Bearded dragon urate covered in bright orange/red crystals??

[maurid]

Hi friends. My big boy Jeremy (3yrs old) pooped today after about 7 days and it was not looking good. Last time he pooped it was normal, brown & a long white urate, but this time after giving him calcium w/ d3 three times last week instead of my usual 1 time, his urate came out covered in this red/orange crystal like slime. The red you see isn’t blood, it’s literally just like hard crystals that scrape off the urate showing it’s normal white color?

He has an appointment at the vet this saturday at 10am, but i’m so concerned since this is the first time ever that his poop has been this bright orange/ red.

I’ve read that adult beardies should get calcium everyday, then other places they say 5 days a week, then some say 3, but it seems like when i follow the 1 day a week calcium rule for adults i have the best luck. But then i get terrified of MBD so i end up upping it out of fear.

Do you think his kidneys are okay? Maybe it’s just excessive calcium?

Freaking out here.

 

[AshlyLover]

Orange colour in the urates indicates excess calcium in the diet , it precipitates in the urates as very fine orange coloured calcium oxalate crystals .

 

[maurid]

Orange colour in the urates indicates excess calcium in the diet , it precipitates in the urates as very fine orange coloured calcium oxalate crystals .

Thank you for your response!

Do you think it’s anything to worry about? I have his vet appointment in 2 days and i’m wondering if i should keep it or just stop using calcium for a couple weeks and then going back to once a week?

 

[Claudiusx]

How much calcium are you giving right now per week?

What is that in the background of your picture. A dehumidifier inside the tank?
Can you give more details on it?

-Brandon

 

[maurid]

How much calcium are you giving right now per week?

What is that in the background of your picture. A dehumidifier inside the tank?
Can you give more details on it?

-Brandon

Hi Brandon, thank you for your response!
Yes, it’s a dehumidifier for his tank, his humidity levels are always between 10%-25%, so i just keep it inside of his tank just in case.

About three weeks ago I saw on a website that adult beardies should only get calcium once a week, so I began only giving him calcium once a week and his multivitamin once a week.
Then i read somewhere else that adult beardies should get calcium 3-5 times a week, so i started getting worried about him possibly not getting enough calcium so i began upping his dosage again.

So last week I gave him calcium three times and yesterday was his first bowel movement in 7 days.

Prior to his poop yesterday and the previous week of three days with calcium, his poop was normal, brown and white with no red/ orange crystals.

It wasn’t until i began giving him 3 days of calcium last week (dusted dubia roaches) that i saw his urate this way

 

[Claudiusx]

That is a pretty low humidity level. I would remove the dehumidifier. It sounds like it's not needed.

Can you tell me the brand and model it is?

For an adult, calcium 3x a week is sufficient. Are you dusting the feeders or the salad? I always prefered to dust the feeders as it's easy to over dust the salad.

-Brandon

 

[maurid]

That is a pretty low humidity level. I would remove the dehumidifier. It sounds like it's not needed.

Can you tell me the brand and model it is?

For an adult, calcium 3x a week is sufficient. Are you dusting the feeders or the salad? I always prefered to dust the feeders as it's easy to over dust the salad.

-Brandon

Okay thank you i’ll remove the humidifier and see how that goes.

It’s a deva dry personal humidifier, not useful for big places like rooms or living rooms but good for a small enclosed space. I bought it for the winter time when it’s cold and rainy here in Los Angeles.

I dust his dubia roaches, i feed him about 8 roaches 2-3 times a week and dust them.

Maybe im dusting too much? I read adults only need 1 day of calcium since it’s less likely they’ll develop MBD or anything when they’re older. I always only sprinkle a little on his roaches, or so i thought, maybe i’m just giving too much calcium and being a bit heavy handed?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, it may be too dry in there for him so he might be a bit dehydrated. Most of the
time, adults benefit & need calcium several times per week. What brand of calcium powder
are you using & does it contain D3 at all?
Which multivitamin do you use, what brand is that?
What brand of UVB are you using for him?

Tracie

 

[Claudiusx]

No 3 times a week is a proper amount for an adult. You are dusting the right amount. And if the roaches are just lightly coated, you should be good on that.

1 off poo's happen occasionally. This might be just a 1 time occurence.

Curiously, what do you feed your roaches? And what salad items does your dragon eat?
How do you hydrate?

-Brandon

 

[AshlyLover]

Orange colour in the urates indicates excess calcium in the diet , it precipitates in the urates as very fine orange coloured calcium oxalate crystals .

Thank you for your response!

Do you think it’s anything to worry about? I have his vet appointment in 2 days and i’m wondering if i should keep it or just stop using calcium for a couple weeks and then going back to once a week?

its not much to worry about just go back into the normal diet ,if you wanna give them more calcium slowly integrate it over several weeks instead of all at once if you get what i mean

 

[maurid]

No 3 times a week is a proper amount for an adult. You are dusting the right amount. And if the roaches are just lightly coated, you should be good on that.

1 off poo's happen occasionally. This might be just a 1 time occurence.

Curiously, what do you feed your roaches? And what salad items does your dragon eat?
How do you hydrate?

-Brandon

Yeah you’re right, it sure does freak you out when they poop weird. And plus they can’t talk so you’re just left confused n worried!

I feed my dubia roaches a roach chow that i got from dubiaroaches.com.

I feed my beardie butter squash, curly mustard greens, turnip greens and collard greens daily, even though he only eats the butternut squash the most!

Also i hydrate him once a week with a syringe full of 0.2ml of water, then i give him baths twice a week and wet his salad bowl and greens daily

 

[maurid]

Hello,

I agree, it may be too dry in there for him so he might be a bit dehydrated. Most of the
time, adults benefit & need calcium several times per week. What brand of calcium powder
are you using & does it contain D3 at all?
Which multivitamin do you use, what brand is that?
What brand of UVB are you using for him?

Tracie

Hi Tracie, thank you for your response!

Yes it does contain D3. I use Repti calcium with d3 as my calcium supplement and I use Rep-Cal Herptivite as his multivitamin

It’s about 9am where I am and his humidity is at 39% now

Also I use a zoomed 10.0 for his uvb that i replace every 6 months

 

[maurid]

Update: My chunky boy pooped again today, two days since his last poop that was red/ orange and it’s normal!!

All i’ve feed him is 3 dubia roaches and his daily salad two days ago and just his daily salad yesterday, i haven’t given him any calcium!