Hasn't pooped, possibly constipated. Should I feed him?

[Judah'sHuman]

Hi!

yeah when ever judah hasnt pooed and seems liek he needs to he gets a black beard which sort of proceeds down to the stomach area as well. Collards are fine, there really isnt any other green that will help move things along. You can check out beautifuldragons.com for a list of other things to feed. Judah loves wheatgrass, so you can try this too. Also, you can feed him a little bit of soft fruit like peach or mango, this will help since fruit can tend to give them the runs.

Pick up soem other types of babyfood, like squash, yams and carrots. Also if you can find soem Probiotics in the health food section that woudl be good too. You can pull the capsuls apart and put about 1/3-1/4 of the capsule into the babyfood along with the olive oil. The probitics help get the good flora so if they have digestive problems it tends to help alot.

Give that to him and this evening at bed time, put him on a heating pad and throw a blankie over him and just massage his back in a downward motion. It coudl be the mealworm chitins are sorta stuck in there. Honestly I think that 20 mealworms per week may be a little too much. the shells can add up in the digestive tract. Try non chitines worms liek Pheonix, butter, wax or horn worms as a staple feeder. Meal worms are ok in moderation like 10 here and there per month, if that.

The next time he has any poo, try and collect it in a persription container and take the sampel to the vet for analysis for parasites. Most vets will do a fecal for around $20.00 with out taking your beardie in.

 

[herpfreak]

Thanks! I have been planning bringing in a fecal of his and Cu's, but neither of them are eating or pooing right now, so I'll have to wait.



New plan of action: I'm getting desperate, and I'm probably overreacting waay too much, just because I felt a little lump, which might have been a bone or something (??). So I'm going to try a different approach. All this extra attention is probably stressing him out. I'm going back to our old schedule; a couple baths a week instead of every day, crickets every day (not as many as usual, if he is impacted, I don't want to make it worse), free roam, handling, etc. The only thing I'm not bringing back into the picture is mealworms. And when I do, I'm going to feed him a lot less of them.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

Humm, ok so they are not wanting to eat now then? Could it be that they are wanting to brumate? Judah went for 10 days with out pooing a thing this last week. I think that he is trying to brumate, but is not quite into it yet. I feel he will fully go down next year. He wanted to hang out inthe cooler zone of his viv, so anything he would actually eat was digesting very slowly. He woudlnt refuse crickets, but he was eatting very little salad, maybe one or two bits adn that was all. Then every three days he would eat a little more and the next day pretty much refusse salad. I actually had to block off his cave so that he wouldnt go in there and hide. You dont want them tring to go down with food in their gut because it will rot. So, are they acctually hanging out in their basking spot or are they hanging out in the cooler zones? If so then this cupled with the meal worm chintins will cause blockages.

I know it seems like your torturing him not feeding crickets, but if he has not pooped at all in several days, you will only make it worse be feeding crickets. I reccomend that if you are worried about him getting protine, that you pick up soem chicken or turkey babyfood mixed with veggies. Now you will want to mix that with anouther baby veggie liek the squash because if you feed him the streight chicken/turkey with vegitables this can make him even more consitipated. So use about 25% chicken/turkey with vegitables and 75% squah (or other stright baby veggie). keep mixxing in the oliv oil durring every syringe feeding (about twice per day 1-2cc of the mixture is good)

Have you tried the heat on the belly every evening like i suggested? It is really important to have heat on the belly durring impaction.

If he doesnt poo with in a few days and he is still eatting, you should take him to the vet. He could get majorly stoped up if he keeps eatting with out pooping poor lil guy. i hope we find a solution very soon.

 

[Trickseedog]

If this has been going on for over a week and you are now feeling lumps that weren't there before, don't you think it's time for the vet???

I was reading through this thread because today is the first time that Breyas has ever not pooed. He's also holding his mouth open more than usual, but I'm not certain that it is related. I've tried the warm bath, but he also doesn't like baths and starts freaking out after about two minutes. I've also rubbed his belly. I'll try the heating pad tomorrow, as well as the dietary recommendations.

 

[herpfreak]

Judah's Human-
That is definitely a possibility. He has been trying to brumate for a long time now. I took out his hide many weeks ago. He does bask for an hour or two every day, but does spend most of his time on the cool end, trying to sleep.
I tried the belly heat once, but I'll keep trying every night.
I will definitely take him in to the vet if this doesn't clear up soon. I'm actually taking Cu in for RI treatment this weekend anyways.
I'm just wondering... I have been known to overreact about everything when my babies are concerned. I feel lumps one day, none the next. I definitely felt lumps, but I could very likely have been feeling the edges of his ribs or some other bone. I fed him some crickets yesterday, which he ate. No poo yet.

But when in doubt, see a vet, so I will end up taking him to a vet if this doesn't clear up very soon.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

I know what you mena about over reacting, and dont worry it is perfectly normal. Since he is not pooping you have ever right to freak out about lumps and such. Since you dont have any partical substrate or things that he coudl swallow I dont think it is an impaction lump (if its not ribs or intestions). Just that he is stoped up and the poo is getting really full in his belly and causing a blockage. Usually we check for lumps if a partical/substrate impaction could be the cause. Also, too large of feeders can cause impaction lumps. i believe if you feel soemthing in there is it just a lump of accumulating food.

If he hasn't pooed yet it is time to take him to the vet. They will prolly do an enima etc. i hope it all works out for you. Since you confirmed it, it sounds like your having the same problems I am in that he is just not getting enough heat to digest like he needs to. I have been going around and around with Judah like this and it seems liek we keep getting longer and longer between poos. It's like whata do, ya know! You can only force them to bask so much. I did up the temp on the cooler side though, just to help a bit. If you keep the cooler end at about 83-85 deg it helps keep thier immune system up. My concern is that it I have it at 75 and he has food in his gut, lower temps will cause bacteria to grow in their gut. Im not sure what your low temps is, but you can up it a little bit with a houshold bulb. I use an energy efficant bulb in the cool end, reg buls are a little bit hotter. The energy efficant are slightly cooler than the regular ones of the same wattage.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

Hi trickseedog!

There are alot of things that can be done at home with out going to the vet. Getting them to poo is one of thoes very common things and if you go to the vet they will charge you a ton of money for followiong the same regimen. If it is bad enough thougg and you dragon has the possability of a subsrate or too large of feeder impaction a vet is the best bet. Alot of time you can clear up the constipation your self and that is what we where trying to do here before we rack up costly vet bills.

Anyways, So how long have you have your dragon and approx how old is your dragon? i will try and help you out as well. And yes, you too can follow the feeding advise I gave and see if that works out too.

 

[herpfreak]

Yes, I know what you mean. Every few hours (or more often) I move him to his basking rock. It's usually from 100-103*. He hides under everything to sleep. Not only did I take out his hide but also his decorations. Now he's stuck with a basking rock, at water dish (he still hides behind it, but I wasn't going to take it out), and a salad bowl.

During one of my previous and panicky posts, I am fairly sure I was feeling his ribs. Those lumps have also been getting slowly bigger as he hasn't eaten any fatty bugs in a long time. There is another larger lump by his ribs that could be his intestines. But I agree; I don't think he's impacted.

I do have some good news. He pooed in the bath!! It wasn't quite as big as usual, but a lot bigger than what I've been getting for the past few weeks.

I've been arguing with myself over and over about taking him to the vet, and, after the poo in the bath, I have decided not to yet. Between daily massages in the bath, applesauce with olive oil, and naps on the heat pad, I think he's going to be able to get over it.

And, if I can get another poo soon, I will get a fecal exam done... I'm already taking my BP to the vet for RI treatment this week. That way I can rule out parasites.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

Oh great Im so glade he finally pooed! Its is so funny how we get so excited over poo.
He should be good now, and i agree that you can hold off on taking him to the vet. Just liek ya said get a fecal sample next time he poos, it will be way cheeper and jsut as effective.

Have you picked up any acidophiliz+ or any probiotic? That will help keep him regular too, if they have any abnormal digestive problems it realy helps regulate it. You can buy this for like $6-$8 at Beautifuldragons or Reptilesupply. com. Also, since he has pooped and is tring to sleep I would go ahead and put his hide back in there and let him go down (unless he has eatin since then). If he comes out to eat youll have to start all over again with tryign to keep him heated to digest, but if he just stays in there and doesnt want to eat I would just let him alone. i know I was really torn about this because Judah woudl want to stay in his hide but he would come out and eat every so often (like every other day) and you can't let them sleep with food in their gut or it will rot. he woudl eat maybe two pieces of lettuce and then want to go hide. He always had his eyes open but he woudl be all curled up wanting to sleep. There was only one day that he didnt want crickets, all the other times he woudl eat the crickets so I had to keep draging him out of his hide to digest. i think that what im goign to do next year is if he is wanting to stay in the hide and sleep, and he is not wanting to eat his salad, i will not offer any crickets and just leave the light out and see if he will compleatly go down for a sleep.

If he is eatting dont be suprised if it anouther 7 days before he poos again, any more than this and you will need to start the heated belly and olive oil/baby food treatments. If he is wanting to eat and you cant get him to fully go down for a sleep, you can keep feeding the babyfood every other day. You dont need olive oil in it just plain. Since he was blocked up and didn't poo I imagine that it will take a while for his digestion to go back to normal, so any assistance you can give with soft foods and Probiotics will help so that he doesnt keep straining to go.

I am sorry your other lil guy has a RI have you already started antibiotics for that? The Acidophiliz+ will help with him too and keep his immune system up while on the antiboitics. alot of people have also said they have had amazing results with ReptaAid when their's have had RI. Some have even gone as far as to say that they jsut used that with out Antibiotics and it cured it. i wouldnt reccomend that though and think that is streching it a little far, nothing bets real medicine for infections.

Have a great day!

 

[herpfreak]

lol it is funny. Yesterday my friend was holding him and she said "I hope he doesn't poo on me" and I said "I hope he does... no offense".

He went again today! Just little bits, but it seems to be regular.

I was going to leave him to brumate, but I don't think he can afford being without UV. When I adopted him a few months ago, he was showing mild signs of MBD (I will never support the vivarium again! They didn't take care of my baby!). It's cleared up now, but I'm not sure if he's totally over it, and I'm afraid that if he's away from UV for too long, it might come back.

No, I don't have probiotic for them, but I looked it up on reptliesupply and it seems like a good thing to invest in. Thanks!

Until he has a few more good-sized poos, I'm going to keep him on crickets and applesauce. This weekend I might start giving him a couple crickets a day. You're right, his digestive system is probably really wacky right now.

I've got a vet appointment scheduled for Tuesday. I'm not experianced with any types of medicine; I wouldn't know what to buy. I'm going ask the vet what he/she thinks would be best.


Thank you so much for all the help!!

 

[Judah'sHuman]

lol it is funny. Yesterday my friend was holding him and she said "I hope he doesn't poo on me" and I said "I hope he does... no offense".

That is SO funny!

I've got a vet appointment scheduled for Tuesday. I'm not experianced with any types of medicine; I wouldn't know what to buy. I'm going ask the vet what he/she thinks would be best.

Oh you mean about the Repta Aid? That is just like a vitamin sorta like pedialite mixed with other good vitamins and immune boosters. It should not replace any medicine your vet gives you for the RI. It helps raise appitite and immune system. Soem of those antibotics can make them very lethargic and not want to eat and some it makes them almost more sickly than before, so the Repta Aid just helps them to feel a little better. You can also get the repta aid at Reptile supply.

I am so glade he took anouther poo, it sounds liek things are a getting back to normal And no problem glade to be of help.