Blue Tongue Skink Poop Guide – Healthy vs Unhealthy Poop

Blue Tongue Skink Poop

An unexpected but still very important part of your skink’s care is understanding their pooping habits. Blue tongue skink poop can be tell you a lot about the skin’s health. Normal Blue tongue skink poop is firm, elongated, light/dark brown, no odor. On the other hand, abnormal Blue tongue skink poop can appear as runny, bloody, unexpected colors and more.

In this article, we will help you get a better understanding of your Blue tongue skink’s poop habits by delving into the following topics:

  • Healthy Blue tongue skink poop
  • Unhealthy Blue tongue skink poop
  • How often should my Blue tongue skink poop?
  • Why is my Blue tongue skink not pooping?

Healthy Blue Tongue Skink Poop

blue tongue skink poop
Normal Lizard Poop

An essential part of your skink’s care, that in some cases gets neglected, is understanding your Blue tongue skink’s normal pooping habits.

Normally, when we think of “poop” we don’t relate it to anything important, it’s just waste, right? On the contrary, your skink’s poop can tell you a lot about their health and if you’re feeding them the right foods. Therefore, that makes Blue tongue skink poop important.

When analyzing if your Blue tongue skink’s poop is normal and healthy, you should be looking at the following criteria:

  • Color
  • Texture
  • Contents
  • Smell
  • Size

Color

Healthy Blue tongue poop will have a brown-ish part and a whit-ish part. Both of these parts should be solid but not too hard, round or elongated.

Contents

So, what is a healthy Blue tongue skink made of? The brown-ish part of your Blue tongue skink poop is the digested matter. Whereas, the whit-ish part is pee, also known as the urate.

There should be very little undigested food matter present in the Blue tongue skink poop.

However, it’s important to remember that some foods such as tomato skin can only be partially digested and will probably come out in the same form they went in and that’s perfectly normal.

The same thing happens to humans when we eat sweetcorn, it comes out in the same form.

Another common undigested matter is insect exoskeletons. Although, this is nothing to be worried about, you should be careful to only feed your skink younger, softer insects as they are much easier to digest.

Urate Deposit

As mentioned earlier the white-ish part in your Blue tongue skink poop is called urate. As skinks don’t urinate like humans, that’s their form of pee.

The urate is the by-product of nitrogenous waste and protein breakdown. This is the result of the breakdown of protein during digestion.

The size of the urate depends on your skink’s diet. However, it should always be smaller than the brown-ish part of the poop.

The normal texture of the urate should be soft, but not too runny or mushy; it may have some water present, which is a good sign that your skink is well hydrated.

Smell

A healthy Blue tongue skink poop is odor-free. 

Texture

The overall texture of your Blue tongue skink should be pasty or sticky. The poop will only appear more solid once it has been outside your skink for awhile and it has dried up.

Size

The normal size of Blue tongue skink poop depends on the age.

Unhealthy Blue Tongue Skink Poop

Unhealty Lizard Poop – Diarrhea

Now that you’ve learned what normal Blue tongue skink poop looks like, we are going to take a look at what are the signs of unhealthy stool.

Abnormal Blue tongue skink poop can be a sign of illnesses, dehydration or need for a change in their diet.

When it comes to determining the cause for your skink’s abnormal poop, the best approach is to consider all the symptoms and explore all the possibilities that can correct the problem  such as change of diet.

Abnormal Size

If the urate part of your Blue Tongue skinks poop appears too large, it can mean that your skink’s diet need improvement.

On the other hand if the urate is small, dry, hard or chalky, it’s a good sign of dehydration.

Abnormal Texture

If the urate or faecal part of Blue tongue skink poop appears mushy or fluffy, it can be a sign of parasites or infection. In this case, the best course of action is for a vet to test a sample of the skinks poop to rule these infections out.

Abnormal Smell

If suddenly Blue tongue skink poop has stronger smell than usual, it can be a sign of a parasitic infection.

Other possible causes for your Blue tongue skink stool smelling bad include:

  • Diet. For instance, some types of vegetables can make your skink’s poop smell bad
  • Bacteria and dirt from their enclosure. Ensure their enclosure is being cleaned daily and deep cleaned once a week to avoid these issues

High Excess Of Uric Acid

If there is too much uric acid in your Blue tongue skink poop, it can mean they have a health condition known as gout. Usually, this is the result of foods that are high in purine and/or fructose. This can also lead to kidney stones when the urate crystallizes in the kidney.

Green Poop

Green Blue tongue skink poop is a sign of a diet that’s too high in sugars.

This can easily be adjusted by lowering the fruits in your skink’s diet and increasing the green vegetables and plants.

Remember, fruits should only make up 10% of your skinks diet. To read the full guide on Blue tongue skink diet, click here What Do Blue Tongue Skinks Eat? The Full Guide

Chalky Hard Urate

As already mentioned earlier the normal texture of your Blue tongue skink should be soft. However, if your skink’s poop is chalky and hard, it means they have too much calcium in their diet.

Another possible cause for chalky and hard urate can be dehydration. The best course of action is to give your skink more fluids in the form of fresh water and puréed foods diluted with water.

Keep observing them and if their poop continues to come out hard and chalky, then the most likely cause is too much calcium in their diet.

Yellow Poop or Yellow Urate

If your Blue tongue skink stool has a yellow color, it can be from certain foods in their diet such as red fruits.

Another possible cause for yellow Blue tongue skink poop is dehydration. And in more rare cases, the cause can be liver problems. To eliminate the liver as being the issue, the vet will have to test a sample of your skink’s blood.

All White Excretes

If your Blue tongue skink poop is all white, it’s usually a sign of over hydration. Although, this is not something to worry about, if the white part of the poop is also hard and chalky, it can instead mean – too much calcium in your skink’s diet.

Runny Poop

Runny Blue tongue skink poop, also known as diarrhea, is usually a sign of any of the following:

  • Your skink getting used to a new diet
  • Over hydration – this happens when you feed your skink too many fruits, foliage greens or hornworms
  • Parasites such as coccidia’ – if the diarrhea is caused by parasites, it will also be accompanied by a bad smell, stronger than normal

But what does diarrhea look like in Blue tongue skinks? If your skink is pooping a lot in one day and the poop’s texture appears runny, it means it’s diarrhea.

It’s important to note that prolonged diarrhea can result in dehydration. Therefore, it’s essential to establish the cause and treat it quickly.

Blood In Poop

Normally, blood in your Blue tongue skink poop is the result of constipation/impaction or internal bleeding. Constipation happens when you feed your Blue tongue skink foods that are too big to digest or the wrong texture such as insects with hard exoskeletons.

If your Blue tongue skink’s stool is bloody because of constipation, you’ll also notice the following symptoms:

  • Lethargic
  • Rubbing their belly against the ground
  • Thirst

To help your skink pass whatever is stuck in their intestines, you’ll need to hydrate them by providing fresh water and giving them warm baths.

If the blood is still there after a few days, you should contact a vet.

How Often Should My Blue Tongue Skink Poop?

How often your skink poops depends on the following factors:

  • Size of the skink
  • What foods they ate last
  • How much they ate

However, roughly an adult skink should be pooping once every 2 to 3 days. Whereas, a young skink should be pooping every day as they will eat more.

Similar to people, skinks will have individual pooping habits. Therefore, to know what’s your skinks normal pooping schedule is important to observe their behaviour over time. For some skinks that would be pooping right after eating and for others can be pooping 12/24 hours later.

It’s highly beneficial to keep a diary where you write down your skink’s pooping and eating habits. This way you’ll always have a log of your skink’s health and normal/abnormal behaviours to refer to.

Why Is My Blue Tongue Skink Not Pooping?

If you’re worried that your Blue tongue skink is not pooping, first thing you need to do is ensure that this is actually the case. For instance, your skink can be pooping just fine but you might not be seeing it.

Always, check the tank thoroughly as some skinks like to poop in more hidden places; and in some cases skinks even eat their poop.

Observe your skink and if there is no poop for over a week, then you need to investigate further into what’s causing this. One of the possible causes for your Blue tongue skink not pooping is stress.

For instance, if your skink is a new pet and still getting used to their environment, they will naturally feel more stressed. Due to that stress they won’t not eat which subsequently results in no poop. If that’s the case, allow your skink at least one full week to settle in before panicking. If your skink is not eating and you don’t know why, find the answe here Why Is My Blue Tongue Skink Not Eating? 10 Causes & Solutions

Another likely cause for your Blue tongue skink not pooping is constipation. If your skink is really constipated, other symptoms besides not pooping include lethargy, agitation (such as constant hissing),keeping their eyes shut for long periods of time, rubbing belly on ground.

To help your Blue tongue skink poop, you can feed them semi-boiled egg and small mushed up pieces of banana and/or soak your skink in lukewarm water for 10 to 15 minutes. The warm water on the underbelly will help them pass stole.

Final Thoughts

blue tongue skink poop

Understanding your pet’s normal pooping habits is very important and Blue tongue skinks are no exception. Your pet’s poop can tell you a lot about their health and if their diet has enough  nutrition.

Normal Blue tongue skink poop is firm, elongated, light to dark brown and odor-free. Whereas, for abnormal Blue tongue skink poop keep an eye for any of the following:

  • Runny poop
  • Green or yellow poop
  • Bloody poop
  • All White Excretes
  • Excess uric acid
  • Strong unpleasant smell
  • Chalky and hard urate

In most cases abnormal Blue tongue skink poop is a sign of either incorrect diet, dehydration or constipation. All of these are easily treated with a few adjustments in your skink’s care.

However, some rarer cases that are a bit more serious such as parasites or liver problems,  will need to be treated by a vet.

Related Questions Q&A

Why Is My Blue Tongue Skink Eating Its Poop?

In some cases Blue tongue skink will eat their poop. Although, many animals engage in such behaviors, it’s important to understand why are they doing it.

In most cases your Blue tongue skink eating their poop is due to lack of nutrients in their diet.

To prevent your skink eating their poop, which can also result in high levels of bacteria in their body, you should ensure your skink’s diet is well-balanced and nutritious.

To learn more about what to feed a Blue tongue skink, click here for the full guide What Do Blue Tongue Skinks Eat? The Full Guide

Do Blue Tongue Skinks Pee?

Although, Blue tongue skinks do pee, it’s not the same as us humans. Their pee is also known as urate and it comes out with their poop. Their pee is the whitish part of the poop.

If your skink is healthy and hydrated, they will pee often.

If the urate is hard, that’s a sign of dehydration. Whereas, if the urate has a “chalky” texture, it’s a sign that there is too much calcium in their diet.

How To Treat a Dehydrated Blue Tongue Skink?

To help a dehydrated Blue tongue skink, you can try the following:

  • Feed them foods that are high in water content
  • Feed them puréed foods diluted with water
  • Provide fresh water
  • Soak your skink in shallow bath water for 10 to 15 minutes every day

References

https://reptifiles.com/blue-tongue-skink-care/blue-tongue-skink-illnesses/

unusualpetsguide

My name is Iliyana and I'm a passionate animal lover and pet owner. As there is significantly less information online about unusual and exotic pets, I decided to found this website and recruit expert writers to help pet owners.

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