Not had a bowel movement for over 2 weeks

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DavidS21

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Hi all,

My beardie hasn't been to the toilet for over 2 weeks. Now he is normally regular as clockwork and used to go once a week in his bath, the vet at last checkup had said going once a week is fine, he was going more often when younger but from the age of about 2 it has been once a week every Sunday in his bath, he is 3 and a half now. Is 21 inches long and weight for last year stays pretty constant between 570 & 600 grams.

He seems normal, full of energy as usual, running around, good colour etc. He is eating normally, is a fussy eater so only eats locusts for live food and occasionally silk worms when can get them. Not much of a veg eater but he will nibble on a little rocket every few days and gets some carrot, mellon and Apple weekly(Not all 3 at once and not a lot). Temps are basking spot 40c, mid point 30c and cool end 26c, measured with a good probe thermometer. UV is arcadia T8, does say it lasts a year but gets replaced every 9 months, I did replace it a week ago at 8 months just in case. Substrate is slate tiles, never been kept on a loose substrate. Supplement is nutrobal for one week then calci dust and a multi vit for a week.

I mean first of all does only having a bowel movement once a week seem fine? The vet said it was and last check up had a fecal and bloods taken and all good.

Secondly is it serious if hasn't gone for over 2 weeks? I have made a vet appointment for monday anyway. Have been giving him a slightly warmer than usual bath every second day for the last week. I have read that Olive oil and prunes could help but unsure how much? With the prunes do I literally mush them up and feed him some. I know how prunes can affect a human so dont want to give too much. Last 2 nights I have given him watermelon hoping the extra water helps.

Anything else we can try or am I worrying too much?
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
It's not at all unusual for an adult dragon to go less and less often, I don't get at all excited about it until the 10 day mark, when I start paying attention, I'd say the 2 week mark is the max without a bowel movement, at that point you might have to suspect an impaction. Have you tried a bath? If so, does she go? If she hasn't gone for 2 weeks but then you put her in a warm bath and she goes, she may just be a bit dehydrated, especially if she doesn't eat many veggies or greens. You may want to try offering her water or unflavored Pedialyte several times a day by dripping it on her snout and letting her lick it off, drip it and let her lick it off, etc. as a hydration-replacement for the lack of fresh greens/veggies. See if that helps her go a little more often. I wouldn't be too worried about her only going every 2 weeks though, as long as that's the extent of it. Like I said, if an adult dragon doesn't eat many fresh veggies or greens at all, that's a lot of hydration that they aren't getting (unless you're lucky enough to have a dragon that drinks water out of a bowl or a bath through her mouth). So the added water throughout the day might be a really good idea.

As far as the "Natural Laxative Slurries" to help them pass an impaction, I do this if my adults haven't gone at the 2 week mark and a warm bath doesn't do it. You can even offer her this every other day or every 2 days in small quantities to help keep things moving, maybe 3ml/cc at a time from an oral syringe.

You don't need to use actual prunes, but rather just buy a jar of "Prune Baby Food", like a regular jar of Gerbers. All baby food is made up of are the prunes and water, there are no other ingredients so it's perfect for Dragons. Just empty the Prune Baby Food into a little container and mix a little water or unflavored Pedialyte in with it so you can use it in an oral syringe. You can heat it up for 30 seconds and then mix it really well, sometimes they like it better if it's warmed up. And then just drip this on her snout for her to lick off, just like you do the water.

One more thing, you said you're using the Arcadia T8 strength UVB tube, which is the weaker UVB tube, which is fine, but make sure that you have it mounted inside the tank, underneath any type of mesh screen, and it's within 6-8" maximum from her basking spot/platform. Also, I don't know what the wattage is of the Arcadia T8, we don't see many of those, usually the people who have the Arcadia tubes have the 12% T5 tube, which is much stronger and only needs replaced once every 12 months, but typically most all T8 strength UVb tubes are only emitting adequate UVB light for around 6 months, at that point they stop emitting adequate UVb light for a Dragon or any other Desert Reptile. So the fact that the packaging from Arcadia says that it's good for a year puzzles me, again I'm not familiar with the Arcadia T8, only the 12% T5. But the fact that the 12% T5 tube, which is a 26 watt tube, is only good for 12 months, leads me to believe that the much weaker T8 tube, which at most is probably 17 watts, would not be good for 12 months, or even 10 months. Maybe there is someone on here that has done a SolarMeter test on the Arcadia 10% T8 tube to see how long they are good for, but I would think just based on the wattage and the typical T8 ratings that 8 months would be an absolute maximum for replacement time..
 

DavidS21

New member
Original Poster
Thanks for your reply, good to know going less and less isn't necessarily a serious issue.

Yes been giving him a warm bath every 2 days but no luck, might up that to every day. In term of water I do drip water onto his snout every day which he licks up.

The T8 is 12% and 30watt. I believe from what I have read it is the only T8 that is effective for a year but I still chsnge it every 9 months, will look into the T5, it is mounted inside the tank and from 6 to 8 inches away.

Will have a look at the shops for some prune baby food or similar.
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
The T5 is the stronger of the 2 strengths, the T8 is much weaker, and not a 12%, that's the T5. The T8 is only a 10% tube. So it sounds like you actually have the Arcadia 12% T5 tube, which is absolutely good for 12 months, so that makes a lot more sense.
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
Oh wow, just to make sure, if you have the 12% T5 Arcadia UVB tube mounted under the mesh and within 6" of his basking spot it's way too close, it only needs to be within 11" of his basking spot! It's actually strong enough to leave on top of the mesh as long as it's within 10-11" of his basking spot. If you have that strong a UVB tube within 6" of his eyes you may cause damage, so you really need to look right on the tube to confirm the wattage and percentage, because as I said I think you got the 2 strength backwards. If in fact you do have a 12% tube that is 26 watts or higher, it's a T5 tube and needs to be backed up. Arcadia also makes a 14% T5 tube that is even stronger. So they have two different T5 strength tubes, the 12% and the 14%, and then one weaker T8 tube that is a 10% tube and is at most 17 watts, it may even be 15 watts, as is the Reptisun 10.0 T8 tube. These are the much weaker T8 tubes that must be mounted underneath the mesh lid, and must be at least within 6" of the basking spot, because as you can see they are far weaker. They are also the tubes that must be replaced every 6 months at most, while the stronger T5 tubes have a much slower UVB decay rate and are good for a year.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
UVB_FLUX_vs_distance.png

If it's the T8 version the distance mentioned is fine.

Even if it's a T5HO version, 400 microW UVB / sq.cm is well inside the UVB flux wild bearded dragons experience for most the day in their natural range
refer to viewtopic.php?f=6&t=234801&p=1806497#p1806497
.... over 400 microW UVB / sq.cm from mid morning to mid afternoon in summer.

So will not harm them at all, they will seek out an area of lower UVB flux when they sense they've had enough UVA & UVB exposure so may not bask as long.
 
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