Stool problems with new adult beardie

About 3 months ago, I adopted my first bearded dragon from a friend that couldn’t care for her anymore. She raised him since she was tiny, and she is now almost 2 years old. After spending quite a bit of time reading about bearded dragon care, I realized that there were a few things that could be improved. First, her tank (only ~33 gallons- I've now upgraded to 75) had sand substrate which I have replaced with slate tile. She also was fed a diet consisting entirely of crickets without any veggies. Luckily, she took to veggies right away and now eats a salad (collard greens, escarole, butternut squash) and about 6-10 largish crickets or dubia roaches/day. Her lighting and temperature gradient seem to be in line with the recommendations on here (95-100 in basking spot, Reptisun t5 UVB 10) and she isn’t showing any signs of MBD. My biggest concern now is her poop. When my friend had her, she’d go about once a week (not watery) and now she goes every 1 to 2 days. The stool is also usually large, runny, partly undigested, and smelly with normal urates. At first, I thought it was just the diet and habitat adjustment but took her to the vet a few weeks ago anyway. Her fecal was negative for parasites so that doesn't seem to be the issue. However, her x-ray did show that she is gravid. Could this be the cause? Otherwise, she acts entirely normal with a healthy weight and appetite, not lethargic, and doesn't seem to be dehydrated. It has been going on for quite some time now so any advice is appreciated- I just want to make sure she is healthy!

Hi there, it's good to hear how well you are taking care of your new dragon. The poos may be directly related to the diet since the intro of veggies, might have a little to do with being gravid but the diet would be the main reason. Can you post a pic of the poo ? Any poo on tile looks extra runny because of the solid flat surface opposed to carpet, newspaper or sand/soil. BTW, was she with a male at all or will these be infertile ? Here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

Thanks for replying! Here is a picture of some of her poop from earlier this week. It’s usually somewhat less runny/watery than this. She has never been with a male.. in fact, we thought she was male until the vet looked at her!

I'm a noob so no advice. ? But if my Petey has too much shredded sweet potato or bell pepper, he gets loose like that. I'm voting for diet as the cause. After a while you'll know how certain veggies effect her and it always better for her to go more than once a week IMHO.
-Dee

What is the placement of the T 5? I would suggest raising the basking temps up to 105-110- the diet looks good -- the smell of the poop is it enough to drive you from the room? The undigested food suggest the basking temps need to be a little higher and the placement of the UVB will also effect digestion
Karrie

KarrieRee":2joy967h said:

What is the placement of the T 5? I would suggest raising the basking temps up to 105-110- the diet looks good -- the smell of the poop is it enough to drive you from the room? The undigested food suggest the basking temps need to be a little higher and the placement of the UVB will also effect digestion
Karrie

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Thanks for the suggestion, I will try that! Yes, the poop is very smelly which is why I was a little surprised when she tested negative for parasites. Currently, the t5 is about 9 inches away over the top of the tank. However, when I got her she had a compact fluorescent UVB that was sitting on top of her tank which I just recently replaced.

So the UVB is on top of the tank and the screen is a fine mesh???? If so I would get your basking decor piece sitting directly under it about 6-8 inches from the bulb - the screen is going to filter out 30% of those rays --- if the screen is a wide holed screen 8-10 would be good --- but the finer the mesh you need it closer --- and there should be no cover on the bulb meaning bulb exposed --- if you want you can move the T 5 into the tank and have it approx 12-15 inches from the decor piece --- up to you
Karrie