Bearded dragon black beards when poop and probably hard urate

[Toadleagend]

Hello, my bearded dragon sometimes black beards when she poops. This time it happened again. Her beard is still dark after it. I’m not sure if she will poop again, but it looks like she will. Her previous two poops before this one were fine but watery. She acted normal before them. Almost two weeks ago she had a similar situation. She had a black beard and pooped twice. shes Had black beards before with the poops. It normally returns to normal after she poops. This time it hasn’t yet. She doesn’t want her greens. She will eat crickets. She wanted her greens this morning. Her beard went bright after she pooped. But, returned dark within 5 minutes. The urate seemed very hard. And dry. Her poop was a bit formed. And lots of water. I have tried lowering the calcium. The only thing I can think of is that I might put too much calcium on. She has a tube uvb bulb. It was recently changed. I’ve made two diet changes between this poop and the last poop. I put on orange cube cricket food. And gave her a very small amount of sweet potato. I’m very confused what is happening. I feel like if it was the amount of calcium it would have been fixed by now. Can anyone help me figure out what is causing this?

UPDATE: she pooped again. So far she still doesn’t want greens and her beard is still dark. This poop looked fine. But, seemed like a pain to get out. A lot of wiggling.I’m not sure why her beard is still dark? It looks darker than before.
Now her eyes keeps closing and seem semi-closed too. Kinda tired looking.

UPDATE 2: her beard seems to have gotten better. I’m not sure how permanent that is. She still doesn’t want her greens. The hard urates seems to happen when she has two poops in a row. Like all of the calcium goes to the first poop. Making it too much. I would not know how to fix that. Does anyone know if there is a liquid calcium with d3? I have one without d3. But, I cannot find one with it. Maybe that would help?

Update 3: the beard isn’t as bad as before yet. But, it isn’t the brightest right now either. I was thinking maybe if there is now liquid d3. Give all liquid calcium. And then, for her vitamins. One day of herptivite. And another day of Reptivite with d3. Im not sure if that would work. I just looked at the calcium instructions. Based on them, I think I could have been dusting it too much. It seems i should be giving about 1/8 tsp a day on the greens. If I also give it on her crickets. I feel like my light dusting probably ended up being more than that. So, maybe i should try fixing that.

UPDATE 4: she pooped a third time. This was just a really watery urate. No poop. There might be poop soon to come. But, not as far as I know at the moment.

UPDATE 5: her beard is a bit brighter again. Right now it is good. But, sometimes it is brown. She wanted a green. So hopefully she is feeling a bit better. I also saw multivitamins can also cause hard urates. Is two times a week a good amount? Or is that too much?

 

[Toadleagend]

Hello,

A lot of them go to the bathroom twice daily. It just depends on
how much fluids they take in or how much they eat. So, that is
perfectly normal.

Tracie

Ok, thank you very much!!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It sounds like she is doing very well.

Tracie

 

[Toadleagend]

Hello,

It sounds like she is doing very well.

Tracie

I think so! She recently has been black bearding and glass surfing a lot though. Which someone said was spring frenzies or boredom/mood. I’ve been adding enrichment for boredom. Recently her poops have been formed. Her urates haven’t been as formed though. Is that from extra hydration? Or do I need to give her more calcium?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

If the urates are not as formed, that is essentially good hydration. Just use your judgement as to
when you can cut back some on the oral fluids so you don't overhydrate her.
She is probably having spring fever & has higher hormone levels which is very normal. They will
often black beard & become more active during this time.
I don't think you need to add more calcium, but just keep her on the same schedule right now.

Tracie

 

[Toadleagend]

Hello,

If the urates are not as formed, that is essentially good hydration. Just use your judgement as to
when you can cut back some on the oral fluids so you don't overhydrate her.
She is probably having spring fever & has higher hormone levels which is very normal. They will
often black beard & become more active during this time.
I don't think you need to add more calcium, but just keep her on the same schedule right now.

Tracie

Ok, thank you very much!!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

You are very welcome! You are doing great. Let us know how things are going.

Tracie

 

[Toadleagend]

Hello,

You are very welcome! You are doing great. Let us know how things are going.

Tracie

Today she pooped 3 times. Is that ok like 2 times? The first one was normal sized. The other two were small. I haven’t been giving her any extra hydration. Put there are still pools of liquid around her poop sometimes. Do they poop more with spring fever?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It depends on how much she is eating, but they can go to the bathroom several times daily but it likely wont be a routine behavior.
It doesn't really have anything to do with a spring fever time frame though.

Tracie

 

[Toadleagend]

Hello,

It depends on how much she is eating, but they can go to the bathroom several times daily but it likely wont be a routine behavior.
It doesn't really have anything to do with a spring fever time frame though.

Tracie

Ok, thank you very much!!! She pooped three times today again. The third one was just a urate. Im not sure what that means. Could she have a lot of hydration? Many months ago she was black bearding and glass surfing. And pooping frequently. Like 3 times a day. Sometimes more. The poops were mostly just urates. Sometimes just liquid. She got steroids for inflammation to fix it. Im worried it’s something like that and I didn’t realize it at first. She hasn’t been constantly black bearding. And she also takes breaks from glass surfing.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It appears she is well hydrated, so you can cut back on any excess oral fluids so you don't overhydrate
her.
That is a good sign she hasn't been constantly black bearding, hopefully she is feeling better. Is she
eating very much?

Tracie

 

[Toadleagend]

Hello,

It appears she is well hydrated, so you can cut back on any excess oral fluids so you don't overhydrate
her.
That is a good sign she hasn't been constantly black bearding, hopefully she is feeling better. Is she
eating very much?

Tracie

I think she is eating a normal amount. She eats the greens when I hand it to her. She grabbed a lot of greens herself on Saturday. I don’t remember if she grabbed any on Sunday. She didn’t grab any on Monday. But, she gets very excited about the ones I hand her. And I’ve been handing her a little more than normal because of her black bearding. She did eat on her own today. I don’t give her any excess oral fluids. Maybe she’s getting a lot of hydration from her greens? I wash them. So, there is always some extra water on them. Even after I dry it. I gave her butternut squash about a week ago. Could that be causing it? I don’t know if it left her system by now. She pooped twice today so far. One normal sized one. One very small. She had a bright beard in the morning. Then, it was dark most of the rest of the day. She glass surfed in the morning and the afternoon. She didn’t for some of the afternoon and the evening. Thank you very much!!!