blood? should i worry?

[stangbanger]

came home tonight and found this in one of my beardie vivs

i pulled him out (its 1am, so he was very cranky) and checked and he isnt prolapsed or anything, and everything looks fine....ill try to bathe him in the morning and see if he goes... his last few stools have been a little runny but nothing extremely out of the ordinary ...he has been acting fine (he lays in his hide a lot...but i read they do this around 9-10 months sometimes, like a "puberty" thing or whatever)....overall he seems normal and healthy

past week or two, both of my dragons have dropped urate with no feces a couple times...if i see that i usually worry and bathe them and they finish in the tub....but i read that sometimes just urates is a common thing....but idk about the red, im assuming it is blood?

does he need to see a vet? or should i bathe him and see how the rest of his feces looks and monitor his next time around ....maybe its just a one time thing?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I hope that it isn't blood. Did you find any cuts or scrapes on him that you could see? Is there anything sharp in his tank that could have cut him?

Tracie

 

[stangbanger]

didnt see anything and i made sure theres nothing sharp....its in white urate puddles, hard to tell from the pic. but its white and red, that isnt his shelf liner

 

[stangbanger]

bathed him and got him to go....he struggled pretty badly getting it out, so im convinced it was impaction causing it.....there was no more blood with his stool, so im assuming he pushed it hard yesterday and caused a slight scrape inside his vent somewhere .....but got him to go, no more blood, and he is basking as we speak.....so i think itll be ok....idk what caused it though, ill keep an eye on him and try to bathe extra for the next week or so

heres what his stool looked like after i drained the tub

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i82/SaleenSS90/IMG_20120415_090846.jpg


i think the large blob at the top right was causing his impaction.....keep in mind he is a sub-adult so he isnt very big, that stool is about the same size around as his center body mass....big one for this little guy


crisis averted...posted thread at 1am and was freaking out, guess i could have waited until after i bathed him and knew more about what was happening, but at least maybe someone else can read this and see what helped, if they come across this problem

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

More water and veg, less superworms.
All those fragmenty bits in that poop were the shells - they're a sod for causing impaction.

I'd like to suggest feeding butterworms and mixing up the diet a bit, butterworms aren't particularly cheap, but they're high in calcium and soft bodied - not to mention brightly coloured, harmless, store in the fridge for up to four months and smell fruity!

 

[stangbanger]

ok thanks!....yea, hes been having supers for his live feeders and only one or two roaches....ive kinda been letting him have as many supers as he wants....perhaps he is too little for them still? hes about 18-20 inches but still kinda small...my adult seems to be doing alright with them

are roaches easier for him? or should i order butter worms and use them as his staple for awhile? or switch back to crickets?

 

[stangbanger]

heres a pic for reference to his size

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Aww he's a cutey! Overdoing it on supers is a bad thing at any age really - they've got heavy shells that don't digest. They're great as a treat though.

A mixed diet is always best - shake it up and see what happens (It's nice to have pie for dinner, but boring EVERY day.)

Today, my guys have got Nature Zone Beardie Bites, lollo rosso and frise for a treat, and carrot with raspberry crush from Mum's juicer - it's a bug free day today.

Tomorrow I'll be popping a can of cooked Reptile Mix (bamboo worms, crickets and grasshoppers - cooking makes them soft!) and serving with some mixed greens and a couple of blueberries each.

Tuesday is delivery day at my local pet shop, so that'll be locusts and butternut for all.

Wednesday will be butterworms, butternut and maybe butterleaf cabbage if I can get it - butterday - hehe.

I haven't thought much further than that, but I do have plenty of juicer crush in frozen form as well as Ella's babyfood packets (also freeze well!) - I'm excited to try the pea one.

 

[stangbanger]

ok thanks....i was reading on this forum of people using supers as a sole staple feeder....i started a dubia colony and ordered 1000 supers to hold my dragons over until the dubias took off....guess ill cut back on the supers and try to find something else....its hard living out in the country and no pet stores nearby, and i refuse to keep crickets because of the smell....maybe ill switch back to freeze dried crickets until my roaches take off....both of mine love freeze dried crickets

also just moved out on my own, so im having to work two jobs and go to school full time, so food prep and money are tight.....i usually set out some greens in the mornings, and then take the bowl out at night....i feed live feeders during the day when im home for an hour between jobs, but i really lack time to do anything fancy, and funds are tight at the moment lol

would i be better off tossing my tub of supers out to my gfs chickens and using freeze dried feeders or some other type of worm like earthworms?

 

[AHBD]

Did you say how big your dragon is ? In inches + grams ? I notice sometimes when my dragons eat supers that the worms themselves can leave bloody drops when bitten. Superworm juice.... That may be a possibility.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

The supers are fairly stable if they're kept dry, you can keep feeding, but use a little less.
I'm guessing you're in the US - so have a look for JurrasiDiet - http://www.jurassipet.com/Products/EasiDiets.html

It's surprisingly cheap, you guys can get it for about $2.50 - and it'll last practically YEARS as it's cooked and canned. There's a company in the UK (NaturesGrub) and I ALWAYS have cans in

Dandelions are free greens and a great money saver - just make sure to collect it from areas free from chemicals.

 

[stangbanger]

this?

http://www.jurassipet.com/Products/JurassiDiet_RF.html


idk if they will eat it....neither of them will eat the pellets, its like they dont recognize pellets as food....should i pour some on their greens? are you saying this stuff can replace the need for so many live feeders?

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Not the pellets, the EasiDiet canned food - it's cooked whole bugs - still in bug shape, and entertaining when waved around with a pair of tweezers (or if you're not grossed out easily, just by hand).

 

[stangbanger]

hmm..ok thanks, ill try to find a place that sells it...how many crickets come in a can? or would one of the other kinds be better, like the dragonfly larvae?