Beard won't eat, rarely drinks, hasn't pooped for two weeks!

Hi! Im pretty new to the reptile world, and need some help. My beardie is just over a year old, and she has been happy and healthy for her whole life so far, but recently she has stopped eating, maybe two crickets here or there, or a piece of kale, but not much else. She hasn't drank from her dish in a while, and doesn't seem to respond to her mistings. I gave her a bath yesterday and today, massaging her tummy. Yesterday she defecated a tiny bit, but todays two baths have had no avail. While i was massaging her, I felt a large-ish mass on her side, and it extended from her abdomen to her vent. I gently massages in that area, and the mass seemed to give way a little bit. Please help as I don't want my Ripley to get hurt of ill!

Hi there....can you post pics of your set up ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then hit XIMG

Is she by chance on loose substrate ? Anyway, try any of these [ or a combo ] of natural laxatives : baby food squash or prunes, unsweetened applesauce, with 1/4 tsp. of veg.oil and/or raw honey. Give her extra hydration via syringe, eyedropper or sparay bottle on her snout for a drink.

Then an extra warm bath the next day. That should help her to poo .

Olive oil given orally by syringe can help (only a little bit of it , about 2 ml a couple of times a day.

If he's impacted, best to avoid solid food and give liquid foods, and sloppy purees for now to avoid more solids accumulating in the gut or intestines and rotting there.

If you choose to get a vet take a look and treat the impaction, be aware, this can prove fatal (a good friend took her lovely girl (a 2 yr old female beardie) a vet who claimed expertise with exotics (having worked in zoos) , manipulated the beardies tummy and made it throw up food , then gave an enema and pumps it's guts full of water in the hope this would clear the blockage, result = dead beardie 6 hours later. Vet thought that beardie might have been suffering a impaction caused by a stomach cancer (said this is common in captive bred beardie - no necropsy was done to confirm this) , needless to say she was shattered by how her beardie was treated and made to suffer and how it died.

Hopefully your's is not severely impacted and your's will come good with some laxatives (like olive oil) and some warm baths with tummy rubs
https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/impaction/?page=2

AHBD":ap6cua5h said:

Hi there....can you post pics of your set up ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then hit XIMG

Is she by chance on loose substrate ? Anyway, try any of these [ or a combo ] of natural laxatives : baby food squash or prunes, unsweetened applesauce, with 1/4 tsp. of veg.oil and/or raw honey. Give her extra hydration via syringe, eyedropper or sparay bottle on her snout for a drink.

Then an extra warm bath the next day. That should help her to poo .

Click to expand...

Thanks, I gave her baths and tummy rubs yesterday and today, she has pooped a tiny bit of uric acid and a small amount of poop. I can still feel the mass although it has gotten marginally smaller. I got some applesauce and baby food prunes, but she refuses to eat it. I got a little bit om her snout for her to lick off, and she may have gotten some. But I highly doubt it. I misted her twice yesterday, and twice today, but haven't seen her drink. Her setup is a 40 gallon breeder, with a Reptisun 10.0 uvb strip, 110 degree basking spot, and 84 degree cool side. Her substrate is paper towels. Hope this helps! :?

Rather than misting, try a small stream directed at her snout....drip, stop, repeat. They usually drink after 20-30 seconds. And have you tried the raw honey ? Most beardies like it and will lick it right up, so try mixing some with warm water and adding it to the baby food, or the honey water by itself.