with mealworms or rehydrated crickets, just to keep things fresh and keep him interested. I do not regularly leave water out for him because he never drinks it, but I give him baths typically every 2-3 days and sometimes (like once a week) he'll take a quick sip from the bath water. I try to make up for his lack of drinking by including celery/cukes in his salads often. He has been eating a little less than normal and going to bed about an hour earlier than normal, but has only started doing this since mid-December and this is typical behavior for him at this time of year. He has never really brumated, and so I usually interpret this behavior seasonally as his way of semi-brumating. Otherwise, he is active, is exhibiting lots of energy and no signs of stress. At night I turn the apartment temp down to about 73degF, but he either sleeps on my sternum or I have a heating pad that I cover with a several layers of sheets that he likes to snuggle on.

So what's up with the urate? I'm assuming some kind of dehydration?? I was thinking about bathing him daily for at least 10-20 minutes in order to assist in maintaining normal hydration. I saved the urate in case things don't improve or in case this leads to a vet visit. Thanks, guys!

 

[sue09]

Are you sure its a male? that looks a bit like a infertile egg or slug as its called. Hope you find out for sure what it is.

 

[sirenique]

He's definitely a dude, with big ol' femoral pads, hemipenes, and everything~

 

[Tonja]

If you are using the reptiglo, its the wrong UVB. those are known to cause digestive, eye and other health problems in beardies. What you need is the reptiSUN 10.0 TUBE mounted in his tank, where he can get to within 6-8 inchs of it. The UVB could be the culprit along with possibly to much calcium, adult beardies only need calcium dusting 3 times a week. if you are dusting daily then I would cut back on the calcium. I would also cut back on the kale as it binds calcium and they cant properly utilize the calcium they get. Hope this helps some.

 

[Taterbug]

Strange looking, had it been awhile since he pooed and has it happened again? If it was a one time thing it might not be a big deal.

What is your calcium regimen? As tonja pointed out too much calcium can discolor the urates. So can some foods, and dehydration.

Kale isn't so bad if it's part of a diet that also includes other greens, the oxalate concern is overblown IMHO. A few comments: Corn really isn't so useful as a food item. Cucumbers and celery are a good way to add moisture and live bugs would probably be more beneficial than reconstituted dried ones.

How do you keep after his poops with him being free range? It sounds like a neat setup.

 

[sirenique]

Tonja, thank you for the reminder about the UVB lamp - his last bulb was the ReptiSun and I clearly purchased the wrong one in January. It will be replaced tomorrow after his vet appointment!! For clarification, kale is a "sub-green" (not his main diet, but included from time to time) I use to switch up the greens when he gets sick of mustards and collards. I personally eat a lot of kale so it's always around my apartment. I follow the Beautiful Dragons guide when creating his salad, as well as guidelines from my vet who is the main vet for the nearby city zoo. See below for info on calcium regimen.

Tater, I agree with you about the oxalate issue, and I definitely include items with oxalates in his diet, but I use them in a smaller ratios than things like collards/mustards, etc. To give you a little bit of clarification (sorry, I was pretty itemized in my initial post) Bones gets the reconstituted proteins about 1-2 times a week, usually on mornings where I'm in a rush. Otherwise I have my own mealworm colony set up appropriately balance for calcium, which allows me to bypass actually dusting the salads or live proteins. Maybe it's time to replace my colony if it's a calcium issue? In the summer I'll give Bones live crickets because I can keep them on my balcony, but it is winter now so I only included my winter dietary info I will discuss with my vet tomorrow about changing the gutload regimen for the mealworms if this is a calcium issue.

Bones has pooped twice since -- the first time the urate was looking more normal; I just pooped him in the bath and I saw a smaller version of what I posted about. I have a vet appt tomorrow morning and have bagged everything Bones has passed... Nothing says love like reaching past a box of bagged lizard poop in your fridge while reaching for the container of almond milk haha!! About the free ranging, Bones will always go to the bathroom during a bath, but he has miraculously trained himself to poop on a towel I leave out for him. I think he likes the physicality of wiping his vent when he's finished haha, what a little diva. If you ever want more info on my free-range setup, shoot me a PM and I'd be happy to talk further about it! Thank you so much for your reply it means a lot to me! I was mostly scared this was a big renal issue that required immediate attention, but you've given me a lot of great topics to discuss while at the vet, and I really appreciate it.

 

[Taterbug]

You defiantly sound to have a good handle on the diet situation! It's also great you are getting him seen by the vet, good luck tomorrow, I hadn't thought about renal issues. hopefully it's no big deal and just a few off poops.