Bearded Dragon constipation? Pls help!

Binhwin · Feb 10, 2018

Hello my bearded dragons name is zooma.He is about one year old now.
Lately he's been hiding in the cool side of his cage pretty much all day. Now if i take him and move him onto the basking side then he will stay there for quite sometime and then either sleep there or go back to the cool side after a couple hours or so. Now i believe he is constipated he hasn't been wanting to do any drinking. Up until monday he has been kind of weird and stopped drinking. (fyi for drinking i normally put him up to the fossit and run the water and he will gulp it down, or he may drink when he is in the bath, i also put a little thing of water in his cage and he never really touched it.) so tuesday i got him to drink a little, and then wednesday he drunk also I believe he pooped as well it wasn't a normal poo it was a more dry diarrhea poop that wasn't really in the form of logs. (sorry my strong suit in definitely not describing poop.) and it also wasn't that much poop. So now since Wednesday when i got him to drink that was the last time he pooped as well as drunk. He has been eating and i have been giving him baths everyday. I'm just looking for what i can do to help and to see what should be done.

As for cage setup just in case

40 G Breeder tank
Uvb 10.0 tube mounted in cage
150 watt basking light mounted from the wall with string (no it's not directly on the cage)
75 watt basking light for the cool side

Thank you guys so much, it would be great to get some responses i just really don't know what is the best thing to do right now.

Drache613 · Feb 10, 2018

Hello,

Sorry your dragon is having some trouble!
Has he eaten anything that would be constipating him?
What type of substrate do you have for him?
The 10 UVB tube light in the tank, is it a Reptisun brand? How close is it to him?
If he isn't basking as much as he needs to be then he might not be at the optimal temperatures
to digest very well.
You can get some canned or fresh pumpkin & sugar free apple sauce & mix it with a drop or two
of coconut or olive oil & give that to him daily. That usually helps move things along a little bit,
in combination with a bath also.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

Binhwin · Feb 10, 2018

Drache613":197ivtxk said:
Hello,

Sorry your dragon is having some trouble!
Has he eaten anything that would be constipating him?
What type of substrate do you have for him?
The 10 UVB tube light in the tank, is it a Reptisun brand? How close is it to him?
If he isn't basking as much as he needs to be then he might not be at the optimal temperatures
to digest very well.
You can get some canned or fresh pumpkin & sugar free apple sauce & mix it with a drop or two
of coconut or olive oil & give that to him daily. That usually helps move things along a little bit,
in combination with a bath also.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

Thank you so much for replying Tracie.
Since the start of really the new year i've been lacking giving him as much greens as he normally had in the past (I know that ones on me). Mainly just crickets with Reptivite Reptile Vitamins, the crickets that he is normally fed is large crickets just from petco. The Uvb light is a reptisun light (10.0 fixture) and it is mounted in the cage. As far as the distance from him, his first basking spot (main) is on a incline facing away from the fixture and from his tail- lower body about 8 inches from the uvb light. From his upper body to his head its about 10 1/2 inches away from the uvb. His second basking spot is about 13 inches away from him. His basking spot is about 95-105 degrees fahrenheit.
Okay great i'll go ahead and head up to the store and get him some of that i've also heard baby food with no artificial flavors is also good for him.

Thank you guys so much for reading.

EllenD · Feb 11, 2018

I want to make an observation here, because you've got an awful lot of heat over a 40 gallon tank!!! Usually a single 100 watt basking bulb over the Hot Side of the tank is all that is required to put all 3 temperature zones within the correct ranges, MAYBE a very low wattage, secondary basking bulb over the Cool Side of the tank to put it within the correct range (I'm talking like a 30 watt bulb at most)...However, you have a 150 watt basking bulb over the Hot Side of the tank, and then you have an additional 75 watt basking bulb over the Cool Side of the tank? SO YOU HAVE 225 WATTS OF HEAT OVER A 40-GALLON BREEDER TANK! That's just way too much heat!!!

What type of thermometer are you using to measure his 3 temperature zones? And how often do you check the temperatures? I have a bad feeling that the reason he's "hiding" in the Cool Side of the tank (that isn't very Cool) and the reason he's dehydrated and constipated is because the temperature zones inside his tank are way too hot, and this will not only severely dehydrate him, but can actually be lethal if it goes on for a long time. They can actually lose their ability to regulate their body temperatures if they are kept this way for too long, which ultimately kills them.

If you are only using some type of "Stick-On" Thermometers that are stuck to the glass to measure his temperatures, then they are extremely inaccurate and usually off by up to 20 degrees to the COOL SIDE, meaning the temps are actually typically reading up to 20 degrees lower than they actually are...More importantly, if you are ONLY using Stick-On thermometers then you have absolutely no way at all to measure the temperature of his Basking Spot, as that is a SURFACE TEMPERATURE, and Stick-On thermometers can only measure Ambient/Air Temperatures. So you absolutely must have either an Infrared Temperature Gun or a Digital Thermometer that has a Probe on a Wire if you own a Bearded Dragon in order to measure the Basking Spot Surface Temperature.

If you are using either a Temperature Gun or a Digital Probe Thermometer, then I suggest you measure all 3 of his temperature zones immediately when you can, and *******Make sure that if you are using a Digital Probe Thermometer that you are allowing the Probe to sit on the Basking Spot and any other zone you are measure for at least 20-30 minutes BEFORE you read the temperatures, otherwise the Probe will not have been able to heat up to the actual temperature, making the reading meaningless.

BASKING SPOT SURFACE TEMPERATURE: Between 100-105 degrees F for an adult Dragon.

HOT SIDE AMBIENT (air) TEMPERATURE: Between 88-93 degrees F.

COOL SIDE AMBIENT (air) TEMPERATURE: Between 75-80 degrees F.

****TO MEASURE THE AMBIENT/AIR TEMPERATURES WITH A DIGITAL PROBE THERMOMETER: Use the suction cup that came with the Digital Probe Thermometer. Place the Suction Cup on the wire right below the Probe. Stick the Suction Cup to either the front or the side tank glass on the Hot Side of the tank, about 2" above the floor of the tank. Allow the Probe to sit for 20-30 minutes, then read the temperature, and this is the Hot Side Ambient/Air Temperature. Then move the Suction Cup over to the Cool Side of the tank and do the same thing, stick the Suction Cup to either the front or the side glass and allow the Probe to sit for at least 20-30 minutes, then read the temperature. This is the Cool Side Ambient/Air Temperature. For the Basking Spot Surface Temperature, simply place the Probe directly on your dragon's basking spot/platform, exactly on the spot that he sits while basking. Allow the Probe to sit for at least 20-30 minutes, then read the temperature, and this is the Basking Spot Surface Temperature.

Binhwin · Feb 11, 2018

EllenD":2ubxdcn7 said:
I want to make an observation here, because you've got an awful lot of heat over a 40 gallon tank!!! Usually a single 100 watt basking bulb over the Hot Side of the tank is all that is required to put all 3 temperature zones within the correct ranges, MAYBE a very low wattage, secondary basking bulb over the Cool Side of the tank to put it within the correct range (I'm talking like a 30 watt bulb at most)...However, you have a 150 watt basking bulb over the Hot Side of the tank, and then you have an additional 75 watt basking bulb over the Cool Side of the tank? SO YOU HAVE 225 WATTS OF HEAT OVER A 40-GALLON BREEDER TANK! That's just way too much heat!!!

What type of thermometer are you using to measure his 3 temperature zones? And how often do you check the temperatures? I have a bad feeling that the reason he's "hiding" in the Cool Side of the tank (that isn't very Cool) and the reason he's dehydrated and constipated is because the temperature zones inside his tank are way too hot, and this will not only severely dehydrate him, but can actually be lethal if it goes on for a long time. They can actually lose their ability to regulate their body temperatures if they are kept this way for too long, which ultimately kills them.

If you are only using some type of "Stick-On" Thermometers that are stuck to the glass to measure his temperatures, then they are extremely inaccurate and usually off by up to 20 degrees to the COOL SIDE, meaning the temps are actually typically reading up to 20 degrees lower than they actually are...More importantly, if you are ONLY using Stick-On thermometers then you have absolutely no way at all to measure the temperature of his Basking Spot, as that is a SURFACE TEMPERATURE, and Stick-On thermometers can only measure Ambient/Air Temperatures. So you absolutely must have either an Infrared Temperature Gun or a Digital Thermometer that has a Probe on a Wire if you own a Bearded Dragon in order to measure the Basking Spot Surface Temperature.

If you are using either a Temperature Gun or a Digital Probe Thermometer, then I suggest you measure all 3 of his temperature zones immediately when you can, and *******Make sure that if you are using a Digital Probe Thermometer that you are allowing the Probe to sit on the Basking Spot and any other zone you are measure for at least 20-30 minutes BEFORE you read the temperatures, otherwise the Probe will not have been able to heat up to the actual temperature, making the reading meaningless.

BASKING SPOT SURFACE TEMPERATURE: Between 100-105 degrees F for an adult Dragon.

HOT SIDE AMBIENT (air) TEMPERATURE: Between 88-93 degrees F.

COOL SIDE AMBIENT (air) TEMPERATURE: Between 75-80 degrees F.

****TO MEASURE THE AMBIENT/AIR TEMPERATURES WITH A DIGITAL PROBE THERMOMETER: Use the suction cup that came with the Digital Probe Thermometer. Place the Suction Cup on the wire right below the Probe. Stick the Suction Cup to either the front or the side tank glass on the Hot Side of the tank, about 2" above the floor of the tank. Allow the Probe to sit for 20-30 minutes, then read the temperature, and this is the Hot Side Ambient/Air Temperature. Then move the Suction Cup over to the Cool Side of the tank and do the same thing, stick the Suction Cup to either the front or the side glass and allow the Probe to sit for at least 20-30 minutes, then read the temperature. This is the Cool Side Ambient/Air Temperature. For the Basking Spot Surface Temperature, simply place the Probe directly on your dragon's basking spot/platform, exactly on the spot that he sits while basking. Allow the Probe to sit for at least 20-30 minutes, then read the temperature, and this is the Basking Spot Surface Temperature.

Hello Thank you for responding.
I just remeasured and i use temp gun actually. the Warm side was about 85 degrees - 101 degrees what the hottest i was able to find. I'm going to do some shifting and take some more temp checks. His cool side was about73 degrees - 80 degrees on the cool side.
For now i've decided to turn off his coolside lamp.

EllenD · Feb 11, 2018

I'd actually not use the Temp Gun to try to measure the Ambient Temperatures inside the tank, that's probably the issue here, as the Guns are great to measure the Surface Temperatures, like the Basking Spot, but it's extremely difficult to measure an accurate Air Temperature, and if he's got Hot Side Ambient Temperatures up in the 100's then obviously this is way too hot...

I'm just trying to figure out how you can possibly have a 40 gallon breeder tank and have a 150 watt basking bulb over the hot side and then also a 75 watt over the Cool Side and not have Ambient Temps that are sky-high...Not only comparing to my own 40-gallon breeder tanks, but to most all people that come on here to post, as the 40-gallon breeder tank is probably the most common size tank that people keep their Dragons in, and most all people use a 100 watt Basking Bulb over the Hot Side of the tank, and maybe a 30 watt secondary bulb over the Cool Side that is mostly used for light, as long as the Cool Side Ambient Temp doesn't go above 80 degrees...It's not unusual for people to even use a 75 watt basking bulb over the Hot Side of a 40 gallon breeder tank, so that's where I'm coming from here, having 225 watts of heat directly over a 40 gallon breeder tank just seems like a lot...

Yeah, I'd definitely ditch the 75 watt over the Cool Side and then take the temps again in a couple of hours after the tank has time to cool down.

Binhwin · Feb 11, 2018

Yes i already have taken the 75 watt down.
I'm about to take some more temperatures i'll keep updating with those, as for the light when i went into the store it was the only one they had. Now the light isn't directly on the cages screen mesh I have it hooked up from a piece of yarn hanging on the ceiling and its dangling down.

I did just come back into my room to see that he has pooped! I'm happy that at least he pooped today. Now what about poo color? I've done some other research but haven't found that much information he pooped about 2 1inch and 1/2 long poos (once again sorry im terrible at describing poop) now the first poop is a like minty turquoise kind of color whilst the other is just dark regular poo color. What could this mean? and where does that kind of put him now? He's still eating if i put crickets in front of him but i did today pick up some stuff to help his stomach (baby food, sugarless apple sauce, pumpkin, olive oil) I plan on trying to give him some.

Btw thank you so much Ellen for your replies.

EllenD · Feb 12, 2018

It sounds like normal bowel movements, the greenish color is most likely due to something he ate, so he's definitely not impacted anymore, and I suggest feeding him normally, but offer him water drops on his snout several times throughout each day for him to lick off, the drip, lick, drip, lick, etc. and let him keep licking the water off until he's done. If you do this 2-3 times each day, it will help to keep him better hydrated and keep his bowel movements moving.

I suggest you forget about buying you Basking Bulbs from pet shops, as they are expensive and you get a limited option of wattages. Instead, go to Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, Tractor Supply, etc. and just buy regular Halogen Indoor Flood Bulbs. Like I said, you should be easily able to get all 3 of his temperature zones within the correct ranges by using a single bright-white Basking Bulb over the Hot Side of the tank (sitting on the mesh lid in either a Dome Lamp or a Clamp Lamp, no need for string and hanging the light from the wall, lol)...So something isn't quite right here, either you were taking the temps incorrectly, which is quite possible if you've been using a Temp Gun, it's tough to get proper Air Temps from a Temp Gun, or you have some kind of outside-influence going on that is effecting his tank temperatures. Either way, it should not be nearly so complicated, I've owned 5 Dragons in my lifetime, my first lived to 13 years old, I have 4 currently with 4 separate enclosures/tanks going, and I've never needed more than a single Basking Bulb over the Hot Side and maybe a very, very low wattage basking bulb over the Cool Side, but we're talking like a 30 watt bulb at most...225 watts over a 40-Gallon Breeder tank is extreme, even the single 150 watt over the Hot Side is a lot.

Bearded Dragon constipation? Pls help!

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