Bright Green + yellow 'shell' over urate?

Has anyone encountered a green and yellow 'shell' around their beardies' urate before?

Niblet has had 2 of them so far. They are hard and green with a yellow tip, but when cracked open the urate is bright white. It reminds me of a chili pepper. His poops are hearty and well-digested. Only had one small diarrhea once.

The only thing I could think of would be blueberries, but he had them WEEKS before this occurred.

I will admit that he is not eating enough greens in his diet. He goes absolutely berserk for the little red fluker's crunchies, but not much else. His once a week his worms are dusted heartily with the strawberry-flavored calc d3 + multivitamins. He is offered a wonderfully-crafted salad of in-season greens (bok choi, collards, dandelion greens, some herbs) + some treat/fruits sometimes, but he denies all of it until he gets the Red Crunchies or mealworms.
This is the 2nd year we've had him (he is 4, but we adopted him from a coworker), and he is just getting the hang of drinking daily. He's never understood running water and has now learned to drink from the faucet!

He's in a 4x19x17 with a basking of 100, warm side of 85-90, and cold side of 75-82. 24" UVB on the roof with a arcadia 12%.
He's been active as all hell since he woke from brumation in February. He's JUST now calming down. He has blackbearded twice this month because he is shedding 60% and is Angery about it.

His previous owners have never taken him to the vet, and we are on a waitlist to be admitted to our local reptile specialist. once we are in we will be getting the whole shebang of tests- blood, fecal, xray to make sure he's good.

I'm just curious if anyone else has seen this before?
 

xp29

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Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Could you post a pic?
 

nuclearkielbasa

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xp29

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Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
What does his diet consist of? Maybe it's from something that's being eaten.
 

nuclearkielbasa

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Original Poster
What does his diet consist of? Maybe it's from something that's being eaten.
Admittedly it's been an ongoing fight to get him to eat greens this year. We offer him daily salads of bok/dandelion greens/collards with some slices of repashy and a few red crunchies mixed in, including some treats like 2 or 3 blueberries when we get them. But he doesn't touch it, mostly. He'll pick out a blueberry or have one slice of repashy, but he always eats the red crunchies. He's had mealies every Saturday this month.

I thought it might have been the blueberries, but they would be turning the poop green, not the urate? Plus he'd pooped them out way before these Pees happened.

Took a look at the ingredients of his Red Crunchies that he loves so much (we don't give him the freezedried bugs that come with them, only the crunchies https://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/PetSmart/5284945_alt1?$CLEARjpg$, and there's lots of dried probiotics, maybe it's that?

I'm very worried it could be something gallbladder or kidney related. Original owners said it was really frustrating that he would go thru week-long sessions of not drinking or eating, maybe the lack of water has damaged his kidneys?

This mood change is almost like a switch was flipped; he was doing his running laps around the house like usual, then bam he's wanting to just lay about. I'm just so worried....
 

xp29

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Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Try reachingvout to Tracie @Drache613 she is a vet tech, she might can give you some insight.
As far as water, the best way I've found is to use an eyedropper to drip it on their snout. They should start lapping at it. It make take some patience but go slow at their pace. If your beardie still won't drink you can add in a little none citrus fruit juice or punch to give it flavor. If you add the juice be sure to use a wet cloth to wipe away any that runs down their chin. No need to take a chance on causing bacteria or fungus to start in their scales.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
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Hello,

That is definitely a very strange looking urate! Based on the picture, are the urates a bit hard?
I would think that the freeze dried product is going to be the culprit. Try taking that out for awhile
& making some greens slurries for fluid & nutrition. It may take a week or two for it to clear out but
it should eventually get back to normal.

Tracie
 

nuclearkielbasa

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

That is definitely a very strange looking urate! Based on the picture, are the urates a bit hard?
I would think that the freeze dried product is going to be the culprit. Try taking that out for awhile
& making some greens slurries for fluid & nutrition. It may take a week or two for it to clear out but
it should eventually get back to normal.

Tracie

I will get some slurry made for him; he's suddenly lethargic as of yesterday. Pitch-black beard, but still alert and looking around as normal. But just chilling in one spot all day. Will call the vet back and see if things can be rescheduled to next week because this is very worrisome.

He's never had an x-ray or bloodwork ever, so we're going in completely blind with his health. He could be a timebomb. Any specific tests I should ask for be done for him @Drache613 ? (besides the generic, i'll also try to bring a fecal for test)
 

nuclearkielbasa

Member
Original Poster
We got back, he's had an x-ray done. The vet says - based on visuals, she believes that it COULD be a stomach cancer tumor. Any experts here have thoughts?
 

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Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Thanks for posting the X-ray pictures. I did get your PM & will message you back there also.
You are sure he is male & not female?
It is a bit hard to tell from the pictures. When will you have the blood test results back?
For now, try to keep him hydrated as best you can while waiting for the results. Once you do
get them, please post them here so we can look them over.

Tracie
 

nuclearkielbasa

Member
Original Poster
Bummer Finale to this saga:

Nibblet passed at home today at 1:20pm. He got to be home with his favourite person (mom), in a nice soft blanket in his home, being told how much of a good lizard he was.

His bloodwork showed that he had "lymphocytic leukemia or generalized systemic lymphosarcoma". His lymphocyte count was very high; so high that the vet hadn't seen before.

She was shocked that he had made it to 4, and said that he was a tenacious little guy. She was glad to see that he had not wasted away at all, that he was still pretty hefty.

He had it for a long time, and only recently did it take off and reach criticality for him.

He will be very, very missed.

20220423_111753.jpg



I've attached his bloodwork for those who wish to reference it.
 

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Subion

Hatchling Member
Beardie name(s)
Zilla
I’m so sorry for your loss. I was hoping to hear you found a good outcome. From someone who’s been dealing with a beardie with health issues for over a year now I know how hard it is and how close you can become to one. At least he got to spend his last moments at home with people who loved him. I know it’s not easy seeing them sick. There is not enough words to say how sorry I am for your loss. I wish I could say something more to help you through this time. He sounded like a true fighter up until the end. I’m sure every min he was with you and your family was as special to him as it was to you.
 

xp29

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Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
I'm very sorry this happened, they really are not pets, they become part of the family. You have my concern condolences 😢 😔
 

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