My baby hasn’t pooped in a month today!

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Puppycut

Hatchling Member
Hi,
I have been talking to Tracie and Ellen to help me with my Pixie. She still hasn’t pooped. It seems like she is eating a little bit of greens and yesterday she had six butter worms.
I have been giving her bene bac and hydrate drops every day per Tracie’s help.
Would I feel if she’s impacted? I soaked her. Still nothing. Help!!!!
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
Have you tried the regular laxative slurry protocol yet? A month is too long now, and I'd say there is definitely some type of impaction going on that needs relieved.

The best impaction slurry that I actually used myself to pass my rescue boy's 3 month long impaction of mealworm shells and wood chips is a combination of prune baby food, plain raw canned pumpkin, and unflavored Pedialyte. You can also add a pinch of Psyllium Husk, which comes in bottles of capsules you can buy at Walmart or any drugstore, it's usually labeled as "Daily Fiber" and it's just pure, natural Psyllium Husk, you empty a capsule out and put a pinch into the slurry. It works typically within 24 hours or less to pass the impaction.

If you empty a jar of prune baby food into a microwave-safe container, then add 2-3 tablespoons of the plain, canned pumpkin (the kind you find in the canned veggie aisle, that has no spices or anything else added but raw, plain pumpkin), and mix that up very well. Then if you're going to use the Psyllium Husk you add a pinch of it into the baby food and the pumpkin and mix it up very well. Then add enough unflavored Pedialyte to get the mix thin enough to be used in an oral syringe. Then microwave the mixture for a minute, mix it again very, very well, and check the temperature, you want it pretty warm, but not hot. I recommend testing it on your wrist, just like you would a baby's bottle. Once it's ready and you fill your oral syringe, you can try dripping it on his snout to see if he'll lick it off, you're trying to get between 1-2ml in him at a time, so if you have to use the method of putting the tip of the oral syringe under his upper lip on the side of his mouth, back towards his ear, then gently slide the tip of the syringe up his mouth towards the tip of his snout, all the time keeping the tip of the syringe under his upper lip. Once the tip of the syringe reaches the tip of his snout, he will automatically open his mouth. Make sure you have your thumb on the plunger of the syringe while you're sliding it up towards his snout, so that you're ready to push a small amount of the laxative slurry into his mouth when he opens it. Don't push too much of the slurry into his mouth at once, you don't want him to aspirate it into his lungs. Give him time to swallow it, then start over again by putting the tip of the syringe under his upper lip on the side of his mouth, back towards his ear. Keep repeating until you get between 1-2ml in him. Then put him on his basking spot for at least an hour or two.

After he basks for an hour or two you can try a warmer than average bath. If you've added the Psyllium Husk he may poop during the first bath, but it typically takes another feeding of the laxative slurry and then another warm bath. I'd try to give him two feedings of this a day, so if you give him one tonight and then one tomorrow morning after his lights have been on for at least an hour or two, then let him bask for another hour or two, then put him in a warmer than average bath, he should go.

Giving him gentle tummy rubs while his tummy and vent is submerged in the warm water can also help. Start under his right armpit with your finger and very gently rub in circles under his right armpit, and continue the whole way down the right side of his tummy, then continue to move inward towards his vent. Also, try to encourage him to swim while in the warm bath by moving him around in the water passively and then seeing if he'll start swimming on his own. Typically the more they swim around in the warm water, moving their back legs, the better chance they will poop.
 

Puppycut

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Ok so did slurry. She only wanted to bask for a short time and then moved to the cool side. What should I do?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Was she trying to brumate before this and not eating much ? It's very important to know this because when they get sluggish + don't eat much, they won't poo as often so that can be a big part of her problem. Try giving her a bath today that is warmer than usual and a little deeper than usual so she has to move + swim a bit. If you get them moving it can help them to poo sometimes.

Was she overweight before you got her ? Either way, she needs to move around more, her being on the obese side is causing some lethargy but getting her to move more will def. help along with the natural laxatives. Try raw honey as well, and if you heat anything, just do for 20 seconds or so, you don't want the stuff boiling, just warm it up a tiny bit. BTW, butterworms are very fatty.....she's already overweight so stick with crickets + dubia.

So get her in a warm bath where she has to move/swim a bit [ supervise at all times ] And if you can let her run around in a very warm room [ not right after the bath, but at a different time when she's 100% dry ] it may help. Once you get her moving, along with the natural laxatives she will poo but it's important to get her moving.
 

Puppycut

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Ok, I am a first time beardie owner so I am not sure if she was trying to brumation. She was underweight when I got her. So I guess I over fed her. ?I will try and get her to move. She has never been an active girl.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
You're doing a great job with Pixie, it's easy for them to get too heavy and harder to lose weight. She still needs to eat though, so keep offering crickets + dubia a few times a week. Did Pixie have blood work done to check her liver enzymes ?
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
Have you fed her the laxative slurries today as well? How many has she had? Did you add the Psyllium Husk? You need to keep continuously feeding them to her, if she doesn't want to bask for that long it's totally fine, but you need to get enough of the slurries in her so they work. I would give her another serving right now and then wait a few hours and try another warmer than average bath, again trying to encourage her to swim. Do not take her out of the bath before 20 minutes, sometimes they have to soak and swim more than usual, and they will end up pooping at the 20 minute mark.

And yes, you should microwave the slurries for a minute, not just 20 seconds. I've done this hundreds of times at the exotic rescue I volunteer at and at home with my rescue boy, and a minute in the microwave followed by a really good mixing, then filling the syringe and testing it on your wrist, as I described, works perfectly. Only microwaving it for 20 seconds will result in it being too cold right from the start, and by the time you fill the syringe and get her set up, the slurry with be very cold, which is counterproductive, as warm laxatives work much more efficiently than just feeding it to them cold. If you empty an entire jar of prune baby food into the container and add 2-3 tablespoons of the canned pumpkin, plus a little unflavored Pedialyte, microwaving this for exactly one minute is perfect timing to get it fed at the perfect temperature. Be sure to always test it on your wrist, but one minute will not "cause it to boil". It cools down tremendously once put in the syringe, so you must account for this AHBD.
 

Puppycut

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Yes, I did give it to her again. She has had it two times. I went to a reptile expo and brought her a cave to see if she is brumating. I am at a loss here. I will keep doing what I am supposed too I also brought her 3/8 dubia. Hoping the smaller ones will be ok. Please pray for her.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Oh, I wasn't factoring in heating the entire jar, just a few doses at a time. :) I think my microwave would have it boiling in a minute, it cooks a scrambled egg that quickly. Many people just use the stuff straight from the jar or can [ many, many cases just here on the forums over the years ] and that works very well.

Puppycut, if you haven't had a blood test in a long time you might want to, just to be sure her liver is O.K.
 
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