5 year old female dragon, 40 gal breeder tank, reptisun 10.0 2.5 months old, temps 102-105F basking
First, how long does it take an adult beardie to shed? My girl shed a little around her nose and then stopped, but she still scratches her head against her rock though there is no visible shedding area.
Secondly, my girl pooped Tuesday after 1 week of no pooping. She hasn't pooped since. Is this normal? Should I feed her everyday if she isn't pooping very much? She will keep eating but I'm afraid of overfeeding her when she isn't using the bathroom frequently. She has only had greens during this period, no bugs. (Collards/mustard/turnips)
Hi Courtney, dragons are notorious for strange/uneven sheds [ to us ] Adults can take weeks to shed, and sometimes part of it will linger but it's never really any danger....just as long as it's not constricting toes or tail tip. Soaking her in a warm bath every other day should help it along, as will a quick, light full body spray of water daily. Don't spray the tank, just the body.
And the soaks may help her to poo, they will sometimes go a week or longer, again, it's generally not a problem and it's really good that she's eating greens ! If you can offer them when they are still wet from rinsing, even spraying a bit of water on the greens, this can also help with hydration and help her to poo. If she goes longer than 2 weeks, you can give her some canned pumpkin,baby food prunes, a few drops of olive oil and/or applesauce. These all act as beardie laxatives. If you'd like to post a pic of her shedding face and her body condition it would be helpful, but I'm sure she'll be just fine.