Accidentally ingested substrate

[christagan]

We went to a local reptile supply store thinking they would be more well-versed in proper set up for bearded dragons because boyfriend wanted to buy one for his daughter for Christmas. Awful experience, start to finish. They sold us a juvenile (about 5 inches head to tail) beardie which they said is two weeks old, gave us Tropical dome light kits rather than Desert, mealworms, and recommended fine aspen substrate (basically sawdust) for the enclosure. When asking for a thermometer they added a hygrometer only to the bag (grr).

I could not get the temps up until I went to Petco and grabbed a proper basking light rather than the blue light bulb they gave us at the reptile shop, two probe thermometers, and proper substrate. The 17 year old girl at Petco was far more knowledgeable than the "specialty" shop! I realized the pet shop was quite irresponsible about nearly ALL of their recommendations. I wish boyfriend had researched more thoroughly before buying, but we are where we are. I vacuumed the enclosure thoroughly and put down some plain reptile carpet for now.

At the first feeding yesterday, the little guy/gal went for a tiny cricket and ended up eating a mouthful of sawdust instead. Ugh.

This morning, it only ate three baby crickets before he lost interest. What should we be on the lookout for in terms of impaction? How harmful is a mouthful of aspen going to be to this kiddo?

 

[KarrieRee]

We went to a local reptile supply store thinking they would be more well-versed in proper set up for bearded dragons because boyfriend wanted to buy one for his daughter for Christmas. Awful experience, start to finish. They sold us a juvenile (about 5 inches head to tail) beardie which they said is two weeks old, gave us Tropical dome light kits rather than Desert, mealworms, and recommended fine aspen substrate (basically sawdust) for the enclosure. When asking for a thermometer they added a hygrometer only to the bag (grr).

I could not get the temps up until I went to Petco and grabbed a proper basking light rather than the blue light bulb they gave us at the reptile shop, two probe thermometers, and proper substrate. The 17 year old girl at Petco was far more knowledgeable than the "specialty" shop! I realized the pet shop was quite irresponsible about nearly ALL of their recommendations. I wish boyfriend had researched more thoroughly before buying, but we are where we are. I vacuumed the enclosure thoroughly and put down some plain reptile carpet for now.

At the first feeding yesterday, the little guy/gal went for a tiny cricket and ended up eating a mouthful of sawdust instead. Ugh.

This morning, it only ate three baby crickets before he lost interest. What should we be on the lookout for in terms of impaction? How harmful is a mouthful of aspen going to be to this kiddo?

Ok so watch the poop its good you have pulled the stuff --- he should be able to poop it out being it was like sawdust but watch for impaction if his butt blows up gets swollen and hes not pooping post back on here and we can help more w/ that
Now first things first you must get your basking temps to 95-100 if hes a juvie--- again watch his poops you dont want any undigested insects -- if your getting them raise the basking temp to 105-110 and those are surface temps NOT ambient -- place the probe on the spot where he is sitting to bask 10 min or so and look at temp -- what size tank is he in? What UVB are you using NO coils they are inadequate --- pet stores even the one you went to is useless on help-- we can help you w/ a UVB that is good and some of the best on the market I can post websites for you for those --- the first pet store sold you all kinds of stuff that is harmful to the dragon --- its good hes eating he will go thru relocation stress but you MUST have good and proper basking temps and UVB those are the MOST important things in that tank --- it will control his overall health and behavior --- he needs salads every morning ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder Nutrition Content
and I recommend you get him some BSFL www.symtonbsf.com order large feed as many as you want they are a good staple feeder and compliment to his crickets i recommend dubia roaches they are a better feeder and easier to keep www.dubiaroaches.com the BSFL can be used as lures to the salad bowl add them to the tops of his salads in front of him DO NOT dust them they are calcium enriched you will need to dust the insects tho 5 x per week ONCE per feeding w/ calcium D3 and vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week ONCE per feeding lightly coated for both -- you will need a bowl similar to this https://www.amazon.com/MACGOAL-Rept...uGQB&pd_rd_wg=tLkwE&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d these make great bowls and the dubias will stay in the bowl till they get too big -- make sure your feeding insects NO bigger than the space between his eyes length wise ---

 

[christagan]

Ok so watch the poop its good you have pulled the stuff --- he should be able to poop it out being it was like sawdust but watch for impaction if his butt blows up gets swollen and hes not pooping post back on here and we can help more w/ that
Now first things first you must get your basking temps to 95-100 if hes a juvie--- again watch his poops you dont want any undigested insects -- if your getting them raise the basking temp to 105-110 and those are surface temps NOT ambient -- place the probe on the spot where he is sitting to bask 10 min or so and look at temp -- what size tank is he in? What UVB are you using NO coils they are inadequate --- pet stores even the one you went to is useless on help-- we can help you w/ a UVB that is good and some of the best on the market I can post websites for you for those --- the first pet store sold you all kinds of stuff that is harmful to the dragon --- its good hes eating he will go thru relocation stress but you MUST have good and proper basking temps and UVB those are the MOST important things in that tank --- it will control his overall health and behavior --- he needs salads every morning ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder Nutrition Content
and I recommend you get him some BSFL www.symtonbsf.com order large feed as many as you want they are a good staple feeder and compliment to his crickets i recommend dubia roaches they are a better feeder and easier to keep www.dubiaroaches.com the BSFL can be used as lures to the salad bowl add them to the tops of his salads in front of him DO NOT dust them they are calcium enriched you will need to dust the insects tho 5 x per week ONCE per feeding w/ calcium D3 and vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week ONCE per feeding lightly coated for both -- you will need a bowl similar to this Amazon.com these make great bowls and the dubias will stay in the bowl till they get too big -- make sure your feeding insects NO bigger than the space between his eyes length wise ---

Hi Karrie, thank you for replying so quickly. He seems to be pooping fine now (thank goodness).

I took your advice and set up a recurring order with Dubia Roaches. He is eating some organic diced carrot and collard greens, and a few crickets. Not nearly as much as everyone says he should be eating, though. Maybe 2-3 small crickets 2 times a day. He seems to kind of just be a sluggish feeder (and won't go near the pellets, wet or dry).

His current setup is an Exo Terra 36x18x18 (we know we will have to upgrade next year). We have a dual bulb fixture with one basking bulb (Zoo Med 100w) and one UVB bulb (ReptiSun 10.0), on a timer for 12 hours per day. I think we will need to add a second basking bulb, maybe with a lower wattage because that basking spot won't get above 100 degrees, and he's often sitting on a branch below where the probe is. We would get one longer UVB fixture at the same time, but it will have to sit on top above the Exo Terra terrarium screen - would it be better to get a 24" or 36", and with the screening is a T8 or T5 better? I plan to go pick them up today.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi Karrie, thank you for replying so quickly. He seems to be pooping fine now (thank goodness).

I took your advice and set up a recurring order with Dubia Roaches. He is eating some organic diced carrot and collard greens, and a few crickets. Not nearly as much as everyone says he should be eating, though. Maybe 2-3 small crickets 2 times a day. He seems to kind of just be a sluggish feeder (and won't go near the pellets, wet or dry).

His current setup is an Exo Terra 36x18x18 (we know we will have to upgrade next year). We have a dual bulb fixture with one basking bulb (Zoo Med 100w) and one UVB bulb (ReptiSun 10.0), on a timer for 12 hours per day. I think we will need to add a second basking bulb, maybe with a lower wattage because that basking spot won't get above 100 degrees, and he's often sitting on a branch below where the probe is. We would get one longer UVB fixture at the same time, but it will have to sit on top above the Exo Terra terrarium screen - would it be better to get a 24" or 36", and with the screening is a T8 or T5 better? I plan to go pick them up today.

Ok so the UVB in the dome is a 13 watt or a 26 watt? Here is some info on those bulbs
The 26w version of the UVB150 is similar in output to a T8 tube when using a reflector. The beam isn't as wide (depending on the length of the tube) but the output strength is very similar. If it was sitting about 6-8'' above the main basking area then it was likely providing adequate UVB. It's the lower wattage (13w) versions that cause concern since they aren't strong enough to provide adequate UVB at a safe distance. The UVB in the dome is a 13 watt or a 26 watt --- the 13 watt is NO good the 26 watt has certain distance and placement and I recommend you get rid of either one -- please NO more pellets --- feed fresh salads everyday I sent the links for websites -- if your not getting the basking spot to what it needs to be add another bulb in the dome like 50 watt or so but make sure you have the digital probe to get the temp --- the 24" for a 40 gallon is good w/ a T 5 --- distance and placement will depend on the screen -- if you have a fine screen mesh like a screen door it MUST go inside the tank I can provide stuff to hang w/ -- but please get rid of the coil UVB's --- hes barely eating because of lack of UVB --- they wont eat or eat very little he needs the UVB ASAP--- coils are inadequate - you can look in the Petstores most do not carry the 24" fixture Zoo Med or a Arcadia Pro T 5 w/ a 12% bulb or a Sunblaster Nano Tech
Zoo Med ReptiSun T5 HO Hood use the drop down menu for 24" this will come w / a 5.0 bulb keep it for a back up get the Reptisun 10.0 T 5
22" Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB T5 HO
this one is out of stock Arcadia ProT5 12% UVB Bulb With Hood
or this one get the 24" or 2 ft SunBlaster NanoTech T5 HO - Fluorescent Fixture with 6400K Lamp
these bulbs will need to be replaced approx one year I recommend a month prior to