Bearded Dragon Bathroom Issues

[ttortuga]

Hey guys,

I recently bought my bearded dragon "Puff", and have had him about a week. He is slightly over one month old and only about five or six inches long. This may be a weird topic but... he hasn't pooped in the last four days. I'm starting to get worried... Other than not pooping, he is absolutely perfect. I make him a daily salad of dandelion leaves, bok choy, a little bit of blue berries, and on occasion a TINY bit of tomato. He always eats, and seems to stop when he is full. Sometimes I will put a waxworm in with his salad, but not often since they're so high in fat. He moves around fine, and is absolutely friendly. Since he hasnt pooped in a few days, he looks kind of fat, but it isn't like a bulge or anything... just kind of plump. When he did poop, his stool was a brownish black color. It looked like it possibly had some cricket parts in it. maybe a few cricket legs? Is this normal? It had some white urate in it aswell. Here's the tank specs -

Size - 40 gallon breeder.
Lighting - A day heat bulb, a coil UVB (I might get a tube), and a night bulb to keep him warm while he sleeps.
Substrate - Zilla Reptile Carpet.
Hot temperatures - The gauge reads 90, but it isnt directly in the basking spot so I would assume 95-105.
Cold Temperatures - 80-85.
Diet - 8 to 12 crickets daily, sized accordingly (space inbetween his eyes). Salad consisting of Bok Choy, Dandelion Leaves, and some blueberries. All organic.
I slightly mist his cage in the morning, although I have never seen him drink it, but he seems to like it.
He has a screen top.
He has two caves, a driftwood basking spot, a reptile hammock, and some vines to climb in.

I think he may be dehydrated, however I thoroughly mist his vegetable and I have been giving him baths.

Here's my bath stuffs -
A 15 gallon rubbermaid container.
luke warm water.
about 10-20 minutes long.
I have been rubbing/massaging his back and underbelly to stimulate his ... erm... parts :shock:

I don't know if he is impacted, but just in case I will try feeding him some olive oil and unsweetened apple sauce. Also, I heard waxworms dipped in olive oil can help.

Thanks in advance

[EDIT - forgot to mention, I dust the crickets with calcium powder ]

 

[brittani299]

I few things I would change. The coil UVB bulb is really bad. I would change it ASAP. It can cause eye problems. Get a reptisun 10.0 tube bulb. Also you shouldn't mist the cage if he isn't drinking the water. That water can cause high humidity in the cage which can cause a uri. Also I would be feeding him more crickets. You should be feeding him crickets two times a day as many as he can eat in a 15 minute time span.

 

[Mirthy]

yup, if he is comfortable with you handling him and not too stressed out, take him out and keep giving him a warm bath soak. He will possibly drink water from the bath, and assuredly will be getting some water from his vent.

Absolutely keep giving him greens. It will help him transition to greens easier as an adult and are giving him all sorts of dragon goodness. But if he is only a little over a month then he needs more bugs. A good rule of thumb is to think that a baby dragon needs 90% bugs and 10% greens but a adult dragon needs the reverse 90% greens / 10% bugs (or even 5% if they are getting chunky)

Bok Choy has a lot of vit A and while beardies DO need vit A, they can also get vit A poisoning. So I'd only give (and I do) bok choy only very occasionally. Consider introducing in some mustard greens, collard greens (high in calcium), escarole or endive as a more regular mixed in green.
Dandelions also have a good amount of vit A so they are already going to keep it covered for your little guy.

All of that, and the other lighting fixes aside, he might just still be adjusting to his new location ...sometimes they will go a few days before pooping.
Oh, I also use the reptisun 10. It seems like it's a pretty good bulb.

One last thought, do you dust for calcium and vitamins?(edit: I just read that you do) While it is essential that you do, over dusting can get them a little backed up.
When your dragon had it's last poop was the urate (white part) hard, dry and extra chalky? Or very big?

Those are all my thoughts. I've only had my one dragon but he had some health issues earlier on and we certainly learn hands on with this little guys.
Best of luck to you with your new pet,
Carrie

 

[daner923]

A young dragon can eat upwards of 50 crickets a day, so you really need to up it as Brittani suggested. Don't use any kind of colored bulb at night. It keeps them up. If it stays above 65F you don't need anything. If it doesn't you can get a ceramic heat emitter. You also need to get a digital thermometer with a probe or a temp gun. Dials can be off by 20F or more, so you may be unknowingly cooking or freezing your baby! Once you get it, you need to increase the temps to 105-115F, aiming for about 110F. The reason he is pooping cricket parts and isn't pooping now is that it isn't hot enough for him to digest properly! Don't feed tomato at all - it is acidic, and they do not handle that well at all. You can up the baths to help stimulate a bowel movement - at that age 4 days with a poop is definitely a bit impacted. As for dusting, you should dust one feeding a day, 5 days a week with calcium with D3, and one feeding each of the other two days with a multivitamin. You absolutely need to get a ReptiSun 10.0 tube UVB, since the coil can cause eye damage and calcium issues since it isn't strong enough and doesn't emit the right wavelengths of UVB.

 

[ttortuga]

Thanks for the replies
I'm going to buy the reptisun 10.0 as well as the new thermometer. I will most likely drop some bok choy and replace it with some kale or collard greens. I'm also going to try to up the baths, and if I find my tank to be too cold with the correct thermometer I will get a higher wattage bulb. I don't know about the feeding, i was told as a baby they can eat anywhere from 10-30 crickets. Crickets make up about 4/5 of mines diet. They arn't pinheads, altough they are slightly smaller than the space between his eyes. I feed him the crickets until he seems full. When i mist, the humidity is only at about 25% for 10 or 20 minutes (the heat gets rid of it fast.)

Anything else?

[Edit: I shouldv'e been more specific, it's a black light bulb for night, so it just emits heat, no light.