How do I give him Olive Oil?

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UpstateNYPets

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I need to help my beardie get his insides moving (he hasn't pooed in over 2 weeks; I suspect impaction). I've heard many suggestions about giving him a couple drops of olive oil. How do I do this? Do I have to pry open his mouth and orally give him some? Do I dip a superworm in it? What's the best way to do this without stressing him out?

Please help. Thanks a lot.
 

diamc

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Hi, sorry to hear that your beardie is having some pooping issues. You can put a drop or two right on his nose for him to lick off. Have you been giving frequent warm baths and massaging his right side from armpit to vent area? Very warm babyfood applesauce fed by plastic medicine dropper and put on his nose for him to lick off helps too and they seem to really like the taste of it. Another thing that helps move things along is 100% canned pumpkin diluted with a little water and fed the same way.

What has he been eating and how old is he? What are the tank temps and what type of thermometer are you using to check them? Can you fill us in on the UVB you're using by giving brand & type?
 

UpstateNYPets

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diamc":b22e5 said:
Hi, sorry to hear that your beardie is having some pooping issues. You can put a drop or two right on his nose for him to lick off. Have you been giving frequent warm baths and massaging his right side from armpit to vent area? Very warm babyfood applesauce fed by plastic medicine dropper and put on his nose for him to lick off helps too and they seem to really like the taste of it. Another thing that helps move things along is 100% canned pumpkin diluted with a little water and fed the same way.

What has he been eating and how old is he? What are the tank temps and what type of thermometer are you using to check them? Can you fill us in on the UVB you're using by giving brand & type?

Yes, he's been getting baths everyday with belly massages. I have some pure olive oil, so tomorrow I'll try to get him to take a couple drops of it.

He is almost 3 years old. He's been eating Superworms, Kale, Collard Greens, and Apples. I dont feed him supers everyday, maybe every other day, sometimes every 2 days. Greens are always in the tank. Supers are dusted with calcium and multivitamins (both Rep-Cal brand). I have a digital probe thermometer that lays directly on the basking area, that fluxuates between 98-103F, cooler end stays around 80-85. The light I am using now is a 160w T-Rex Active UV 20 inches away from the basking area. The tank is a 40 gallon breeder. I purchased this bulb a couple weeks ago and before I switched it out, I was using a repti-glo 10.0 with a 150w basking spot bulb. Maybe the change in lighting has had something to do with it? I also don't use any loose substrates, he's always been on newspaper.
 

diamc

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The olive oil should help him. If he won't lick it off, you could mix it in a little bit of the other things I mentioned. I've noticed that when one of our beardies eats more supers than any other live feeder, it causes him to not poop as often, just something that I've observed.

I'm using a 100 watt T-Rex in a 55 gallon and it is 15" from the basking area and I get a basking temp of 105. I'm kinda surprised that your basking temp is that low with using a 160 watt in a 40 gallon breeder. I was quite surprised as to how much heat those bulbs throw off. Does your beardie bask directly under the light quite a bit?

Maybe you already know this but thought I would mention it, with a MVB you should use calcium without D3 instead of with D3 since those bulbs produce a lot of D3 on their own.
 

UpstateNYPets

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The air temps in my home are pretty low so it makes it a bit harder to heat the tank. Not to mention it's winter time which makes it even harder on top of that. I first ordered a 100w T-Rex and the temps barely made it to 90F. So I ordered the 160w, and the highest it's ever been up was to 105F at 20in away. I have the dome propped up so it's higher, because if it sat directly on the top of the tank, my beardie would be too close for the recommended distance. So even after propping it up I get good temps. Yeah, he basks under it for quite a while. I didn't see any change in the time periods of his basking after switching from the other lights. About the calcium, I do have the kind without D3. I also asked a question a while ago on here about it just to make sure about that, too.
 

diamc

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Well, we sure know how cold it's been in NY lately. Was -21 here this morning. Sounds like you covered all bases on your setup, now if you can just get your beardie on a better pooping schedule, you'll be all set. :) Hopefully you'll have some news for us tomorrow.
 

UpstateNYPets

Hatchling Member
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Okay, so I gave him some olive oil (at least I hope I was sucessful) How long until it usually starts working?
 

diamc

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It could be anywhere from a couple of hours to the next day. Keep doing the frequent baths and belly rubs on the right side though. Using a nice warm rice sock underneath him after his baths usually helps too.
 

UpstateNYPets

Hatchling Member
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So far no luck with the Olive Oil. I gave him another couple drops today with his bath along with a nice massage. I haven't tried the applesauce or pumpkin yet because I haven't made it to the store. I know all vets are different, but around what price range would I be looking at if I was to take him into a vet? Money is so tight right now with my layoff and unemployment. So getting an idea would be great.

Any other suggestions?
 

UpstateNYPets

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Also, if he's that badly impacted that he hasn't pooped for over 2 weeks (close to 3 now), wouldn't it make him act strange? Make his back legs twitch or shake? I've also heard that bumps near the spine can happen too.

Mine doesn't seem to have any problems, just the fact that he's not pooping. He's really lazy but that's not much different than any other time.
 

diamc

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Still no present yet, huh? The pumpkin or applesauce would probably be very helpful. When Sabrina had a slight problem different times, I would feed her the very warm babyfood applesauce while she was in her bath. Most of the time, she would go shortly after I started feeding it to her. You would think that your beardie would be uncomfortable, good that he's not showing any signs of having a problem. Does his body seem quite firm? How's his appetite? Are you sure he hasn't been hiding any poops somewhere? :eek:

It's hard to say how much a vet would cost, some charge a fee just for walking in the door. It would also depend on if he has to take an xray or any other tests. Just to give you a ballpark figure, I would say anywhere from $40 up to $200.
 

UpstateNYPets

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How do I get him to eat the applesauce? It took me and someone else to get him to take some olive oil. He would not drink it off his nose, instead it made a huge oily mess (good thing he was in the bath). I got his mouth open (had to slightly pry it open) and squirted a bit in his mouth, so I'm pretty sure he got some. Can I put the applesauce in the syringe and do the same with that?

His body and belly are not firm... he's just extremely heavy. Heavier than normal, and it's because there must be a whole cup full of poop in there! lol He can't hide his poops, I have him on newspaper and very little tank decor. Not to mention the odor would give it away.

As for his appetite, I haven't really offered him his fave foods. I'm not feeding him the supers until after this happens, and when they are gone I have to figure out something else to put him on that won't give me a scare like this. He has absolutley NO interest in crickets anymore (thanks a lot supers! :banghead:) So I've just been leaving shredded greens in his tank. He never eats at them voraciously, but I do know he will take a few bites.
 

diamc

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Yes, you can use the syringe for the applesauce too. Since my beardies like applesauce so much, I use a large plastic medicine dropper and drop it on the nose. I'll bet once yours gets a taste of it, he will really like it. My beardies really like the 100% pumpkin too, I had to dilute it a little as it's quite thick. It also contains calcium and is a high fiber food. I wonder if he'd try the pumpkin if you put a spoonful alongside his green? Might be worth a try. If he likes fruit, you could get some watermelon, musk, honey dew and put a few pieces of one of those on his greens or even slivers of apple.

If he seems much heavier, he must be filled up, how can he not be with not going for almost 3 wks. :shock:

So, he doesn't like cricket anymore, my male went through that and wouldn't touch them for about 4 months. One day I tried them again, now he has a new interest in them and prefers them over supers. For other live feeders, you could get silkies, hornworms or even dubia roaches, our beardies love all of those.
 
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