My bearded dragon Ralph just ate a piece of plastic about 1.25 cm long and pretty thin. He is a full grown male bearded dragon so he is decently big and when he swallowed it it didn't seem to bother him. Just wondering what I can do to help him pass it. We gave him lots of water and a little bit of olive oil so far and I will be bathing him in the morning. Thanks
He has had multiple bowel movements and he doesn’t have a black beard or anything but he still hasn’t passed it. We are going to keep feeding him regularly and hope he can pass it.
Great that he doesnt seem bothered.
It usually is the solid foods that help push it out.
We've seen it take quite awhile in the past to pass foreign bodies.
Thanks for the update!
If his poos start to slow down I would add a bit of baby food too to help move the solid food along. That and the drop of olive oil.
He is still pooing regularly and is acting completely fine with no black beard. He has been going poo every single day but still hasn’t passed it. How long should we wait before looking to go to the vet. I’ve seen some people say a week and others say 2-3. Thanks.
Unfortunately there isnt much a vet can do. The plastic wont show up on xray. So the only option would be surgery, which carries its own serious risks.
I mentioned earlier that it can take awhile sometimes because I didn't want you to get too freaked out about it not coming out quickly. Weve seen it take weeks. In one case where I believe It was a penny, it came out (of my memory isnt failing me) almost 2 months later.
If he is showing no I'll symptoms I would just try to keep it in the back of your mind, and not at the forefront
I'm having trouble even getting my head around that. The gullet, sure--some of those are HUGE! The stomach, sure--I've seen BDs eat an obscene # of bugs at a time. It's the intestines... didn't know they were that flexible to pass anything that large/shape.
GREAT NEWS! HE PASSED IT! He was acting a bit strange yesterday, he was perched in a strange upright vertical position for like 2 hours straight after a warm bath. We heard a bit of shuffling and checked on him, and surely enough, the penny was there!
Well, I can't say I'm surprised at that! :shock:
I didn't say I didn't believe it--it was (and still is a bit) hard to get my head around. It's like a human passing an aluminum CD! :lol: