Took Skink for Fecal Analysis

[xXxBORISxXx]

Hello all,
I recently took my 1.5 y/o Northern blue tongue skink to the vet for a check-up and fecal analysis. There were no issues found, but I learned from useful information I thought might be helpful to share on this forum, if anyone is interested!
In the last few weeks, my skink has had orange coloured urate. He/She had no other issues whatsoever, but this discoloured urate was causing me concern so I thought it best to take the skink for analysis.
I emailed a trusted breeder about this issue who suggested it may be because of too much vitamin d3 in the food, which I have since cut back on, and have seen some improvement.
My main worry was that the urate was discolored because of blood. It had darker orange spots, almost red. The fecal analysis ruled that out, since the vet saw no red blood cells in the urate. She found some evidence of a type of worm in the fecal matter but she said that in her experience, most reptiles have this and it is not necessarily harmful, more of a "collaborative" bacteria. I thought this was especially interesting and I wonder if any of you guys have information about this specifically.
She proposed one cause for the discoloured urate as being issues with the liver, but my skink shows no other signs of liver issues: those symptoms being a loss of appetite, discoloured mouth and difficulty shedding. Rupert has none of these issues so that was ruled out.
She offered a blood test but did say that results are often inconclusive with blood tests for reptiles. It is hard to get a good sample. If Rupert had other troubling symptoms that arose, I would take him for a blood test, but only if needed.
The vet called me a few hours after the visit and said that she had done some research and found that one cause of discoloured urate is also certain greens, for example, dandelion greens (which I'm currently feeding my skink). So, in her opinion, it may just be a pigment in the urate that is not causing harm to the skink.
For reference, I follow the diet chart on this website, I feed my skink once or twice a week and alternate between a variety of high quality dog food, mixed greens such as dandelion greens, repashy blue buffet, arcadia omnigold, and a little banana every couple weeks. I also feed a light dusting of d3 once a week.
I am glad I took my skink for a check-up just to ensure they are in good health. I feel that the discoloured urate was probably caused by too much supplementation, as the breeder had originally suggested. Or maybe it is just a pigment from the greens I feed my skink.
I hope someone finds this information helpful or interesting, and would love to know any thoughts people have!

[mb606587]

I have heard of other people that encountered this problem as well. Seems like it can affect other species too. Thank you for sharing.

IMG_0358.PNG

[xXxBORISxXx]

Interesting. Thanks for posting that!
It is difficult to know how much supplement to use. I only find vague terms to describe the amount like "a dusting" or "a sprinkle", it is hard to visualize that. When I asked a breeder how much they use, they said that they mix supplement in large quantities of dog food since they have a lot of skinks. So no answer for an individual serving haha.

[mb606587]

I'm aware that in green iguanas, individuals with certain internal parasites have had symptoms including orange urates. I'm not finding a whole lot of information about BTS but if you are seeing improvement maybe your breeder is correct. I guess the opinion of the poster on the Bearded dragon forum could help support that theory also. Keep us updated if you continue to see improvements.

[mb606587]

Try switching to a different brand of dog food if you have been using the same. If you have better results with a new brand, you might have your answer also. Just a possibility.

[kingofnobbys]

Giving excess amounts of dietary calcium will result in the precipitation of colloidal calcium oxalates in the urates which will give an orange tinge to the urates (which can be confused for blood). This is known as Hypercalciumia.

Similarly giving oral VitD3 can also result in a very similar problem, the vitamin D3 given in fortified vitamins and fortified calcium powder doesn't behave the same way in a reptile as naturally produced VitD3 via skin exposure to UVB does. This can result in VitD3 toxicity.

More information here https://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/vi ... 6&t=233592

[xXxBORISxXx]

Thank you for the information! I really appreciate it. I have seen imporvement as I've used less supplement and will continue to watch closely.
Hope my little skink is okay and that this issue will clear up.