Urate Plug...?!?? sorry pics

[Jessd123]

hey guys i have a concern about bogey, i think he may have had a urate plug, im not totally sure though.. it was very... um... hard when i picked it up and he looked like he had a rough time poopin it out. no poo came with it..i was just wondering why this happens... and what i can do to prevent it.. he is always very well hydrated.. and we give him plenty of calcium.. a little more so than usual lately because he had a sprained leg and it was the vets orders... i was wondering if that is what this is... and if anyone knows how to prevent it from happening again? sorry for the pics... jsut wanna get to the bottom of it...

 

[annieoakley123]

yyeeeouuuch! that looked like it hurt! I dont know if i can help much, i never seen a urate like that before. I do know that it is normal just for the urate to be there without poo. It happens when they are really hydrated. I hope someone can help you out further.

 

[Jessd123]

yeah im just a little concerned because he has been eating like a horse for the past 3 days... like im talkin 20 crickets a day of pretty large crickets... none too big... but he hasnt pooped yet.. im guessing he probably has atleast 40-55 crix in his belly.. i hope he poos soon. i put him int he bath earlier.. he hates bathing.. but.. no luck witht he poopage yet.

 

[annieoakley123]

how old is he? IF hes a young guy he should be pooping everyday or more. I feed mine about 60+ small crickets and greens a day. Is he eating his greens? To get things MOOOVVINNG i suggest getting some oil into him, Olive oil i think. Mine also does not poop in his bath yet, but i give them to him anyway to hydrate. How are the temps?if they are too low digestion wont be good. 80 cool side 105-110 basking (if juvie)
-OH you said large crickets? they should be the size of the space between their eyes or less. This can cause impaction and therefore, not poop. Tile, paper towels, non adheisive self liners are good substrates(i dont remember what you have in the pic....but if there is any sand or loose particals that can alsocontribute to impaction)

 

[Jessd123]

he is almost 7 months old... he is pretty large for his age.. approx. 11.5 inches.. with his tail. we always size up the crix just right we never give him any that are too big.. he usually poops once a day.. but since i upped his calcium he has been pooping every 2-3 days.. i dunno if thats was causing it or not.. we use repti carpet.. he WILL NOT eat veggies at all i normally have to force feed him baby food he hates that too i dunno he just seems to be set in his stubborn ways. his temps are better than they ever have been.. 105 on the basking side and 85 on the cool side of the tank we use a reptiglo 8 uvb bulb. he's very active. other than the not poopin in 3 days he has been fine. how much oil should i put in the syringe? i dont wanna over do it...

 

[annieoakley123]

your using a reptliGLO uvb? I heard those are very bad and cause health problems, best to switch to reptiSUN asap. I dont know how much oil to give. Im sure someone can help. the extra calcium may be whats going on with the urates gettingf hard like that. it ispossible he is passing calcium deposits through his bowel movements. Much like a stone for humans, which can be very painful. Maybe try and lower the calcium and see what happens, dont stop it, but just once a day. Thats all i can think of, i know more will help.

 

[Jessd123]

man i dunno i am competly stumped ont he lighting.. it seems like no matter what the uvb bulb is it causes health problems.. im getting mixed reactions from the reptiglo 8 thats what everyone else on here said to buy... im gonna take it easy ont he calcium for a while.. i wont give him as much...

 

[annieoakley123]

One that i never heard anything bad about is the megaray MVB. its is uv and heat in one.... thats what i have and its doing well. http://www.reptileuv.com only place where you can buy them. Also last longer than 6 months like the uv tubes do, mega rays last about a year!

 

[Jessd123]

yeah i was going to get one of those eventually... but they are 50$ i cant afford that right now.. i figured the reptiglo 8 was the right way to go for now. thats what everyone said anyway?

 

[Seven65]

The most popular bulb by far is reptisun 10. The reptiglo 8 may have been suggested as the best of the reptiglo bulbs currently on the market for if you didn't have access to the reptisun which is very hard to find in Canada, I don't know about where you are... I don't think it should be too much of a problem, but it isn't as good as the reptisun 10. The reptiglo 10 is the one which has been known to have caused eye problems.

 

[zebedeepink]

The Reptiglo 8.0 is fine - it's the 10 that has been causing eye problems. Still best to get a ReptiSUN 10.0 though or an Arcadia 12.0

 

[Jessd123]

yeah i mean i thought i had all the right bulbs.. i would like to get a mvp but i have bills to pay, so thats just not an option this month.. i know he is fine with the bulbs i have.. ill be honest with u before i joined this site i never had a day of uvb on him whatsoever and he flourished. the petstore never told me that i needed one so i just honestly didnt know... as for his urate plug he finally let out a huge poo last night and is looking like he feels much better, so all and all i think he is ok. im just gonna taper his calcium down a little bit.

 

[Tigg]

I would stick to the calcium supplement schedule your vet gave you to help your beardies leg get better. However you may want to cut back on how much calcium you are putting on the feeders... It should be almost the same way we would SALT our food, the insects should not be fully caked in white.

As beardies get older they begin to go a little longer between defecations, this is normal. I would think it's more likely that your beardie is beginning to mature than the calcium is binding him up. As long as your temps are right, and you are feeding the correct sized insects you shouldn't have any impaction worries that a nice warm bath won't fix