Blood in Fire Skink's Feces?

dig dug · #1 01-18-2009, 12:05 PM

I have two African fire skinks- a male and a female. I keep them in a 20 long with Jungle Bed substrate, a bark bend to hide in, and a shallow water bowl. They have a Repti-Sun UV-B bulb. I mist them daily and they have an undertank heater on one side of the tank. I feed them crickets every other day and supplement every other feeding. I've tried other foods, but they only ever go for the crickets.

I bought them from a local pet store two months ago. It's the place to go here if you're looking for a less common reptile. The owner said, "Skinks are easy. Crickets and water are all you need." The skinks had been at the store for a while. He kept them on what looked like orchid bark with a basking lamp.

My skinks have good appetites and leave the evidence for me to find every morning. This morning I found feces that looked normal in every way but one. The white part had some reddish pink on it. It wasn't mixed together- there was difinitely a white part and a reddish part but they were part of the same piece. (I hope that makes sense.) It wasn't runny at all. The whole thing appeared to be solid or at least semi-solid.

Is this sometimes normal? Should I make any changes to their set-up/feeding? Do I need to rush my babies to the vet?

Austin · #2 01-18-2009, 07:51 PM

Did they continue to eat? Hopefully it was just a one time thing. Happens with humans sometimes too, doesn't always mean somethings wrong.

dig dug · #3 01-18-2009, 08:45 PM

They seem to still be eating. There are fewer crickets each time I look in there anyway.

True, this sometimes may just happen as it does with humans. But could this be the result of over-supplementing? The crickets get dusted every other time and I usually treat their water with vitamin and calcium conditioners for their water bowl- though I mist with plain treated tap water.

beckdg · #4 01-19-2009, 10:46 AM

i'd say if it continues and especially worsens, get him to a good vet. if it is only pink it may just pass. blood in stools can be bad for any animal. there are also many things that can cause it.

common causes in a viv are plants that can be irritating or toxic, diet especially if the feeders are too big and last but not least the wrong substrate can cut the insides or cause impaction in some reptiles.

i am not really familiar with skinks. i could look up a couple care sheets for you. you could also post pics and maybe get better answers that way.

dig dug · #5 01-19-2009, 11:50 AM

I didn't see anymore presents like these this morning. I did find more shed skin, though.

They usually have their bowl full of coco-mud in less than an hour. I haven't seen them out and about as much. I know they come out, but they aren't sitting there watching me like they usually do.

They love to burrow, so I didn't put any plants in there. All I can think of is the substrate. It has more "dirt" in it than what they were on at the pet store, but it does have coco chunks in it. I'm in the process of preparing a larger tank for them anyway- what would be the best substrate for them?

While I have found some information and books on them, I've found it more difficult to find straight-forward information on them like I found for my beardies. (I have yet to find a picture anywhere of a skink that looks like my rainbow skink.)

I took some pictures of the "evidence", and as soon as I can resize them I'll post.

dig dug · #6 01-20-2009, 12:35 AM

Here are some pics:

The presents...

One of my skinks...

I usually leave my skinks alone to revel in their skinkiness. But today when I cleaned their substrate, I nudged them out of their hiding spots. Both seemed normal. I did notice that both of them seem to have more vibrant colors. I've seen them before after a shed, and today they were even brighter than that. They've been hiding more... not sure what's up with that.

p.s. That was a temporary background in the pic. Needed something to keep them from trying to explore through the glass.

froggsong · #7 01-20-2009, 01:30 AM

It could be that when the urates were still wet, the substrate stuck to it and then fell of as they dried, leaving stains the color of the substrate. That's kindof what it looks like to me, but it's hard to tell in pics.

dig dug · #8 01-21-2009, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by froggsong

It could be that when the urates were still wet, the substrate stuck to it and then fell of as they dried, leaving stains the color of the substrate. That's kindof what it looks like to me, but it's hard to tell in pics.

It does look like that in the pic, but in-person it is very different.

With it being in the urates, could there be a problem with their kidneys? I'm not familiar with the inner workings of skinks at all- I know the crickets go in and play-doh comes out.

My skinks are adults. Can oversupplementing be harmful to them the same as it can be harmful to my frogs?

beckdg · #9 01-21-2009, 04:16 AM

ok bare with me. when i was younger, i was about 5'8" maybe already 5'9". i was 98 lbs. this wasn't for me and it was hard to defend myself. i took martial arts, sparred with a couple boxers i knew, challenged the kids on the wrestling team and started sparing with them also, but the major thing was lifting weights.

about 5 yrs later i was 5'9" - 210 lbs, all muscle, winning weight lifting trophies and my friends who fought professionally or semi pro didn't want to spar with me anymore. of course i did my homework and new about all the supplements on the market at the time. i ate a lot of pasta, eggs, meats, and the few veggies i agree with.

when i was 25 i passed a kidney stone with a CORE the size of a quarter. that didn't include the spikes or rough edges. this thing was huge and took 2 surgeries, a month in the hospital and a month of pee looking like campbells tomato soup b4 it turned brown for a month and then slowly over a couple months yellow. within the last year i also found out my cholesterol is off the chart. it is well over 400 reaching for 500 and my good cholesterol is below 30.

through this experience and what i've learned about animals so far, i can definitely say that over supplementing is surely not good. being that they are both herps... i'd say it would be pretty similar.

froggsong · #10 01-21-2009, 05:36 AM

If you still have the samples, take them to the vet to be analyzed. If you don't, then just wait it out. If you see it again, bag it and take it to the vet immediately. Any vet should be able to do a fecal. You wont have to take the animal in for that, as far as I know. Shouldn't cost TOO much.