urate question

[Linnea]

Okay, so i found a quite big, dried urate today in Litchies terrarium, crystalized and all so im not sure how old it is. And its a little pink in the middle. its not smelly.

he is also not pooping properly, i think. hes been fed every third day and i think i gave hime too much even, but hes pooped only once this week.

Is this a problem?

he eats well and drinks well.

He gets some bulls blood salad, so i thought that might be why it was pink.....im actually more worried about the no pooping.

i also checked the thread Katrina made about their poop, and see myself that this might be an indication to go to a vet, but i would like to avoid this if i can do something for Litchie myself.

Is taking them out to move around a good idea to get the bowel (?) to move?


i can take a photo of the urate if needed. i saved it in a plastic box.

[Fatal_S]

If he's drinking and eating and not losing weight, try feeding some banana or egg and hopefully that will get a good poop out of him.

[Linnea]

If he's drinking and eating and not losing weight, try feeding some banana or egg and hopefully that will get a good poop out of him.

yessir!

I think ill go with egg since i always give banana as a treat......to maintain healthy sugar levels.

Why egg? o_o

[Fatal_S]

Egg and banana both seem to be much-loved foods that often result in a softer, and much smellier, poo. This makes them very useful for a test-run, so to speak.

[Linnea]

Egg and banana both seem to be much-loved foods that often result in a softer, and much smellier, poo. This makes them very useful for a test-run, so to speak.

I see.

Another small question, if its a normal sized chicken egg, how much would be appropriate to give once its his feeding time? half or a quarter? ( with salad )

i measured him and i think hes close to 37 cm long. a year old.

[Fatal_S]

I usually give each of my adults about 1 full egg (sometimes hard-boiled, sometimes scrambled). My smaller ones get half an egg. At 37 cm, I'd probably go with half an egg, but if he wanted a whole one I'd let him eat it.

Do be prepared for the smell/mess that will hopefully result in a day or so.

[Susann]

My sure-fire way to get Joey to poop is to put him in some warm water = skink-enema.
But it is also common for them to only poop once a week rather than after each feeding. I think it is fairly individual. Joey goes about once a week, even if he's eaten twice. My "babies" (7 mos) are pretty clockwork at pooping 24 hours after eating, have been since day one of getting them.

[El Lobo]

I think ill go with egg since i always give banana as a treat......to maintain healthy sugar levels.

What would healthy sugar levels be?

[reaperreptiles]

I think what he means with sugar levels is in the wild the majority of skinks pretty much eat whatever they can get, with the majority of it being vegetation, insects and small rodents. They probably dont eat too much fruit in the wild, probably just when they happen to come across some that fell out of a tree. So in captivity feeding alot of fruit would lead to high sugar levels, dont really know what high sugar levels would do or how it would affect a skink. There bodies are pretty tough and adapted to eating anything, they have remarkably strong immune systems and are adapted for hunting, foraging and scavanging. So honestly i dont think sugar levels would really affect them too much. Im sure with too much too often could lead to some health issues but once a week or so (as it would be in the wild) shouldnt do anything. Just a quick thought on sugar levels:)

[Susann]

Right.
So, a HEALTHY sugar level would be 0 sucrose or fructose.
Doesn't mean they CAN'T have ANY, little would in no way harm the animal, but it's not a level you need to MAINTAIN.

In my opinion.

[El Lobo]

I think what he means with sugar levels is in the wild the majority of skinks pretty much eat whatever they can get, with the majority of it being vegetation, insects and small rodents. They probably dont eat too much fruit in the wild, probably just when they happen to come across some that fell out of a tree. So in captivity feeding alot of fruit would lead to high sugar levels, dont really know what high sugar levels would do or how it would affect a skink. There bodies are pretty tough and adapted to eating anything, they have remarkably strong immune systems and are adapted for hunting, foraging and scavanging. So honestly i dont think sugar levels would really affect them too much. Im sure with too much too often could lead to some health issues but once a week or so (as it would be in the wild) shouldnt do anything. Just a quick thought on sugar levels:)

The wild diet of skinks has been discussed many times on this forum with the consensus being that there is such a paucity of reliable data no definitive assessment can be accurately derived. The lack of studies however does not seem to inhibit generalised speculation which cannot be clearly adopted as a dietary panacea for all species of bluetongue skinks. The dietary requirements of such diverse species as Shinglebacks, from a mostly arid environment, to IJ's from a region of somewhat indistinct seasons with high humidity should differ substantially. The generalisation of 'vegetation, insects and small rodents' is, in my opinion, far too simplistic.

Other members who keep and observe Shinglebacks note that skink's preference for a greater variation of vegetation with less emphasis on meat protein. My own anecdotal observations of Highland Blotched, both captive and wild, suggests that the diet evolves during the course of their maturing. Where once they craved meat protein to the almost exclusion of vegetable matter they now at 3 years old, eat a significantly better balanced meal without initially seeking out the reduced meat portion.

Fructose is a monosaccharide, or simple sugar which is quickly metabolised. If it wasn't the energy drink industry probably would not exist. A diet too high in sugars leads to damage of the pancreas' ability to regulate production and secretion of the hormone insulin, together with enzymes needed for digestion. Over-production causes hyperglycemia where as reduction or cessation of production causes hypoglycemia. Insulin's role is transfer glucose as fuel into the liver as well as muscle and fat cells.

To return to the original enquiry. How do we know what is a healthy sugar level is for a skink?

[Katrina]

Okay, so i found a quite big, dried urate today in Litchies terrarium, crystalized and all so im not sure how old it is. And its a little pink in the middle. its not smelly.

he is also not pooping properly, i think. hes been fed every third day and i think i gave hime too much even, but hes pooped only once this week.

Is this a problem?

he eats well and drinks well.


Is taking them out to move around a good idea to get the bowel (?) to move?


i can take a photo of the urate if needed. i saved it in a plastic box.

Pooping only once a week is fine. Check that his temps are good, but don't worry if they don't poop once for every time they are fed. Even if I feed more often than once a week mine might only poop once.

The crystals in the urates are fairly common and have been discussed before. I'm annoyed because I can't remember exactly what they are. Something in the diet is a bit high and is resulting in these... This isn't uncommon and isn't a huge deal... I'm just really annoyed that I can't remember exactly what it is.

I am enjoying the fructose / blood sugar / diet discussion - should I maybe break it into a separate thread if people would like to continue to discuss?

[Linnea]

;__; im sorry, that about maintaining the sugar levels, it was a language mistake i think.

i meant that i should not overfeed the sugar since its not something they eat much of except when the fruit falls from the trees in Australia.

you should really not take the words so specific....But as Katrina said this has turned out very interesting. Im reading and learning lol. So Katrina, you may move the threa or perhaps start a new one with the posts included, since the main problem is solved



The problem is solved btw, i havent been online for a few days ue to school but Litchie managed well with the egg treat xD