Snake Urate Question - Is Green Normal?

[AjaMichelle]

Hello,

I was reading dinosaurdammit's thread about her poisoned boa and in it, green urates are correlated with kidney dysfunction.

Did it look anything like these?


http://s18.postimage.org/jf9oakm11/IMG_20120924_215618.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/jf9oakm11/)

http://s10.postimage.org/5y1ljtc6t/IMG_20120924_215628.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/5y1ljtc6t/)

I lost a female boa two or three months ago to what I believe was kidney failure. She passed urates like that almost daily for a couple of weeks. Never big pees just a lot of them. I asked a couple people up here and they mentioned kidney problems so I asked a three large boid breeders in the states who also mentioned her kidneys were not working properly. Now my girl was severely overweight but the last few days she just stretched out all limp and never had much muscle tone.

My burm has passed green/yellow/white urates since I got him, and they're usually mostly green. He also pees small pees and copious amounts of fluid fairly often, like every few days.

So what is normal? Because I haven't been able to determine what snake pee is supposed to look like, only that none of my other reptiles (lizards and a hognose snake) have colorful urates.

Thanks! :)

[dinosaurdammit]

I should mention with my boa that not only were her urates green but they were thick as canned baby food. Hers were not runny, not like normal pee anyway. It was all just like canned baby spinach.

[AjaMichelle]

That's so awful DD. I'm so sorry! I hope she pulls through. :(

[dinosaurdammit]

That's so awful DD. I'm so sorry! I hope she pulls through. :(

she is doing much better- i am pleased to say she passed watery urine today AND it was not green like it was. Her kidney function is getting better :3 so excited i could pee myself

[AjaMichelle]

That's fantastic!!! It's so rare that we encounter knowledgeable veterinarians who can actually offer solutions to these types of stressful situations! I just wish the shop had been responsible too. :(

[KORBIN5895]

Honestly that's how my girl went a few weeks before she passed. She peed often but never large amounts. White and yellowish is what my other snakes pee.

[dinosaurdammit]

That's fantastic!!! It's so rare that we encounter knowledgeable veterinarians who can actually offer solutions to these types of stressful situations! I just wish the shop had been responsible too. :(

i can wish a lot of things after the fact :C

are your pythons urates watery? my vet said that he has only see green urates in:
snakes with kidney damage/kidney failing
snakes who are anerexic and are basically digesting their own body


He thinks she did the green because her body was trying to break down the toxins and was digesting affected tissue- her muscles :no:

[AjaMichelle]

Honestly that's how my girl went a few weeks before she passed. She peed often but never large amounts. White and yellowish is what my other snakes pee.

So yellow is probably fine? Monty's urates look like the urates in the photos you posted except there's more green stuff and it's pretty chalky and chunky somehow, and it's usually accompanied by a large puddle of clear fluid.

i can wish a lot of things after the fact :C

are your pythons urates watery? my vet said that he has only see green urates in:
snakes with kidney damage/kidney failing
snakes who are anerexic and are basically digesting their own body


He thinks she did the green because her body was trying to break down the toxins and was digesting affected tissue- her muscles :no:

Wow!!! That's brutal!!! I'm not really sure what defines watery. When he pees there's a large puddle of clear fluid (but not always), and the urates are typically a puddle of white with chunks of green and yellow stuff. They never look the same. Sometimes there is also red, however, I haven't been able to determine from where the red is originating. I keep asking people and vets and everyone keeps telling me this is normal, but it definitely doesn't seem normal.

I've had him for almost 2 years, but he was off food for 8 months before I got him (he was living in a 30 gallon rubbermaid container), then he ate like 3 or 4 times over the first 6 months I had him, then he went off of food for 4 months, and he's been eating reliably since February 2012. I was feeding him smaller meals (7 to 8 pounds) until August, but since posting this:

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/giant-python-discussion/94309-burm-question.html

I have been doing my best to feed him larger meals (10 to 12) pounds every 4 to 5 weeks, as he sheds often. He's now 70 to 80 pounds and about 15 feet.

He was only 23 pounds when I got him though. Here's a photo of his first feed with me. Those are XL rats.

http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r544/_AjaMichelle_/Monty/P4210147_zps48c1ed6a.jpg

He usually pees every few days too, is that normal?

[AjaMichelle]

What is the clear, watery fluid I keep seeing?

[dinosaurdammit]

What is the clear, watery fluid I keep seeing?

Im guessing pee. Just not condensed into the white urates.

[KORBIN5895]

Yeah its pee.

[AjaMichelle]

Shouldn't it be condensed into the white urates? Uric acid is produced specifically to avoid fluid loss like this...

[dinosaurdammit]

Shouldn't it be condensed into the white urates? Uric acid is produced specifically to avoid fluid loss like this...

could be they have too much fluid. Because my snake has been on injected fluids she has urates as well as MASSIVE daily pees. Idk if that is like normal for healthy non injected snakes however, have you a vet to go to? Id just drop a call and bounce your concerns off of him/her.

[AjaMichelle]

could be they have too much fluid. Because my snake has been on injected fluids she has urates as well as MASSIVE daily pees. Idk if that is like normal for healthy non injected snakes however, have you a vet to go to? Id just drop a call and bounce your concerns off of him/her.

Well Monty has access to water at all times and I don't feed him soaked food. His humidity also averages about 70%.

I don't really have a vet I can call, I'd have to take him in. :/

[KORBIN5895]

All of my snakes pass fluid when they' pee. All snakes do. That's why people use substrate.

[AjaMichelle]

All of my snakes pass fluid when they' pee. All snakes do. That's why people use substrate.

Oh! I guess I've never noticed with my hog because he's on substrate :)

[KORBIN5895]

Lol. Yeah when my big female goes she soaks half of the cage.

[dinosaurdammit]

it also smells like a hooker's hoochie aka fishy. yuck

[AjaMichelle]

Lol. Yeah when my big female goes she soaks half of the cage.

That sounds about right! :)

But not so much on the fish smell lol :) He just smells like a big messy snake.