2.5 month old beardie, phoenix worms, gaping mouth, slimy po

[rayraymom]

My first post! I have a 2.5 month old beardie, 6 inches nose to end of tail. Little guy was eating upwards of 20 crickets and 8 mealworms per day. No veggies. Then I read mealworms were bad so I ordered up some Phoenix worms. He is ok with phoenix worms, not loving them, but he'll eat 3 - 4 per meal plus another 20 - 25 crickets per day. Since I started with phoenix worms last week, his poops have been a little "creamy" for lack of a better term. White part is still the same (firm) and brown part is firm but now there is another part that is mucus looking or creamy. Normal for new addition to diet? Also, he's been keeping his mouth wide open for upwards of 2 minutes at a time for last few days. His basking temps are approx 105 and cool area ranges from 70 - 80. We mist him down once per day and bath him once per week. He does not drink standing water in small bowl or in bath, occassionally will drink when we mist him down. Any ideas about gaping, creamy poops, amount of food intake? I'm loving this little guy - he makes me and the kids very happy :lol:

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Welcome to the forum! Sorry you have not gotten a response yet!
The change in diet can affect the stool a little bit yes. Does the stool smell particularly bad? How slimy are you talking, really bad, or just slightly?
What type of thermometer are you using to measure his temperatures with? The basking spot temperatures sound fine, if you are measuring them with a temp gun or a digital probe. They will often sit underneath their basking lights & gape just to thermoregulate & wont move. If he gapes too often though, he may be too hot. Maybe double check his temperatures & if you are using a stick on type of thermometer, it wont be accurate.
It sounds like he is eating pretty well though. How many times per day do you feed him?

Tracie

 

[edevildude]

And on a side note, I was told by many people when i first got my beardie to be careful with misting him and having a water bowl in his tank because the humidity might become too high, and im not sure in your particular case but in mine with a water bowl alone (Because i stopped misting just to be on the safe side) the humidity in my tank was upwards of 45-55% and beardies are soposed to be at around 25-30% i be leave, if im off someone please correct me. This if i can remember correctly can cause them to develop lung infections of something along those lines. Just passing on the same message i got to you O and i can't remember if he said this before me, but you might wana pick up the probe thermometer from walmart, it's made by Acurite it does humidity inside/outside temp, and is only $12. Well welcome to the forum! and hope everything goes great with your new little dude/Girl! lol