QueenPineapple
Member
Hello everyone! This is actually my first bearded dragon... So this may seem like a silly question. However, I have done a lot of research and prep for my girlie, and I really hope this is not as serious as I am fearing it to be.
I am new to keeping Bearded Dragons. I got my current Bearded Dragon, Pumpkin, October 12th at a con from a man who had gotten her for breeding purposes but ended up not breeding her and wanted to rehome her.
I love her immensely. It has only been (soon) two weeks with her but she has been a light in my life. In a matter of days, she bonded with me and sleeps in my hands and is the most precious thing to exist. She is such a good girl and I love her immensely.
She has only a 50-gallon tank currently but has an outside playpen which I let her run around in with supervision and give her things to engage with. She also has her own blanket which we love to snuggle in.
Her basking spot ranges from 105-112 on her rock, 80 on her cool side, and I keep her on a paper towel substrate mostly because she is still new to my home and I wanted to monitor her stools well. She does not have water constantly offered in her tank because where I live the humidity would kill her. She gets a bath every other day with me.
I have noticed this week that her stools have become very soft. More like piles than actually formed logs. She also sheds excess water when expelling them and it also smells quite strongly.
I know that soft poops and the strong smell can often mean parasites. When I first got her she had roughly 3 bowel movements that were the typical 'healthy' poop. After that, they softened. Which makes me wonder if it is potentially a change of environment and diet that has brought it on?
She is a 1.5-year-old female. The man I got her from fed her collard and mustard greens so I have been sticking with that, dusting with bee pollen, as well as mixing in bell pepper, apple, and green beans. I offer on occasion treats of grapes as she seems to like them. Apple is certainly her favorite, she was not a big fan of mustards, but she eats her collards well. I have to hand feed her still for the most part, but she will eat generally anywhere from 6-10 chunks of her greens on a good day. Including a mix of a few bites of the other goodies.
Roughly every other day I feed her gut-loaded Dubia Roaches, somewhere between 5-10 depending on the size I grab for her. As I am nervous to feed her too many bigger ones.
She also got Hornworms as a special treat for the fact she recently has come into my home. Mostly because I knew they were good for hydration and stress dehydration was something I was worried about. But guessing by the excess water she sheds and the urates in her poop I think she is plenty hydrated. She has one bowl movement a day.
She has not shown any personality shifts other than actually getting more active and engaged with me, eating more freely, and enjoying time outside her tank especially sleeping on my shoulder. All shifts that were positive due to the initial uncertainty of moving into a new home with me.
I say all this to say, am I being overly worried and these soft poops are a result of her change in environment and potential diet changes? Or should I be worried about parasites?
I do have an exotics vet but they are over 2 hours away and very difficult to get into. I am currently in a financial bind where I was hoping to have a steady income again before I took her in for her first wellness exam. But I can try to find a way to get her in if I need to. Obviously her health is more important. But I am a very anxious person that can jump the gun sometimes in my worries and get a little over the top.
Any insights from experienced animal keepers? In her next bowel movement, I can take a picture of it for you. In the meantime, this is her tank, and her.
TLDR:
Tank: 50 gallons. 105-112 basking, 80 cool, Reptisun 10 bulb.
Diet: She eats collard greens with additions of apple, bell pepper, and green beans.(dusted with bee pollen) Every other day or so she will get 5-10 small to medium gut-loaded dubia roaches. (dusted with calcium).
Dragon: A little less than two weeks ago I got my 1.5-year-old female bearded dragon.
Concern: She started having a soft mushy stool roughly every day. It smells pretty strongly as well. This has gone on for roughly 5 days.
I am new to keeping Bearded Dragons. I got my current Bearded Dragon, Pumpkin, October 12th at a con from a man who had gotten her for breeding purposes but ended up not breeding her and wanted to rehome her.
I love her immensely. It has only been (soon) two weeks with her but she has been a light in my life. In a matter of days, she bonded with me and sleeps in my hands and is the most precious thing to exist. She is such a good girl and I love her immensely.
She has only a 50-gallon tank currently but has an outside playpen which I let her run around in with supervision and give her things to engage with. She also has her own blanket which we love to snuggle in.
Her basking spot ranges from 105-112 on her rock, 80 on her cool side, and I keep her on a paper towel substrate mostly because she is still new to my home and I wanted to monitor her stools well. She does not have water constantly offered in her tank because where I live the humidity would kill her. She gets a bath every other day with me.
I have noticed this week that her stools have become very soft. More like piles than actually formed logs. She also sheds excess water when expelling them and it also smells quite strongly.
I know that soft poops and the strong smell can often mean parasites. When I first got her she had roughly 3 bowel movements that were the typical 'healthy' poop. After that, they softened. Which makes me wonder if it is potentially a change of environment and diet that has brought it on?
She is a 1.5-year-old female. The man I got her from fed her collard and mustard greens so I have been sticking with that, dusting with bee pollen, as well as mixing in bell pepper, apple, and green beans. I offer on occasion treats of grapes as she seems to like them. Apple is certainly her favorite, she was not a big fan of mustards, but she eats her collards well. I have to hand feed her still for the most part, but she will eat generally anywhere from 6-10 chunks of her greens on a good day. Including a mix of a few bites of the other goodies.
Roughly every other day I feed her gut-loaded Dubia Roaches, somewhere between 5-10 depending on the size I grab for her. As I am nervous to feed her too many bigger ones.
She also got Hornworms as a special treat for the fact she recently has come into my home. Mostly because I knew they were good for hydration and stress dehydration was something I was worried about. But guessing by the excess water she sheds and the urates in her poop I think she is plenty hydrated. She has one bowl movement a day.
She has not shown any personality shifts other than actually getting more active and engaged with me, eating more freely, and enjoying time outside her tank especially sleeping on my shoulder. All shifts that were positive due to the initial uncertainty of moving into a new home with me.
I say all this to say, am I being overly worried and these soft poops are a result of her change in environment and potential diet changes? Or should I be worried about parasites?
I do have an exotics vet but they are over 2 hours away and very difficult to get into. I am currently in a financial bind where I was hoping to have a steady income again before I took her in for her first wellness exam. But I can try to find a way to get her in if I need to. Obviously her health is more important. But I am a very anxious person that can jump the gun sometimes in my worries and get a little over the top.
Any insights from experienced animal keepers? In her next bowel movement, I can take a picture of it for you. In the meantime, this is her tank, and her.
TLDR:
Tank: 50 gallons. 105-112 basking, 80 cool, Reptisun 10 bulb.
Diet: She eats collard greens with additions of apple, bell pepper, and green beans.(dusted with bee pollen) Every other day or so she will get 5-10 small to medium gut-loaded dubia roaches. (dusted with calcium).
Dragon: A little less than two weeks ago I got my 1.5-year-old female bearded dragon.
Concern: She started having a soft mushy stool roughly every day. It smells pretty strongly as well. This has gone on for roughly 5 days.