Skink just expelled weird substance--what is it??

[bepbep]

Hi, I'm sorry to post on this forum so frequently--I am a new skink owner, so everything new that my skink does makes me slightly paranoid.

So tonight I took my ~5 month old skink out of his tank and I sat him down on a puppy pad because the first thing he usually does is pee/poop. I also had a few q-tips moistened to clean his mouth in case he had any residual food on his mouth. He peed and excreted a large urate, then a small firm "ball" came out. He then started walking around and dragging the darker long piece from his cloaca. It eventually just fell off onto the puppy pad. There is nothing else "hanging out" of his cloaca and he doesn't appear to have any sort of prolapse as his cloaca is completely flat again. Does anyone have experience with this?

**I apologize for the somewhat GRAPHIC photos**

[hailz10]

That’s really weird because that looks like some type of body part, what did you last feed him and if it continues prolly take him to a vet

[mb606587]

Possibly an excessive intake of calcium? If it continues, vet.

[bepbep]

I fed him 1.5 tbsp of Wellness grain-free chicken pate cat food earlier that day. I was feeding him daily, but I have started feeding him every other day or so since he turned 5-months-old. As for calcium, I give him 2 tsp of calcium (w/o D3) 2x per week--is that over-supplementing him with calcium? I looked up some photos and I thought that the long, skin-toned part of the excrement may have been a sperm plug? He has not excreted anything like that since I posted the photos and he is having normal bowel movements. He is otherwise acting normal. Thanks for yall's help and advice!!!

[mb606587]

Yeah 2 teaspoons is alot. More than I've ever supplemented. Your dog food is already likely supplemented with calcium so you may be overdoing it. I lightly sprinkle once per week.

[bepbep]

okay, thank you!! All of my other lizards were adopted as adults, so my skink is the only "baby" I've ever raised and I have been paranoid about the development of MBD. I really appreciate your advice!!

[mb606587]

No problem. Calcium definciency is a real problem for many reptiles. It's why so many keepers supplement the diets. Leafy greens, insects, boiled human grade meats like chicken and turkey offer little. But over consumption can be dangerous too. Some reptiles, snakes for instance, get all of the calcium requirements through their natural diet. Blue Tongue Skinks are among the rare reptiles that thrive on predominantly dog food. Dog food on its own has plenty of natural calcium in bone meal, along with additional calcium added. We don't supplement calcium powder into our dogs' diets because of this. So for those skinks that are fed a predominantly dog food diet, my advice is to be careful following the instructions on the calcium powder packaging. The assumption is you have one of the many other reptiles that is not eating an already calcium packed diet. Hope that makes sense.

[bepbep]

yes, that makes perfect sense. Thank you again for your help! I greatly appreciate it

[Janella]

Yes, I completely agree. Way to much calcium supplement. You honestly only need a tiny pinch or none at all of feeding dog food as previously was mentioned. It is hard to tell exactly what it was from the pictures, but definitely if it keeps up vet visit asap.