As those of you who own Bearded Dragons are probably already aware, Bearded Dragons are extremely hardy lizards, when they are provided with the proper temperatures and UVB lighting in their environment. However, they are also pets who do their best to hide their symptoms from us when they become ill, as do most other reptiles. This is no doubt an instinctual behavior, since a sick beardie, in the wild, would no doubt not live for very long.

Fortunately, those that we are lucky enough to have as pets don’t have to fend for themselves. Because of this, we need to be very aware of what is normal behavior for each of our particular dragons, and what is not. An alert eye can generally spot a problem long before it becomes a major concern. Particular attention should be paid to each dragon’s eating habits, and the amounts that they usually eat, as well as what is the norm as far as how often they present us with bowel movements, and what they usually look like, when they do. Attention should also be paid to the amount of urates that are passed within the bowel movements, as a change in this can be a sign of kidney problems, particularly as they age.

For those of you who purchased your dragons from a pet shop, unfortunately you may have gotten more than the one living thing that you paid for.....there is a better than 50% chance that your dragon may be carrying some type of intestinal parasite, particularly if they were being housed with other dragons, and the conditions that they were being kept in were not exactly as clean as you would have liked. They may be infested with coccidia, roundworms, pinworms, hookworms, or numerous other pests. If you should buy from a reputable breeder, this is much less likely to be the case, but even then, it is possible. For this reason, once you have had your dragon for two weeks, you should make it a point to have him or her seen by a reputable vet, who is well versed in the care of reptiles, and take in a stool sample for testing. Give your dragon at least two weeks to settle in, unless it is apparent that they are ill, as when they are stressed, their parasite count , particularly their coccidia count, may be higher than normal.