Blood in urate

[MurderVictim]

For the past week, I've been seeing a little red in Wolfgang's urate. I didn't think much of it since he's been acting like his normal self, and he still is, but I'm certain now that a vet visit is in order. The problem is that, while my mom agrees with me, my dad seems to think it's not that serious and would rather I post here before he takes getting him to the vet more seriously. I don't know if it's parasites or what, but I know we need to get him into the vet as soon as we can, or at least get a fecal test done. Are there any ideas as to what it could be?

http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq125/Zims-Dragon/IMG_0450.jpg (It's dried out. I had to leave it there so my mom could see it when she got up to go to work)

I don' know if it's because he's reaching adulthood or because of whatever is wrong with him, but he's not going to the bathroom every day anymore. More like every other day or every third day. I normally put him in the bath and he goes right away.

- Wolfgang is about ten months old, 19-20 inches from snout to tail tip
- Temps: 103-108 on hot side, 85-90 on cool side
- The UVB bulb is a Repti-Halogen, 50 Watt (until we can get a new 100 Watt) I don't know if this is the problem, him not getting enough UVB. I broke the old bulb, and we've been using the 50 Watt for about a week and a half. The old one was about three months old and didn't seem to be giving him any issues.
- His daily diet includes mustard greens and collard greens, sometimes mixed with kale (he hasn't been eating much of it lately, though) and dusted crickets.
I try to give him a bath twice a week. He's shedding a little of his head now, so it's been changed to three times a week.

I know I should have addressed this earlier...Any ideas as to what's going on?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there...that looks more like the yellow tinge from dehydration. If you give a bath every day or every other day for a while, and dribble water on his nose while he's in there to get him to drink it should help. You might also reduce his temps. by 5 degrees on both the hot and the cool side. No more than 80 on the cool side, about 100 on the basking spot. He should [ hopefully ] improve quickly. I also wanted to mention that whenever you are in between UVB bulbs, you can always get your dragon outside for natural sunlight. About 30 -40 minutes a day, or an hour every other day will keep him in good shape, with just a cheap heat bulb [ even a household bulb ] to keep the tank bright and warm.

 

[diamc]

If you are only using the Repti Halogen bulb and no other bulb, then he hasn't been under a UVB at all. I looked up that bulb as I realized it was only a basking bulb, I suggest you read the info here: http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=170 It's critical that you get him a UVB asap to prevent metabolic bone disease and all sorts of other health issues. Without UVB, your beardie's body is not going to be able to process the calcium sufficiently. The yellow urate could be from not being able to absorb the calcium and also dehydration. The urates should not actually look like that, should be white in color, not hard like chalk or rubbery at all. I would highly recommend more frequent baths and also oral fluids.

I actually couldn't see any blood in his poop at all, was it the yellow urates that you were talking about?

Could you fill us in on the type of thermometer you're using?

 

[MurderVictim]

@AHDB: Oh, really? It looked like it was blood to me. Thank you, I'll definitely try that. It's still a little cold where I am, so I'm a little unsure about taking him out. But I suppose as long as the suns out he'll be okay?

@Diamc: Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to metion that he also has a 100 Watt heat bulb ^^; And maybe it's poor picture quality, because it looked more red than yellow to me. But I'll take a pic next time he goes, when it's fresh. The thermometer on the hot side is digital one with a probe, and the one on the cool side is one of those wall thermometers. I want to switch it out for a digital one, but I can't find one that shows the humidity level.

 

[diamc]

So, you have a 50 watt halogen plus a 100 watt basking bulb? What size tank is he in?

Th halogen ISN'T a UVB bulb, please read the info on the link I posted above. Here's a little of the info I was talking about

Q: Does this lamp emit UVB? A: These lamps are primarily a heat source. They generate UVA but not UVB.

Would highly recommend the Repti-Sun 10.0 tube or the Aracadia bulbs.

That's good that you have a digital with probe. Are you placing the probe so that it is actually resting on the basking log or rock and then waiting at least 45 min for the temp to stop rising before getting the final reading? If you have a Walmart near you, they have the AcuRite digital with probe that will give you both readings at the same time as well as a humidity level for about $12.00.

 

[MurderVictim]

The tank is a 40 breeder. I'll look back into getting a Repti-Sun, but does the Aracadia come in a normal bulb? It would make things a lot simpler for me, but I'll see if there are any tube fixtures I can find at Wal-Mart.

As for the probe, I place it over his basking tree. I wasn't sure if I should put it right on it or not, but I'll move it. And thanks ^^ I'll pick one of those up as soon as I can.

 

[bdalton]

You can get the fixture for the reptisun at Walmart as well. Just a simple under counter fixture, 8-10$, and you can mount it inside the tank with commas hooks or industrial Velcro.
The reptisun is available at www.petmountain.com
With the acrcadias, you need a high output fixture so I would reccomend getting the reptisun if you are in the US.
You need to get this ASAP, and it needs to be inside the tank. Until you get it make sure you are dusting his food with calcium everyday.
Try putting your probe right on the basking spot, actually touching it.
I agree that it doesn't look like blood in the urates. If it was I would think it would dry darker, almost brown and not orangey/yellow.
Do you remember what kind of UVB bulb you broke? How long has he been without it?
I wouldn't suggest bringing him outside unless it's 70 or higher outside. I don't bring mine out unless it's 80 or very close to it.

Try getting a pic of fresh poop. I think once you get the UVB, adjust his temps a little and get him hydrated he will be fine. The UVB is VERY important, and if you get it offline it will take about 5 days to get there so if you can, order it now!!

Keep us posted! Good luck.

 

[MurderVictim]

@bdalton: Thank you ^^ I'll bookmark that site. I found a good fixture at Wal-Mart that we'll pick up as soon as my mom has the money, which should be this week or next at the lastest. It's warming up so I may take him outside. And yep, I dust with calcium 5 times a week and with vitamins on the weekends. The UVB bulb was from the same company that the one I have now is from, 100 Watt Repti-Halogen.

As an update, it was dehydration. I gave him a good, long bath on Sunday (which he wasn't happy about >.> ) and the next day his urate looked a lot better in color. I moved the probe to his basking tree and...Wow. 118 degrees X.X We went out to Petsmart and got a stand to put it on and now it's at 105. I'm going to raise it a little higher and get it to about 100-103. But...I really feel bad now. I noticed he was having some dehydration problems, but I thought it was from not eating his veggies. For some reason I had it in my mind that if I put the probe on the basking tree I'd get inaccurate readings...But he does seem a little happier now. I'll continue giving him baths.