Help! Crystalized urates

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Posted by Diana on November 11, 2000 at 16:22:11:

I just finished "pooping Habib" and found that his usually runny and white urates were grayish and crystalized. I put on a rubber glove and poked at the urate clots before I washed out his rubbermaid "poop bin", (sorry if that's gross, but I had to see what they felt like so I could tell you) and I found that the urates were somewhat crunchy and crystalike to the touch. His solid waste appeared normal, but I'm worried/alarmed as to what the unusual urates could mean.

Can anyone out there tell me what this is a symptom of, and if they've had similar experience with something like this?

To help you, I'll provide some background info about him and his care thus far:

Habib was a rescue who positively dying when we got him. A college girl pawned him off to us when she found out she couldn't have him in her dorm room. We knew nothing about Iguanas nor their care, but I couldn't stand to think of this little green guy dying for lack of care. His fingers were falling off--literally--from lack of nutrition, as the pet store she got him from said to just feed him Iceburg lettuce and canned mandarin oranges, and he had been given only those two things for the first 8 months of his life. He has lost four of his fingers, but is otherwise healthy and strong now.

When he came to live with us last year, we built him an expensive cage out of plexiglass and wood. We included nice UVB and UVA lightbulbs, a heating pad, and plenty of water and "furniture" to climb on. (I even made him a hand-sewn green plaid quilt, which I monogrammed and "H" on the front for him, along with two matching pillows.)

Over the summer, however, he outgrew his cage and has been a free-roamer ever since. We live in Utah, where it's very dry and quite cold all winter long. Since he no longer fits into his cage, we've been worried about his humidity levels, and also his temperature for this upcoming winter, but as we are literally broke and can hardly even make our rent each month, building a new cage for him has had to wait. (I've cried over this fact, and would literally do anything I could for this little guy, but I just don't know what to do because we can't afford a new cage right now.)

Anyway, he acts totally healthy, happy, and is a loving little guy. He has an incredible appetite, and eats a diet of collard greens, green beans, snow peas, accorn squash, spagetti squash, blueberries, raspberries, summer squash, and zuchini. I mist his leaves thoroughly with water before I serve them to him to make sure he's well hydrated, and we also supplement with calcium and vitamin D3 on occasion.

Can anyone suggest what the problem is based on what I've told you? I really really want to help him live a long happy life, and could really use some imput. He's sitting here, watching me with his little head cocked up to the side as I type this; the thoughts of losing him are unbearable.

Thank you for your help and advise,
Diana

Follow Ups:

Re: Help! Crystalized urates John 11/13/00 (0)
Re: Help! Crystalized urates Barbara 11/12/00 (0)
I see a vet visit in your immediate future..... Iguanamomma 11/11/00 (0)
Re: Help! Crystalized urates Harry's Dad 11/11/00 (2)
- Re: Help! Crystalized urates Diana 11/11/00 (1)
  - Ok here's what I found Harry's Dad 11/11/00 (0)

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: I just finished "pooping Habib" and found that his usually runny and white urates were grayish and crystalized. I put on a rubber glove and poked at the urate clots before I washed out his rubbermaid "poop bin", (sorry if that's gross, but I had to see what they felt like so I could tell you) and I found that the urates were somewhat crunchy and crystalike to the touch. His solid waste appeared normal, but I'm worried/alarmed as to what the unusual urates could mean. : Can anyone out there tell me what this is a symptom of, and if they've had similar experience with something like this? : To help you, I'll provide some background info about him and his care thus far: : Habib was a rescue who positively dying when we got him. A college girl pawned him off to us when she found out she couldn't have him in her dorm room. We knew nothing about Iguanas nor their care, but I couldn't stand to think of this little green guy dying for lack of care. His fingers were falling off--literally--from lack of nutrition, as the pet store she got him from said to just feed him Iceburg lettuce and canned mandarin oranges, and he had been given only those two things for the first 8 months of his life. He has lost four of his fingers, but is otherwise healthy and strong now. : When he came to live with us last year, we built him an expensive cage out of plexiglass and wood. We included nice UVB and UVA lightbulbs, a heating pad, and plenty of water and "furniture" to climb on. (I even made him a hand-sewn green plaid quilt, which I monogrammed and "H" on the front for him, along with two matching pillows.) : Over the summer, however, he outgrew his cage and has been a free-roamer ever since. We live in Utah, where it's very dry and quite cold all winter long. Since he no longer fits into his cage, we've been worried about his humidity levels, and also his temperature for this upcoming winter, but as we are literally broke and can hardly even make our rent each month, building a new cage for him has had to wait. (I've cried over this fact, and would literally do anything I could for this little guy, but I just don't know what to do because we can't afford a new cage right now.) : Anyway, he acts totally healthy, happy, and is a loving little guy. He has an incredible appetite, and eats a diet of collard greens, green beans, snow peas, accorn squash, spagetti squash, blueberries, raspberries, summer squash, and zuchini. I mist his leaves thoroughly with water before I serve them to him to make sure he's well hydrated, and we also supplement with calcium and vitamin D3 on occasion. : Can anyone suggest what the problem is based on what I've told you? I really really want to help him live a long happy life, and could really use some imput. He's sitting here, watching me with his little head cocked up to the side as I type this; the thoughts of losing him are unbearable. : Thank you for your help and advise, : Diana

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