Yellow crystals with urates

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lupegirl8
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Yellow crystals with urates

Postby lupegirl8 » Mon Mar 11, 2019 8:54 pm

Hello! I'm not very active on this forum, but this is not something I've heard of before so I thought I would see if anyone here knows what the cause is. Today I checked on my skink and saw that next to one of his normal looking urates was a small pile of very fine, hard, deep-yellow crystals. Almost like a powder but less fine. I've never posted a picture on this forum before but I'll try to get one up so you can see what it looks like.

My best guesses were either a dietary or dehydration thing? He always has fresh water available and his diet is a pretty standard skink diet and hasn't changed recently. This is the first I've ever seen urates like this. Considering making a vet appointment just because it's so strange.
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mb606587
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Re: Yellow crystals with urates

Postby mb606587 » Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:47 pm

Posting a picture would help if you can. Never observed this.
xXxBORISxXx
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Re: Yellow crystals with urates

Postby xXxBORISxXx » Thu Mar 14, 2019 7:00 pm

Hi, I have had this exact issue before and it is very difficult to find information on it. After a visit to the vet, as well as contacting a reputable breeder for their input, we determined it was likely due to too much d3 supplement in the food. Now I am not sure if you sprinkle d3 on your skink's food once a week, but this is something that I do. I began to use less supplement on the food and the issue cleared up. Hope this helps!
lupegirl8
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Re: Yellow crystals with urates

Postby lupegirl8 » Fri Mar 15, 2019 4:06 pm

Thanks! I actually don't dust his food with D3 calcium terribly often. But I've also found some people claiming that too much calcium in general can also cause this and he's been getting a lot of high-calcium foods lately so maybe that's it?

I finally figured out how to post a picture so here it is.
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xXxBORISxXx
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Re: Yellow crystals with urates

Postby xXxBORISxXx » Sat Mar 16, 2019 1:49 pm

Hm after seeing that picture, it appears to be different than the issue I had. So maybe a different cause? I would definitely recommend getting a fecal analysis, putting it in a plastic bag and taking it to a good vet in your area! Also, if you do find the cause, let me know!
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Re: Yellow crystals with urates

Postby splashy07 » Sun Mar 17, 2019 7:22 am

I've seen something similar on occasion with my snakes but never with my lizards. Just for the heck of it, I'd also say get it checked, can't hurt.
lupegirl8
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Re: Yellow crystals with urates

Postby lupegirl8 » Sun Mar 17, 2019 5:13 pm

splashy07 wrote:I've seen something similar on occasion with my snakes but never with my lizards. Just for the heck of it, I'd also say get it checked, can't hurt.


Do you know what the cause of it was in your snakes? It was already really dry and crumbly when I found it so if it happens again I'll get a fresher sample to take to the vet.
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Re: Yellow crystals with urates

Postby splashy07 » Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:59 am

Not a clue, but was evident in my ball pythons after a long hunger strike a few times. Their diet doesn't even remotely resemble that of skinks, so couldn't be that. I never gave it any concern as snake eating habits vary and they pass quite different looking excrement/urates at times when coming off season.

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