Constantly constipated

[BeardieBaby]

Hi everyone...well basically I was having issues with my beardie and constipation because I was giving him crickets that were a bit too big for him, but at the time I thought they were okay. Anyways, it seems like from the first time he got constipated from them, now he can't go to the bathroom on his own! I switched to little crickets and he still got constipated again but I finally got him to go in the bath. Do you guys think something is wrong with his digestive tract or something or do some beardies hold it until you give them a bath?? He never used to go in the bath so this is all a new thing but new habits happen and I am wondering if now this is what is going on. I know I post a lot of questions about beardie poop on here lol but I am trying to understand why my beardie can't seem to poop normal anymore, and if anyone has any thoughts id appreciate it! Thanks!

 

[khaleesi]

It can be a pain in the bum when you have to find time every day to give him a bath to make sure he's pooping but I know you don't mind that it's what we do for our babies even when those 5 mins you have spare you just want to sit down. I would maybe try a different food source, roaches maybe see if it helps any. That's what I would do

 

[Pat B]

How do you know that he is constipated? and not something else? Maybe he just doesn't need to poop everyday. I know we 'expect' them to poop everyday but that just isn't the case with these little creatures. Have you tried to wait him out to see if he will go on his own? Spike is in brumation and hasn't done anything for
well over 2 months. Now that is scary. I just let him do his own thing. Eventually the little boy will wake up and want to eat!!

 

[BeardieBaby]

I don't know where I would get the roaches because I live in an apartment complex and I can't get them sent to my apartment because all the packages go to the office first and they'd freak out if they even knew I had crickets in here...does anyone know what I can feed my beardie that won't be so hard on his digestive track right now? He won't eat his veggies yet, so that's out of the question unfortunately. I was thinking feeding him squash baby food or some other types, but if that is the case, how much do I feed him so that I am giving him a sufficient amount of food a day? And how many times a day do I offer it to him?

@Pat-I know he is constipated because I can feel it in his stomach and when he gets constipated he stops eating so every time he stops eating its a sign he is constipated.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Here is a bit of food for thought,BeardieBaby...hate to be blunt here so I apologize in advance. Question... Do you yourself poop everyday?...at the same time?...If you don't then do you immediately start to panic and worry?....run to WallyWorld and buy tons of PerfectPooper meds and remedies? Perhaps cases of of enemas?...start consuming mass quantities of prunes washed down with gallons of olive oil?.. Call your doctor and make an emergency appointment because you haven't pooped that day and so therefore there MUST be some terrible problem with your digestive system???

Again I apologize for my bluntness here and truly don't need to know the answer to any of the questions I asked but my point is that as has been pointed out to you many many times just because your dragon doesn't poop every day or even every few days or even every week does not mean that he is sick, constipated nor anything but a perfectly healthy and normal. Dragons just like a lot of people don't poop every day. Impaction is NOT as common a thing as most people think it is and just because Baby doesn't poop every day is not a reason that you should even begin to panic or lose sleep over.

As far as I know from what you have posted in the forums you are taking good care of him and providing him with a proper enclosure and good nutrition and giving him everything he needs to thrive which he will if you will relax and let him do so.

He will poop when he needs to poop..may not be every day...I've mentioned before Mungi has gone 11+ days generally though he goes every couple or 3 days and then every day for a week or two and then maybe back to the every few days thing. He is healthy, active , apparently happy, almost 500 grams at present and his appetite can only be described as voracious.

I have said this before and will say again...I truly wish that folks would stop paying so much attention to their dragons poop schedule because it is NOT a reliable or viable gauge of their health and well being but it is a certain way to make yourself sick with worry for no reason if you allow it to be.

Enjoy your weekend!!

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@Pat-I know he is constipated because I can feel it in his stomach and when he gets constipated he stops eating so every time he stops eating its a sign he is constipated.

Or it could be that he doesnt eat or stops eating for a period because he is not hungry. That is another thing that some dragons as well as other reptiles do on occasion too....as well as some humans

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

I will make one other suggestion and then leave the subject alone because I think that enough has already been said but if this on going issue keeps you stressing out as much as it appears that it does then I would call your vet and find out how much they would charge you to do an X-ray of Baby and see if they see any abnormality in his digestive tract...my guess is that they wont but it would be well worth saving up the money and having the procedure done to eliminate your constant concerns and stress about it.
Enjoy!

 

[Noella]

Allie went on a feeding frenzy a few weeks ago. Ate everything in sight, a large plate of turnip greens and then an hour later, more than her usual cricket intake (12 in one sitting and I learned that she had started growing and beginning of shed.). She didn't poop the entire day until the next day. It took her 12-24 hours to pass all that she had eaten.

Give him time to digest his food and how do you prepare his salads? Are they large pieces or small pieces? Try giving less veins in his salad. (Something that isn't prominent and felt. (Like the center veins. Try to follow the pattern around the veins. Give smaller pieces followed by a good spritz of water.) Try using small crickets for the time being. What are your crickets eating? (I give my crickets greens which adds more moisture and nutrition to the dragon. Mine does and the best thing: Allie isn't constipated, at all. She goes every day (unlike an adult.). I don't find it odd, but she's well hydrated and fed 'very well' according to the vet. (My vet asked me what I've been feeding her to be so 'healthy' and 'well-colored'. I told her, great lights and all the salad greens-turnip, mustard, collards and that she's regular without any problems pooping.

 

[Germ]

Things are just made so much more complicated than they have to be. If your Husbandry is up to par as you have many times made sure of, it will crap when it needs to. I double ditto Buddha's comments.

 

[BeardieBaby]

When does it become too much though? I mean, how long can they technically go without eating? I just worry that he will become weak and lethargic if he stops eating and I'd like to know how long is considered "okay" for him to not eat? It's hard for me to determine whats something that is normal for a beardie or not normal. I guess I just figured they were always hungry lol. I understand what you're saying about the laxatives, but I guess I was just associating constipation and not eating as something that goes together, otherwise I don't understand why he just stops eating. Mungi, can you give me advice on this food thing? I don't understand it much and would like to know more about it. I guess I always thought Dragons had to eat all the time so if you can explain to me this I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Noella]

I've left prepared salads misted with a lot of water to keep it fresh or given her some maintenance formula for adult bearded dragons before I leave. I'll show it to her to let her know it's there to eat. Sometimes, she'll indulge herself right before I leave or she'll leave it for later to eat or wait for me to come home to eat even it's 8-9. Allie doesn't always eat every night and some mornings, she's not hungry. Or she'll pick through her greens. Other days she'll pig out. Not everyone eats and I guess the same goes for dragons or any pet. (My dog Dollie, couldn't eat a lot of food. She'd go to the food bowl and take one bite every so often. It's because of this we had to put her down. She had tumors and was 'Sundowning', Alzheimer's in an elderly dog. She was also very skinny and wasn't able to come inside. She'd mess up the whole house and her kennel. She's in a better place now and I'm glad she's not outside in the cold weather.)

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

When does it become too much though? I mean, how long can they technically go without eating? I just worry that he will become weak and lethargic if he stops eating and I'd like to know how long is considered "okay" for him to not eat? It's hard for me to determine whats something that is normal for a beardie or not normal. I guess I just figured they were always hungry lol. I understand what you're saying about the laxatives, but I guess I was just associating constipation and not eating as something that goes together, otherwise I don't understand why he just stops eating. Mungi, can you give me advice on this food thing? I don't understand it much and would like to know more about it. I guess I always thought Dragons had to eat all the time so if you can explain to me this I would greatly appreciate it.

Not really sure what kind of advice on the food thing you are needing...You should have a good idea by now about how to put together a good bowl of greens for Baby and that should be offered fresh every day. I prefer offering the "salad" about an hour after they get up because most dragons will want to go bask and warm up right after they wake up and usually wont go straight after their salad. With Mungi his salad is left in his enclosure all day and spritzed with water to freshen it up a couple of times during the day to keep it from drying out. We also use RepCal Adult Bearded Dragon Pellets mixed in with his greens which he loves. This is the product...

http://www.petmountain.com/search/456/50/1/1/?Order=11&Color=&Filter=

These have to be soaked in warm water to soften them before adding them to the salad which also gives him more moisture.

Live feeders at his age are offered every other day and Mungi will polish off between 8-15 large dubia roaches or between 20-25 large crickets at a time. He has gotten where he greatly prefers the roaches to the crickets which I have no problem with because the gut loaded roaches are much healthier and nutritious for him than the gut loaded crickets.
Most of the time he will finish his live feeders before they even make it out of the Mason Jar Glass we feed them out of as seen in this pic...

However if he doesn't eat them all at one sitting then we leave the remaining live feeders in his enclosures for him to snack on when he wants through-out the day. Any live feeders that that he doesn't eat are removed before lights out at night.

That is basically it. We also dust all live feeders with Calcium without D3 and he gets Calcium with D3 once per week and a Multi-vit/mineral dust once per week.

I have also begun to use a product called ReptAid which I credit with bringing him through his coccidia breakout and his subsequent URI that he got after the treatments that the vet gave him didn't work and drug his system down.

When he was sick I used two 10 day dose cycles of the ReptAid which totally cleared his URI as well as his parasite issues and now just give him a single dose the first 2 days of each month as a boost to his immune system. The results and change in him have been simply amazing. This is a product that I would personally recommend every dragon or reptile keeper to keep on hand. Dosing is easy but you must know the weight of your dragon and read the instructions. Also the folks that helped develop it are more than happy to help you use it correctly. The doses are very small and this is an all natural product that works with absolutely none of the bad side effects of drugs such as Albon,Pancur,etc

Really dont like sounding like a commercial for this product and I make no money or get any compensation for telling folks about this stuff but when I find something good I love spreading the word. There are a lot of junk products out in the reptile market but this one is a real deal worth every cent. By the way a 1 oz bottle for a juvi contains almost 300 doses and the XL which we use for Mungi because of his size 1 oz has almost 600 doses and kept in a frig is good for a year.

You can learn more about here...

http://www.reptaid.com/

Hope this helps answer the question you asked but if not just PM me and as always will be glad to help clarify and help any way I can.

Enjoy

 

[BeardieBaby]

Thank you sooo much Mungi!!!! That was a ton of help!! And I am so happy to know there is a product out there like reptaid that I just went to the website and bought it! I bet that will help Baby tremendously from what I can sense from what you're explaining to me! I feel so much better already!!!

 

[Noella]

Well, later today, Allie had a watery stool and didn't eat much. Poor girl. Messed herself up and her basking spots. Cleaned and baked her basking spots in the oven for 30 minutes after washing her logs in vinegar and hot water.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Thank you sooo much Mungi!!!! That was a ton of help!! And I am so happy to know there is a product out there like reptaid that I just went to the website and bought it! I bet that will help Baby tremendously from what I can sense from what you're explaining to me! I feel so much better already!!!

Glad to help anytime...make sure that you ordered the correct Reptaid...there is Regular for smaller dragons and XL for larger ones depending on the weight of your dragon in grams.
Also when you get it read the instructions very good and make sure that you understand them. The dosages are very tiny and you don't want to use too much because it is strong. I use a lil pedialyte orange in the syringe to make sure he gets the whole dose cause the amount of Reptaid used is so small that it is otherwise hard to get out of the syringe. If you have any doubts about how to use or dose call them and they will be very happy to help. Their numbers are on the website.
Again you will need to know Baby's weight so if you don't have a gram scale to weigh him go get one at Walmart..they are in the Kitchen Department and about 20 bucks...just make sure the one you buy weighs in grams
Enjoy