Laxatives not helping!

Hello everyone !

My sweet babygirl, Chibi, has unfortunately been impacted for at least 10 days now and she has quite a bit of waste built up unfortunately. One possible cause I could think of is maybe I overfed her her staple food (Superworms), or that she is having trouble digesting because of parasites. Either way, I've taken her to the vet and she got some laxatives (0.32cc daily of Lactulose to be exact) and it's been three days and still no pooping .
I'm worried this is going too affect her long-term. I'm giving her warm baths every night for roughly 5-10 minutes as well as some fruits every two or three days to increase the water content in her body and hopefully ease things along. I also give her small belly massages in the bath but those don't work either. Currently I'm giving around her 3-4 superworms a day. I don't want to feed her too much just in case it causes more of a build up in her body.
My question is - is there anything else I can do to help speed things up? I hate how uncomfortable this is for her .

Habitat: 40 gallon tank with UV, heat lamp (150Watt) and night light (purple, 60watt). Her warm side might be a bit low since it is colder outside. It's roughly 92 and her cold side is around 78-84.


Any suggestions help! Thank you!

Get rid of the night light. Dragons like it a dark as possible for sleeping. You should get a 60 watt ceramic heat emitter (Che). The purple light could be affecting her, and cause the issue of not pooping. The Che puts out heat but zero light for night time. What are your night time temp?

Hi there, 10 days of no poo is not an emergency at all, of course you DO want to see them poo more regularly. No need for a vet, just cut out the supers for a few days and offer these natural laxatives [ they always work ] Any or all of these :

baby food sweet potato, squash or prunes, canned pumpkin [ no spices ] applesauce, all with a few big drops of olive oil or raw honey. Extra hydration is also important. Then just be patient, Chibi will go once you get her on these. And for future reference, it is not uncommon for this to happen and is not a need for a vet visit at all. Offer crickets, silkworms or dubia roaches as other feeding options.

My beardie regularly goes 10 days without pooping. Cut out the super worms crickets and dubia roaches are better. Give her a warm bath for more like 20 minutes while massaging her belly. Honestly I wouldn’t worry about it but if you are you can try olive oil or iceburg lettuce. Never tried olive oil but the lettuce works very well.

Scion19801":8qr2bx6h said:

Get rid of the night light. Dragons like it a dark as possible for sleeping. You should get a 60 watt ceramic heat emitter (Che). The purple light could be affecting her, and cause the issue of not pooping. The Che puts out heat but zero light for night time. What are your night time temp?

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My night time temps currently are low 70's/high 60's. Where can I find a CHE and any brand recommendations?

AHBD":1myikspt said:

Hi there, 10 days of no poo is not an emergency at all, of course you DO want to see them poo more regularly. No need for a vet, just cut out the supers for a few days and offer these natural laxatives [ they always work ] Any or all of these :

baby food sweet potato, squash or prunes, canned pumpkin [ no spices ] applesauce, all with a few big drops of olive oil or raw honey. Extra hydration is also important. Then just be patient, Chibi will go once you get her on these. And for future reference, it is not uncommon for this to happen and is not a need for a vet visit at all. Offer crickets, silkworms or dubia roaches as other feeding options.

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Great thanks for all your help! I was thinking of switching her diet to crickets 2x a week and offering greens every day - she hate her greens (makes a giant mess by throwing them all over her tank) :? . But hopefully this will help her get back on them!

QuinnF":9kvo6ib6 said:

My beardie regularly goes 10 days without pooping. Cut out the super worms crickets and dubia roaches are better. Give her a warm bath for more like 20 minutes while massaging her belly. Honestly I wouldn’t worry about it but if you are you can try olive oil or iceburg lettuce. Never tried olive oil but the lettuce works very well.

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Awesome, I'll try increasing her bath to 20 minutes and the olive oil!! Thank you!! :study:

You're welcome ! And your night temps. are fine, 68-75 is perfect.

With the baths, you can just make the water a little warmer than usual and just 10 minutes is all you need. Of course if she likes lounging in there then 20 is fine, just don't leave her alone or let the water cool off much.

AHBD":21hxhwwl said:

You're welcome ! And your night temps. are fine, 68-75 is perfect.

With the baths, you can just make the water a little warmer than usual and just 10 minutes is all you need. Of course if she likes lounging in there then 20 is fine, just don't leave her alone or let the water cool off much.

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water temp I aim for ON THE RARE OCCASIONS I bath my dragons is 32-34 degC ….

I don't intervene with bathing unless there have been no poos for 10 days , viewtopic.php?f=6&t=245864