Large Urate

[Keeboard]

My gecko has been passing very large urates for awhile. Should I worry? What is the cause? P.s. I know this isn't an egg because my gecko is male.

 

[acpart]

I wouldn't worry. Maybe he's drinking a lot.

Aliza

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Pictures?

What color is the urate?

 

[Keeboard]

I've already put it in the garbage so maybe a picture next time. The urate is mostly white possibly with a bit of yellow.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I've already put it in the garbage so maybe a picture next time. The urate is mostly white possibly with a bit of yellow.

You may wish to consider the type and frequency of your supplements. Too much D3, too many vitamins? That schedule also depends upon the diet you feed your feeders. This info quoted from a respected exotics veterinarian may help.

#105---Yellow Urates: Potential Causes......January 2015
Contributed by a vet who also keeps leopard geckos:

"Urate color depends upon things like diet, health, et cetera. Generally urates are very white. More pigmented (especially green) urates can indicate an issue. It is possible that if the animal has not passed stool or urates for some time there can be a little staining of the urate portion of the waste products. I also think that this is sometimes the case if the stool is loose. Then there is a greater chance for pigments to bleed from feces to urates. If it is just little off-color I would keep an eye on it and if it is infrequent I wouldn’t worry. If we are talking dark yellow or green that's biliverdin and it implies that there is something more serious going on.

Reptiles lack an enzyme called biliverdin reductase that allows them to convert biliverdin to bilirubin (as mammals do). So their bile is green. If the liver cannot handle removing it from the bloodstream efficiently, levels can exceed the renal threshold and spill into the urates. That would result in the urates being a greenish yellow to green color. What confounds this is that there's some mixing of feces and urine/urates in the cloaca so that some fecal pigments can stain the urates a light yellow color."

 

[Keeboard]

i feed my gecko every other day and give him calcium powder with d3 every other feeding and vitamin powder every three feedings. there is no calcium in the tank because i couldnt find pure calcium powder. i thought the problem was too much calcium and tried to give him less, but the urate is still large.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

i feed my gecko every other day and give him calcium powder with d3 every other feeding and vitamin powder every three feedings. there is no calcium in the tank because i couldnt find pure calcium powder. i thought the problem was too much calcium and tried to give him less, but the urate is still large.

Thank you. Are you lightly dusting the feeders? Is the urate larger than the feces?

These details make a difference.

• What brand calcium powder with D3?
• What brand multivitamin?
• What feeders?
• What do you feed the crickets...mealworms?
• How old is your leo? For sure if he's older a calcium dish in the enclosure 24/7 has not been recommended for a long time. Many powdered supplements also contain calcium.

 

[Keeboard]

Sorry about the late reply! I feed my gecko crickets and the urate is about the same size as the feces (at least the last time). I guess I dust the crickets heavily; I didn't think it mattered. Should I dust them lighter? I feed the crickets carrot. The brand of calcium powder is Zoo Med Repti Calcium and the vitamin powder is Zoo Med's Reptivite. My gecko is 4 years old.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Sorry about the late reply! I feed my gecko crickets and the urate is about the same size as the feces (at least the last time). I guess I dust the crickets heavily; I didn't think it mattered. Should I dust them lighter? I feed the crickets carrot. The brand of calcium powder is Zoo Med Repti Calcium and the vitamin powder is Zoo Med's Reptivite. My gecko is 4 years old.

Crickets make an excellent diet for a leo. Crickets need a balanced dry diet, not only carrots. They need a good dry diet with collards or other high calcium veggies on the side for a calcium boost.

Good, too, on Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3 and, I hope, plain (no D3) Reptivite. Be sure to only lightly dust. The frequency of light dusting depends on the dry diet your crickets get. Until you add a good dry diet, I'd lightly dust only some of the crickets 2x per week with Repti Calcium with D3 and plain Reptivite 1x per week.

It's best by far for our geckos to receive most of their nutrition via the diet they eat. Consider powdered supplements a secondary source.

Click: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...feeding-issues-/68574-cricket-guidelines.html

 

[Keeboard]

So does that mean the two times a week I dust the crickets, I only dust a few of the crickets? Is it ok if i start to give my crickets a variety of food such as carrot, apple, greens?

 

[JessJohnson87]

They'll need a dry staple to, like the adult bearded dragon food or chicken feed without DE. They love carrots, apples and collard greens. And yes only dust 2 times per week with the calcium and like 2 or 3 of the crickets and 1 time a week with the multivitamin.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

DE = diatomaceous earth

That's an ingredient of some poultry foods. The ones listed on the Cricket Guidelines do not contain diatomaceous earth.