Purple/black/orange urate??

[Beardielover9000]

WARNING LONG POST

Beards post

Hi, my fiancé and I got our beardies in April of 2022. Beeg Guy who is yellow (F) & Funny Guy who’s grey(M)

Husbandry
4x2x2 feet zen habitat
In inches (48x24x24)
4 or more fake plant/cactus
1 Small drift wood
1 corner hide which is also basking spot
1 tent on cool side
1 piece sandstone
1 rope bridge (I used to have it like a hammock and FG loves pooping on it after morning feeding)

-Basking spot: 103-105 F
-left side (cool side)
81-87F day time
80-85 night time
-right side (hot side) *digital thermo broke & I haven’t replaced it yet so this is rough estimate from memory*
90-100 daytime
80-85 night time
-humidity consistently at 28-33%
-3 sometimes 4 ceramic heat emitters
-Sometimes extra UVB bulb but not always, I switch it out for heat emitter some days.
-1 long UVB

I do need to replace all the bulbs as we have a variety of them from mercury vapor (not in use as it’s too hot) to 75w basking light and other UVB bulbs. We got them all last year, not sure when exactly.

We have a UV card that changes color in reaction to UV/UVB rays. It does react, but it’s not the strongest it could be.

Current Diet:
Torn up collard green pieces
Slices of butternut squash
Black soldier fly larvae (30-40 each feeding)
Occasionally meal worms —(literally I smother them in calcium powder as per my vet’s instructions)
Occasional bee pollen (been using the last few days)

BG weight 353.7g (as of 1/31/2023)
Length: 17.9in



FG weight 365.4g as of 1/31/2023)
Length: 17.5in


Bathroom Habits
FG will have a small bowel movement every morning, but sometimes he doesn’t. He can go a week with this pattern and I have no clue what it is that causes it to fall off. They both used to go every morning when we first got them. I’m not sure when it stopped.

BG: bowl movements are pretty random. I try predicting by feeding more or less greens (she hates them without pollen so I just kinda put them in her mouth after eating a bug/licking her lips) I thought they would be eating more greens as they’re transitioning to adults soon and their diet is more greens than bugs, but at this point I don’t know. Her poops go from liquid to semi solid. Photos will be attached.
Recent medical
Both BG & FG fecal samples came back as clear, multiple times.

Previous medical
They were diagnosed with coccidia a few months afterwards we got them (not sure exact dates but if needed I could find out) and began treatment. It went great. It was difficult, but they made it. We got a brand new enclosure, threw out everything from the old one, disinfected (50/50 bleach) and boiled anything we *could* end up using later.

Past few months:
Everything seemed fine but BG has been having rough tummy issues for a while now. I’m not sure how long it’s been happening but I will do my best to timestamp my photos. I will be attaching multiple different instances where there was concern. The first time we saw what appeared to be crystallized orange/reddish mucus around some of the urate, I immediately drove across town and caught our vet in between appointments. She told me it looked like it was food. I figure she’s probably right as we are feeding them butternut squash every day. It’s one of FG’s favorites. But he rarely gets this weird mucus, it’s almost always BG.

BG seems to only want worms. If I give them a large meal worms as a treat, they won’t want anything else for a few days. I manage to entice them with the black soldier ant fly larvae.

The also have some weird scale development. It’s not scale rot. Not yellow fungus. But sometimes a random single scale will start to shed (showing signs of shedding) and I wait for it, give it some moisture to help, but it doesn’t come off. I bathe them with shed ease at least once a week. Other days I use reptisafe and reptile electrolyte “salts”. I don’t measure any of them when I put them into the water because I use the bathtub. There’s measurements for small amounts of water, but I’m not going to measure the amount of water using water bottles.

I’ve looked into renal failure, as one of BG toes is kinda stiff. It doesn’t have stuck shed on it. I don’t know how their toes are meant to bend but it doesn’t seem right when it’s not moving at all. I don’t put too much pressure on it for fear of causing harm. Just a few pokes.


1. July 15th 2022 (not sure who’s this is, vet said the pink was mucus)

1. August 2nd 2022 (I believe this was BG but not 100%)

1. Sep 1st 2022 BG

1. Sep 12th 2022 BG

1. Sep 12 FG

1. October 9 2022 BG

1. october 30 BG

1. Dec 22 BG

1. Jan 5th BG

The problem is, hard urate usually means dehydration, right? Except the poop is watery, meaning they have excess water in their system. I don’t know what is wrong and how to fix it. I know I need to give them a better variety of greens. I occasionally feed bok choy but normally rely on collard greens. Here’s some photos of their food. I’ve being giving them 3mm of this reptaid every morning for the past six or so days. Their pooping habits haven’t gotten consistent but it looks like it’s getting a lot of crud out of their digestive system. I know this stuff is good for getting rid of parasites as well, and it’s a lot easier on their systems. I could be wrong but I’m in need of help. They’re tired but eating regularly. I will admit I don’t feed them at the exact time every day but it’s always in the morning. Around 8 or 10 at the latest. Their lights turn on at 6am so it gives them plenty of time to warm up. Lunch time is around 4:40-5:30 and bedtime is at 8pm. I spray their food with calcium maybe 3 times a week, sometimes I spray and have a little powdered. Vitamins maybe 2 times a week. At first I thought they were getting too much because their heated were so hard, so I stopped giving it every day as we used to.
They do not have mbd.
Last fecal test was over two months ago. I will schedule one with our new vet for sometime next week.

 

[Beardielover9000]

Also I know that the squash is pretty wide, but I watch FG MONCH the crap out of them. It’s mostly for cleaning their teeth because I don’t trust meal worms for every day use.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, it seems that the discussion of poo is a regular feature on beardie forums so welcome to the club ! I have a few suggestions, you've already stopped the daily vitamins, that's good because they get a lot of their vits. from their food and even if they need SOME supplemental vits. it would only be a couple times a week and VERY lightly. If you are coating the mealworms heavily with calcium you should also cut that back, only a very light coating. Too much calcium can cause hard poos. Night time temps. should be in the 70's, no more than 80.

No need for daily Reptaid at all, not many folks use it like that. Electrolyte baths are not necessary either, beardies don't absorb water through their skin or their cloaca so they would have to drink it, and there would have to be a medical condition for it. The poo looks within mostly normal range of what is reasonably healthy, some color changes can happen due to diet at times. From what I can see, your dragons look healthy. Them being housed together can cause a real problem though, they can fight and do serious damage, also with a M and a F they are big enough to breed now but the female could be harmed by breeding this young . Best to house them separately and do so ASAP.

 

[Beardielover9000]

Hi there, it seems that the discussion of poo is a regular feature on beardie forums so welcome to the club ! I have a few suggestions, you've already stopped the daily vitamins, that's good because they get a lot of their vits. from their food and even if they need SOME supplemental vits. it would only be a couple times a week and VERY lightly. If you are coating the mealworms heavily with calcium you should also cut that back, only a very light coating. Too much calcium can cause hard poos. Night time temps. should be in the 70's, no more than 80.

No need for daily Reptaid at all, not many folks use it like that. Electrolyte baths are not necessary either, beardies don't absorb water through their skin or their cloaca so they would have to drink it, and there would have to be a medical condition for it. The poo looks within mostly normal range of what is reasonably healthy, some color changes can happen due to diet at times. From what I can see, your dragons look healthy. Them being housed together can cause a real problem though, they can fight and do serious damage, also with a M and a F they are big enough to breed now but the female could be harmed by breeding this young . Best to house them separately and do so ASAP.

You’re right, I’ve been worried about them being house together since we got them, but I’m not sure they’d be able to mate yet, wouldn’t they have to be older to get the urge? We’ve never observed head bobbing mating behavior, and honestly, my vet sucked so they could easily both be females. I know it’s still dangerous to house them together though. Once I start working again, I’ll do my best to save up for a new enclosure and all the lamps & bulbs. We have spent quite a bit of money on these two already, but they’re worth it luckily I’m a stay at home pet mom (for now) and I’m able to keep a close watch on them.

About the poop, so it’s okay when it looks crystallized in the orange urate photo? These are my fiancé and I’s first reptiles so we are still inexperienced. I’ve done a lot of research and I’m probably just overblowing it.

 

[AHBD]

It may just be over supplementation, is the poo always that color ?

At your beardie's age + size they most def. can breed, just like human teenagers can. Here is some info to show you how to sex them, scroll down to the pics :

Sexing Your Bearded Dragon

Written by Alex Sleeis in 2001 Introduction There are many rumors about how to tell the difference between a male and a female bearded dragon. Many beliefs are based in fact, but are not as absolute as many would have you believe. The myths: Some say that females are smaller than males. Some say...

www.beardeddragon.org

If you're not sure take some good pics of your pair with their tails arched like that.

 

[Beardielover9000]

So this urate is fine? I’m just worried about the poop being so loose. It’s not like I’m over watering her.. I just don’t know. I attached some pictures of her poop from 10 minutes ago during a soak.

 

[Beardielover9000]

It may just be over supplementation, is the poo always that color ?

At your beardie's age + size they most def. can breed, just like human teenagers can. Here is some info to show you how to sex them, scroll down to the pics :

Sexing Your Bearded Dragon

Written by Alex Sleeis in 2001 Introduction There are many rumors about how to tell the difference between a male and a female bearded dragon. Many beliefs are based in fact, but are not as absolute as many would have you believe. The myths: Some say that females are smaller than males. Some say...

www.beardeddragon.org

If you're not sure take some good pics of your pair with their tails arched like that.

And yes her urate almost always looks like this! And no I don’t use supplements every day, not even every other day sometimes. Like maybe 4-5 times a week I’m using the spray on supplements, and occasionally maybe once a week I’ll use the powder calcium/vitamins (on different days, I don’t do both in a single day) because I don’t see if the spray has D3 in it or not.

 

[Beardielover9000]

Hi there, it seems that the discussion of poo is a regular feature on beardie forums so welcome to the club ! I have a few suggestions, you've already stopped the daily vitamins, that's good because they get a lot of their vits. from their food and even if they need SOME supplemental vits. it would only be a couple times a week and VERY lightly. If you are coating the mealworms heavily with calcium you should also cut that back, only a very light coating. Too much calcium can cause hard poos. Night time temps. should be in the 70's, no more than 80.

No need for daily Reptaid at all, not many folks use it like that. Electrolyte baths are not necessary either, beardies don't absorb water through their skin or their cloaca so they would have to drink it, and there would have to be a medical condition for it. The poo looks within mostly normal range of what is reasonably healthy, some color changes can happen due to diet at times. From what I can see, your dragons look healthy. Them being housed together can cause a real problem though, they can fight and do serious damage, also with a M and a F they are big enough to breed now but the female could be harmed by breeding this young . Best to house them separately and do so ASAP.

I only did reptaid for about 7-10 days. I forgot to keep track of it and I didn’t want to over do it so I stopped. I’ve read that it’s okay to give them some for 10 days, wait 5, and then continue another 10, but I believe that’s only if you know they have parasites. They shouldn’t have them as they had fecals done a few months ago (fall or maybe even December) I know they need to have one done soon and I’m eager to see the results. I’m just more worried about the loose stool. I don’t usually mist them unless I notice their tails are getting a tiny bit dark. Even the smallest shade darker and I’m on it. But that’s not even on a weekly basis. They get most of their water through greens.

 

[AHBD]

Yes that's O.K.
If you use spray vits. , just do so once a week or so, better to use a little less than too much. They get vits. from their food.

 

[Beardielover9000]

WARNING LONG POST

Beards post

Hi, my fiancé and I got our beardies in April of 2022. Beeg Guy who is yellow (F) & Funny Guy who’s grey(M)

Husbandry
4x2x2 feet zen habitat
In inches (48x24x24)
4 or more fake plant/cactus
1 Small drift wood
1 corner hide which is also basking spot
1 tent on cool side
1 piece sandstone
1 rope bridge (I used to have it like a hammock and FG loves pooping on it after morning feeding)

-Basking spot: 103-105 F
-left side (cool side)
81-87F day time
80-85 night time
-right side (hot side) *digital thermo broke & I haven’t replaced it yet so this is rough estimate from memory*
90-100 daytime
80-85 night time
-humidity consistently at 28-33%
-3 sometimes 4 ceramic heat emitters
-Sometimes extra UVB bulb but not always, I switch it out for heat emitter some days.
-1 long UVB

I do need to replace all the bulbs as we have a variety of them from mercury vapor (not in use as it’s too hot) to 75w basking light and other UVB bulbs. We got them all last year, not sure when exactly.

We have a UV card that changes color in reaction to UV/UVB rays. It does react, but it’s not the strongest it could be.

Current Diet:
Torn up collard green pieces
Slices of butternut squash
Black soldier fly larvae (30-40 each feeding)
Occasionally meal worms —(literally I smother them in calcium powder as per my vet’s instructions)
Occasional bee pollen (been using the last few days)

BG weight 353.7g (as of 1/31/2023)
Length: 17.9in



FG weight 365.4g as of 1/31/2023)
Length: 17.5in


Bathroom Habits
FG will have a small bowel movement every morning, but sometimes he doesn’t. He can go a week with this pattern and I have no clue what it is that causes it to fall off. They both used to go every morning when we first got them. I’m not sure when it stopped.

BG: bowl movements are pretty random. I try predicting by feeding more or less greens (she hates them without pollen so I just kinda put them in her mouth after eating a bug/licking her lips) I thought they would be eating more greens as they’re transitioning to adults soon and their diet is more greens than bugs, but at this point I don’t know. Her poops go from liquid to semi solid. Photos will be attached.
Recent medical
Both BG & FG fecal samples came back as clear, multiple times.

Previous medical
They were diagnosed with coccidia a few months afterwards we got them (not sure exact dates but if needed I could find out) and began treatment. It went great. It was difficult, but they made it. We got a brand new enclosure, threw out everything from the old one, disinfected (50/50 bleach) and boiled anything we *could* end up using later.

Past few months:
Everything seemed fine but BG has been having rough tummy issues for a while now. I’m not sure how long it’s been happening but I will do my best to timestamp my photos. I will be attaching multiple different instances where there was concern. The first time we saw what appeared to be crystallized orange/reddish mucus around some of the urate, I immediately drove across town and caught our vet in between appointments. She told me it looked like it was food. I figure she’s probably right as we are feeding them butternut squash every day. It’s one of FG’s favorites. But he rarely gets this weird mucus, it’s almost always BG.

BG seems to only want worms. If I give them a large meal worms as a treat, they won’t want anything else for a few days. I manage to entice them with the black soldier ant fly larvae.

The also have some weird scale development. It’s not scale rot. Not yellow fungus. But sometimes a random single scale will start to shed (showing signs of shedding) and I wait for it, give it some moisture to help, but it doesn’t come off. I bathe them with shed ease at least once a week. Other days I use reptisafe and reptile electrolyte “salts”. I don’t measure any of them when I put them into the water because I use the bathtub. There’s measurements for small amounts of water, but I’m not going to measure the amount of water using water bottles.

I’ve looked into renal failure, as one of BG toes is kinda stiff. It doesn’t have stuck shed on it. I don’t know how their toes are meant to bend but it doesn’t seem right when it’s not moving at all. I don’t put too much pressure on it for fear of causing harm. Just a few pokes.


1. July 15th 2022 (not sure who’s this is, vet said the pink was mucus)

View attachment 77524

1. August 2nd 2022 (I believe this was BG but not 100%)

View attachment 77525

1. Sep 1st 2022 BG

View attachment 77526

1. Sep 12th 2022 BG

View attachment 77527

1. Sep 12 FG

View attachment 77528

1. October 9 2022 BG

View attachment 77529

1. october 30 BG

View attachment 77530

1. Dec 22 BG

View attachment 77531

1. Jan 5th BG

View attachment 77532

The problem is, hard urate usually means dehydration, right? Except the poop is watery, meaning they have excess water in their system. I don’t know what is wrong and how to fix it. I know I need to give them a better variety of greens. I occasionally feed bok choy but normally rely on collard greens. Here’s some photos of their food. I’ve being giving them 3mm of this reptaid every morning for the past six or so days. Their pooping habits haven’t gotten consistent but it looks like it’s getting a lot of crud out of their digestive system. I know this stuff is good for getting rid of parasites as well, and it’s a lot easier on their systems. I could be wrong but I’m in need of help. They’re tired but eating regularly. I will admit I don’t feed them at the exact time every day but it’s always in the morning. Around 8 or 10 at the latest. Their lights turn on at 6am so it gives them plenty of time to warm up. Lunch time is around 4:40-5:30 and bedtime is at 8pm. I spray their food with calcium maybe 3 times a week, sometimes I spray and have a little powdered. Vitamins maybe 2 times a week. At first I thought they were getting too much because their heated were so hard, so I stopped giving it every day as we used to.
They do not have mbd.
Last fecal test was over two months ago. I will schedule one with our new vet for sometime next week.

@Claudiusx

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, too much supplementation definitely causes urate & stool discoloration. The Reptaid is
commonly used & it is strong so I would give it to him, sparingly. As AHBD sugested, once weekly
should be fine for the vitamins. Are you still giving the Reptaid right now?
Do you have any black or tart cherry juice extract? You can get some of that to give to your dragon
along with extra oral fluids to help clear out his system. The crystallization of urates, if seen too
frequently, can indicate dehydration or oversupplementation.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[Beardielover9000]

Thanks tracie! Would dried cherries work? I got some tart cherry capsules suggested from a YouTuber who rescues. I can’t find them though. Currently not giving reptaid

 

[Beardielover9000]

It may just be over supplementation, is the poo always that color ?

At your beardie's age + size they most def. can breed, just like human teenagers can. Here is some info to show you how to sex them, scroll down to the pics :

Sexing Your Bearded Dragon

Written by Alex Sleeis in 2001 Introduction There are many rumors about how to tell the difference between a male and a female bearded dragon. Many beliefs are based in fact, but are not as absolute as many would have you believe. The myths: Some say that females are smaller than males. Some say...

www.beardeddragon.org

If you're not sure take some good pics of your pair with their tails arched like that.

I attached pictures of the “male” which I now have no clue if it’s a male or female.. thoughts??

 

[Beardielover9000]

WARNING LONG POST

Beards post

Hi, my fiancé and I got our beardies in April of 2022. Beeg Guy who is yellow (F) & Funny Guy who’s grey(M)

Husbandry
4x2x2 feet zen habitat
In inches (48x24x24)
4 or more fake plant/cactus
1 Small drift wood
1 corner hide which is also basking spot
1 tent on cool side
1 piece sandstone
1 rope bridge (I used to have it like a hammock and FG loves pooping on it after morning feeding)

-Basking spot: 103-105 F
-left side (cool side)
81-87F day time
80-85 night time
-right side (hot side) *digital thermo broke & I haven’t replaced it yet so this is rough estimate from memory*
90-100 daytime
80-85 night time
-humidity consistently at 28-33%
-3 sometimes 4 ceramic heat emitters
-Sometimes extra UVB bulb but not always, I switch it out for heat emitter some days.
-1 long UVB

I do need to replace all the bulbs as we have a variety of them from mercury vapor (not in use as it’s too hot) to 75w basking light and other UVB bulbs. We got them all last year, not sure when exactly.

We have a UV card that changes color in reaction to UV/UVB rays. It does react, but it’s not the strongest it could be.

Current Diet:
Torn up collard green pieces
Slices of butternut squash
Black soldier fly larvae (30-40 each feeding)
Occasionally meal worms —(literally I smother them in calcium powder as per my vet’s instructions)
Occasional bee pollen (been using the last few days)

BG weight 353.7g (as of 1/31/2023)
Length: 17.9in



FG weight 365.4g as of 1/31/2023)
Length: 17.5in


Bathroom Habits
FG will have a small bowel movement every morning, but sometimes he doesn’t. He can go a week with this pattern and I have no clue what it is that causes it to fall off. They both used to go every morning when we first got them. I’m not sure when it stopped.

BG: bowl movements are pretty random. I try predicting by feeding more or less greens (she hates them without pollen so I just kinda put them in her mouth after eating a bug/licking her lips) I thought they would be eating more greens as they’re transitioning to adults soon and their diet is more greens than bugs, but at this point I don’t know. Her poops go from liquid to semi solid. Photos will be attached.
Recent medical
Both BG & FG fecal samples came back as clear, multiple times.

Previous medical
They were diagnosed with coccidia a few months afterwards we got them (not sure exact dates but if needed I could find out) and began treatment. It went great. It was difficult, but they made it. We got a brand new enclosure, threw out everything from the old one, disinfected (50/50 bleach) and boiled anything we *could* end up using later.

Past few months:
Everything seemed fine but BG has been having rough tummy issues for a while now. I’m not sure how long it’s been happening but I will do my best to timestamp my photos. I will be attaching multiple different instances where there was concern. The first time we saw what appeared to be crystallized orange/reddish mucus around some of the urate, I immediately drove across town and caught our vet in between appointments. She told me it looked like it was food. I figure she’s probably right as we are feeding them butternut squash every day. It’s one of FG’s favorites. But he rarely gets this weird mucus, it’s almost always BG.

BG seems to only want worms. If I give them a large meal worms as a treat, they won’t want anything else for a few days. I manage to entice them with the black soldier ant fly larvae.

The also have some weird scale development. It’s not scale rot. Not yellow fungus. But sometimes a random single scale will start to shed (showing signs of shedding) and I wait for it, give it some moisture to help, but it doesn’t come off. I bathe them with shed ease at least once a week. Other days I use reptisafe and reptile electrolyte “salts”. I don’t measure any of them when I put them into the water because I use the bathtub. There’s measurements for small amounts of water, but I’m not going to measure the amount of water using water bottles.

I’ve looked into renal failure, as one of BG toes is kinda stiff. It doesn’t have stuck shed on it. I don’t know how their toes are meant to bend but it doesn’t seem right when it’s not moving at all. I don’t put too much pressure on it for fear of causing harm. Just a few pokes.


1. July 15th 2022 (not sure who’s this is, vet said the pink was mucus)

View attachment 77524

1. August 2nd 2022 (I believe this was BG but not 100%)

View attachment 77525

1. Sep 1st 2022 BG

View attachment 77526

1. Sep 12th 2022 BG

View attachment 77527

1. Sep 12 FG

View attachment 77528

1. October 9 2022 BG

View attachment 77529

1. october 30 BG

View attachment 77530

1. Dec 22 BG

View attachment 77531

1. Jan 5th BG

View attachment 77532

The problem is, hard urate usually means dehydration, right? Except the poop is watery, meaning they have excess water in their system. I don’t know what is wrong and how to fix it. I know I need to give them a better variety of greens. I occasionally feed bok choy but normally rely on collard greens. Here’s some photos of their food. I’ve being giving them 3mm of this reptaid every morning for the past six or so days. Their pooping habits haven’t gotten consistent but it looks like it’s getting a lot of crud out of their digestive system. I know this stuff is good for getting rid of parasites as well, and it’s a lot easier on their systems. I could be wrong but I’m in need of help. They’re tired but eating regularly. I will admit I don’t feed them at the exact time every day but it’s always in the morning. Around 8 or 10 at the latest. Their lights turn on at 6am so it gives them plenty of time to warm up. Lunch time is around 4:40-5:30 and bedtime is at 8pm. I spray their food with calcium maybe 3 times a week, sometimes I spray and have a little powdered. Vitamins maybe 2 times a week. At first I thought they were getting too much because their heated were so hard, so I stopped giving it every day as we used to.
They do not have mbd.
Last fecal test was over two months ago. I will schedule one with our new vet for sometime next week.

@AHBD @Drache613
Hi, sorry if this is bothersome, I just want some answers. Her poop was more solid yesterday but I’m not really supplementing often enough for her to be over supplemented.. he poops have been super runny the past few months, so that rules out dehydration right? Is it from the butternut squash? Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome. The only thing I supplement are the large mealworms with calcium spray. One or two spritz’s.

 

[AHBD]

The poo doesn't look worrisome . As for how to measure the liquid supplements I can't help you because I don't use them. I can eyeball what I feel is a decent amount of powdered supplement but how that compares with the spray on I don't have the slightest idea.