Urate is quite hard, is this normal????

[Anthony Hendrick]

My chameleon has been having problems lately going to the toilet. He has been to the vet and he's being monitored to find out what the problem is. I noticed yesterday he took a crap and the urate was quite hard when i examined it (basically i squeezed it to see what the texture was like and it was pretty hard, it didn't deform when i squeezed it at all) I don't know if that's normal or not. Otherwise the urate is white and the poo is moist but not runny as it should be, any thoughts anyone


P.s I don't normally go around sqeezing turds to check them, he just has a deficating problems and I'm going to do whatever it takes to sort it out, please don't judge me!!!!!!

 

[OOOst16]

From my experiance.....after urate is set out to dry....it hardens. When the chameleon firstn poops its moist but then hardens. You want a maoist firm intact poop. You don't want mushey watery nastyness. (I've smelled my chams poop for any signes of parisites before don't worry your not weird.)

 

[Anthony Hendrick]

well the urate is quite hard just after it comes out. the crap is fine though, it's moist and healthy looking. The urate just seemed way too hard to be normal. I must consult my vet about this coz as I said he is having problems with going lately and if the urate is the first thing to come out it could be blocking everything up!

 

[Texas Panther Man]

If he is slightly dehydrated he could get constipated. Put him in a lukewarm shower for 20-30 mins a couple of times a week it really helps with chams that have problems pooing. Do you run a dripper? Do you have an automated mister or are you misting by hand? You might want to up the mistings also. Just dont soak his cage before lights out, let it dry out a bit before bed. Is he on meds? That can really have a big impact on their defecating.

 

[Anthony Hendrick]

I have to admit I only offer him water through a syringe. He doesn't always take water off me though and he gets offered water about three times a day. I started to use the drip method when he first started to have problems with deficating but even if I try to collect the water at the bottom it still starts to build up in the bottom of the viv. I'm having trouble with humidity at the minute as when I spray the viv the water collects really fast at the bottom also and its not good. I think this is because I recently replaced the substrate so I'ts not holding the water at all, it just builds up underneath the substrate. I think ill start leaving out a lot of tubs at the bottom of the viv to collect all the falling water from now on. He's on no meds at the minute by the way.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

If it has been awhile since he last eliminated, this is pretty normal.
The longer the waste stays in his body, the more the body is going to reabsorb some of the moisture and the urate will come out hard and crystalized.
Getting more water into the animal (increased opportunities to drink) will most likely solve this. It's good that the urates are white.
Checking poop/urates (squeezing, etc.) is a good practice. This is a great barometer for your animals health.

-Brad

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Use a bare bottom in the enclosure and use paper towels. You might have to change them twice daily if your misting really heavily to rehydrate a cham. get him an extra plant for showering wash it with dish soap rinse it several times and start showering him til he gets on a reg defecating schedule again. If hes an adult he will poo less often though so that is something to consider. Its always better to be proactive when you notice somthing strange with these guys. And always go over your husbandry to see if you have or havent been doing things the same way recently.

 

[draetish]

Here is a simple way to make a dripper set up. You could also place a container inside the viv to catch the water. Just make sure you cover it with netting or something so the cham doesn't drown if he falls in.


https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/draetish/225-making-dripper-set-up.html