Change in Pooping and Behavior

[blazinbeardie]

Ok so, Thorn is about a year old now. Normally he's pretty chill and likes to lay in his hammock with the occasional run around the cage (especially when he had to poop which he normally saved up for once or twice a week). But lately (for like the past week or so) he's been non-stop running around, up the glass, knocking things over, crazy dragon, and has been pooping every day. He had one giant gassy poop last week and then sort of diarrhea-ed the rest of that day. And he's gone almost every day since then. In addition to his poop being a lot less, it's also kind of watery but still has the normal white and brown. He's also been eating about half of what he was, a mixture of crickets and butterworms with collard greens as his staple veggie, but I'm not sure if the appetite is part of this or if he's just done growing now and doesn't need as much to eat. His cage temps are fine and I just replaced his UV bulbs last week (perhaps a couple months later than I should have). Anybody have any idea what his deal is?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....are you 100% positive that Thorn is a male ? Sometimes females will act that way prior to laying.

 

[blazinbeardie]

Oh geez... umm... well I did think he was a girl for a while when he was younger, but then thought that his tail bulges and femoral pores looked more like a boy... Maybe not. My last dragon was a major alpha male, and Thorn's personality/temperament/behavior/size is so much different. If he is actually a girl, how long would he/she act like this until laying? Would this also account for the change in pooping?

 

[AHBD]

Yes, some females will make more frequent + smaller poos.

If you'd like to post a few pics with his[ or her ] tail arched up high I can probably tell you for sure what the gender is.

 

[blazinbeardie]

I had a hard time figuring out how to do this on my new phone... hopefully this works...

 

[AHBD]

Well, you can rule out pre-laying behavior....Thorn is a boy. He is just being restless. It may be that for some beardies this time of year they start feeling the urge to find a good spot to brumate. If you let him out to run in the house [ supervised, and after checking for anything on the floor he might swallow ] he will probably look for a spot to hide. That's just one theory, but there are other reasons why they get antsy out of the blue.

 

[blazinbeardie]

Haha alright! That's good to know, glad his boy-ness is confirmed! I'll try and let him out more to run around; we've been away and its harder now with the cooler weather (and other bigger animals running around). Should I do anything or rearrange his cage or give him something extra in there to help him chill out, like something plush? He has a rock cave to hide in and a few other logs and stuff to push around and a hammock. Or Anything I should watch out for that would signal time for a vet visit?

 

[AHBD]

Other than letting him run around a bit to burn off energy you might want to have a fecal check done just to rule out parasites. That could definitely cause a change in his pooing habits + consistency.