Really hard urates?

[stinax182]

So my adult dragon usually doesn't poop everyday because he doesn't eat everyday. But recently I noticed he hasn't pooped in a long time despite my giving him daily warm soaks. One day, after refreshing his cool water for warm water twice, he pooped! It was big but I noticed his urates were rock hard. There was a good amount of it too. What does this mean? Does he need more water? I mist his head usually everyday or every other day, half the time he will drink.

 

[Canicke]

urates will be hard - beardies dont urinate per se - they absorb the water and excrete the urates. abnormally hard urates may be an indication of the need for more fluids. try shredded cucumber (i remove the seed) - my boy pooped twice in one day after a couple days of cukes - which he devoured !! (remove the skin, please)

 

[stinax182]

Thank you, I will definitely give that a try.

I can't get him to eat veggies...... He'll eat a couple pieces of collard greens, but that's it. It's hard enough to get him to eat his roaches now, he just stares at them. Any tips on getting him to eat veggies? His staples are Dubia roaches, superworms and sometimes crickets. I use to order hornworms but he wouldn't touch them and it was a waste.

 

[Canicke]

yeah - i have a hard time getting my girl to eat her greens. sometimes yes, most time - not a chance. she did eat the cucumber i gave both my kids the other day, tho. he may also be going into brumation - its like hibernation for lizards. my boy is currently cycling through 2 or 3 days asleep, 2 or 3 days awake. when he's on his sleep cycle - doesnt eat, doesnt poop, doesnt bask. my previous male would "go down" for months - late oct through april. you can also try dripping water on his snout. when my girl gets thirsty she will smack her lips, then when i go to use the syringe to drip it on her nose, she slams shut. i pry the side of her mouth open a bit and squirt a bit of water in, then she's good to go. sometimes i will add a DROP of agave syrup to the syringe (go to your pharmacy and ask for a 10 ml oral dosing syringe)

 

[stinax182]

That makes more sense. He does sleep in his cave for a couple days then is out basking the next couple days. When he does drink, he drinks a lot and I'd say it's at least twice a week he does. I have put mealworms in the salad and put him in front and he never touches it. Thank you for the advice

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

If I feed my beardie cucumbers I need to take out the seeds and remove the skin? I always just chop the pieces in 4 and he eats it easily. is that bad?

 

[Hdrydr31]

Always best to remove seeds as they can be poisonous and some skins are too fibrous.

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

That's new! He's been eating it like that for awhile and I've never read anything that says otherwise but I will fix it! Thank you so much for the new information!

 

[Hdrydr31]

I'm sure he's fine I take seeds out of anything I give really as you don't know...Cuc's are really good for moisture as they are 96% water
I use these as resources..
http://greathousefarm.com/Greathouse-Reptile-Nutrition-List.pdf
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

That's why I give them to him, he gets carrots, green beans, and anything else we have as well
Sorry for hijacking the post

 

[stinax182]

Good to know, thank you!