Because of the continuing use of nuclear fuel sources and heightened threats of nuclear weapon use, the amount of produced and released radionuclides is increasing daily, as is the risk of larger human exposure to fission product actinides. A rodent model was used to follow the in vivo distribution of representative actinides, administered as free metal ions or complexed with chelating agents including diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) and the hydroxypyridinonate ligands 3,4,3-LI(1,2-HOPO) and 5-LIO(Me-3,2-HOPO). Different metabolic pathways for the different metal ions were evidenced, resulting in intricate ligand- and metal-dependent decorporation mechanisms. While the three studied chelators are known for their unrivaled actinide decorporation efficiency, the corresponding metal complexes may undergo in vivo decomposition and release metal ions in various biological pools. This study sets the basis to further explore the metabolism and in vivo coordination properties of internalized actinides for the future development of viable therapeutic chelating agents.