Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello!
something strange showed up in Spartacus stools this morning. So far it's been looking normal but yesterday he did not go to the bathroom and today there was a white looking thing in it, it's hard as a roc about 1/4" size. Does anyone know what it is? Should I be concerned?
He has been eating fine and when I took him to the vet on friday she said he was very healthy. Could something have gone wrong between then and now?
The only thing different I have done is gave him a bath yesterday and he did not eat his hibsicus flower either, he has been eating one of them every day.

Thank you for all your help

Vanessa

did you get a fecal done at the vet?
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brandy

I did but I don't have the results yet, I just called after posting the message but she is in surgery.
The sample I took in looked normal.
What do you think it is?

Vanessa

i just took my uro to the vet cuz i found little white rice looking things in his poo. they diddnt look hard. they looked clear and one of them seemed to move. the doc said it was tape worm not sure it this is the same thing your seeing.
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brandy

Well it's not alive, it almost looks like a calcium rock, if there is such a thing.

Vanessa

never saw anything like it...id wait for the results to comeback and tell your vet about it... maybe it is just some thing he ate... bird seed maybe...do you feed them birdseed?
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brandy

I do give him bird seeds, it is in his house at all times and I change them for fresh ones every two or three days, and every day I give him hibiscus and mix vegies and hibiscus leaves fresh, he doesn't eat it all, apart from the hibiscus flower but I take out the old food and give him fresh food every day.

Vanessa

well if the test comes back clean id say its a peice of bird seed. but im no vet. good luck
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brandy

OK! I took a better look at it and it is not a rock, it's almost like chalk, I just fed him and he devoured two hibiscus flowers, so at least he is eating.

Vanessa

>>OK! I took a better look at it and it is not a rock, it's almost like chalk, I just fed him and he devoured two hibiscus flowers, so at least he is eating.
>>
>>Vanessa

Almost definatley urates then.
See my previous post.
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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net

>>Hello!
>>something strange showed up in Spartacus stools this morning. So far it's been looking normal but yesterday he did not go to the bathroom and today there was a white looking thing in it, it's hard as a roc about 1/4" size. Does anyone know what it is? Should I be concerned?
>>He has been eating fine and when I took him to the vet on friday she said he was very healthy. Could something have gone wrong between then and now?
>>The only thing different I have done is gave him a bath yesterday and he did not eat his hibsicus flower either, he has been eating one of them every day.
>>
>>Thank you for all your help
>>
>>Vanessa

It sounds to me like what you are looking at are urates which are totally normal. The puzzling thing would be that if it is urates why haven't you seen them before as they come out with the fecal matter all of the time.

I of course can't say for sure without a picture but the urates are usually the same diameter as the fecal matter (before the fecal matter dries out of course) and are a white compact mass that while hard can be broken apart with some pressure into a dry white powder. Sometimes they stay attached to one end of the fecal matter and other times are seperate.

Maybe since they are dry and hard your uro has kicked them around to be lost in the substrate most of the time?

Hopefully that is what you are seeing as that would be 100% normal and safe. Next few times your uro defecates try to look for the urates.

My apologies if you are already familiar with what urates are and this is something totally different. I don't know what your experience level is and just thought I would mention urates as a possibility.

If it is something different than urates then a vet checkup would be in order.
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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net

My experience level is non existent as hi is my first lizard and I have only had him a week so please feel free to tell me what I am looking at I will never be ofended.
Thank you for the explanation now it all makes sence to me, that is basically his pee if I understand you correctly and no I have not noticed it before but like you said he might have kicked it around before I could see it.
I think I am going to learn something new every day for a while, I just want to thank all of you for being so helpfull and prompt at responding, I am such a worry freak with my pets, always have been.

Vanessa

>>My experience level is non existent as hi is my first lizard and I have only had him a week so please feel free to tell me what I am looking at I will never be ofended.
>>Thank you for the explanation now it all makes sence to me, that is basically his pee if I understand you correctly and no I have not noticed it before but like you said he might have kicked it around before I could see it.
>>I think I am going to learn something new every day for a while, I just want to thank all of you for being so helpfull and prompt at responding, I am such a worry freak with my pets, always have been.
>>
>>Vanessa

You're welcome.

You are exactly right in that it is his pee. Uros being desert animals only excrete the solid parts of the urine instead of the water.

Wait til you see some "snalt" for the first time which is another water conserving tactic. Your uro will acumulate some white salty deposits right above the nostrils which is the excess salt he is trying to get rid of. Doesn't happen all the time and again is harmless.

One of the few caresheets that talks about what goes into and comes out of a uro is at the link below.

Have fun with your new friend and post some pictures some time so we can check him out.

Gecko’s Mali Uromastyx Care Page v2.8

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Mike Wilson
mwilson@fuu.net

sorry for telling you it was bird seed! i diddnt realize how new to uros you were. good luck and have fun!
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brandy