Collapsing after passing an impaction?!

[coastergirl946]

My boyfriend's bearded dragon has been impacted twice recently. The first time was about a month ago. He struggled quite a bit and his beard turned black during and after the passing of the impaction, but those were his only symptoms other than refusing to eat and being lethargic. He actually passed it himself.

This past weekend he became impacted again, again refused to eat, and was very lethargic. I picked him up and his belly felt heavy with poop. I gave him a warm bath with belly massage to help him go. After a good 10 minutes, his beard turned black and his tail went up, and a good 8 inches of poop came shooting out. After he was done passing this horrible impaction, he continued to struggle. His head and tail were still up, and his beard was pitch black. His butt was also swollen and he was trembling. He started to close his eyes and sink lower in the water. I scooped him out, and he went completely limp in my hands and closed his eyes. I freaked, and started crying. I was calling his name over and over again, fearing that my boyfriend's pet had died in my hands..

After a couple of minutes, he woke up. Has anyone else ever had their beardie literally collapse after an impaction??!!! This really gave me a bad scare!
(We know the cause of why he was impacted twice and are now taking steps to get him better things.. hard lesson learned. )

 

[Gail]

I've never seen or heard of this but if I was to guess, I'd say it was from exhaustion or pain. That was a huge impaction, poor guy. Glad to hear you are remedying the cause.

 

[mickeysmomma]

What is causing the impaction??? Is he on sand?

 

[coastergirl946]

He's on a calcium sand substrate. He's a 14 inch long 2 year old male bearded dragon who has never had issues with this substrate before.
The problem was that he had a basking lamp, no UVB light, and his tank felt a little too cool for my liking. I got very worried when I noticed the poor dragon refusing to eat, being lethargic, and closing his eyes a lot. When my boyfriend said he hadn't pooped in a while, I took action. He had not realized the dire importance of the need for UVB light.. so much can go wrong without it. I hate pretty much telling my boyfriend how to take care of his pet, but I love the dragon so much.
The temperatures are now being monitored and a UVB light has been added. I pray that this solves the impaction issue.. I highly doubt he could survive a third after what the poor guy went through last time.

 

[Jess]

... Have you taken the sand out? Paper towels, reptile carpet, slate tile, ect are much better substrates. You should really read this: http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=132151

 

[Gail]

Lack of UVB won't cause a impaction, its the sand thats causing it. You really need to remove the sand before it kills your dragon.

 

[Beardednoob]

What is his diet? And how much is he eating in a sitting or in a day?
What are his basking temperatures?

 

[EShell]

Lack of UVB won't cause a impaction, its the sand thats causing it. You really need to remove the sand before it kills your dragon.

This.

 

[coastergirl946]

Update: Curt suffered a THIRD impaction. We dumped the sand. He is now on paper towels and being fed a daily dose of organic baby food prunes to help with his digestion.. which I am happy to report that he pooped on his own yesterday. We also got him a UVB tube, and he is active and doing well.

 

[Gail]

Good job, he will feel much better now.

 

[diamc]

Oh, the poor thing, he has gone through so much. If your boy friend is using a type of stick on thermometer like the digital strip or round gauge, those can be off as much as 20 degrees. The only 2 ways to get accurate readings are with either an infrared temperature gun or a digital thermometer with long wire & probe end. Walmart has the AcuRite brand digital with probe that will give both basking & cool side temps at the same time as well as a humidity readout for only $12.00, a very good investment.

Also, if he was dehydrated, that would could cause him to get impacted especially if he was eating the sand. Calci-sand hardens in their bellies like cement and builds up over time, making it impossible or almost impossible to pass, sounds like that's what happened to him. Besides having accurate temps, it's very important that he have at least 1 1/2 hrs to digest in the basking area for proper digestion as well as giving baths at least 3 times a wk for at least 15 to 20 min each time. All of these things will help prevent a prolapse which is surprising that he hasn't suffered one yet with all the straining that has taken place.

Not sure what he's eating but here's a site that shows the best foods to feed: www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Please keep us updated on him.

 

[coastergirl946]

Curt is in a tank with a UVB tube and a Zilla basking bulb. He also has a digital thermometer with probe, basking log, water dish, and a Zoo Med heat rock (yes, I have heard of the dangers of heat rocks but we live in Ohio and it gets very cold on winter nights, I am scared that if we remove the heat rock, he will freeze to death in his sleep.. he has had that rock since he was a baby and there have been no issues with it). Paper towels are his substrate for the time being (plan to get repti-carpet.. no more sand ever again), and he is fed mainly a diet of calcium-dusted crickets with a few blueberries here and there.
We aren't quite sure how to introduce new foods to Curt. I tried a bit of cucumber once, but he nipped at it a bit and seemed to lose interest. He gobbled up the baby food prunes when we dropped a bit on his nose.. so is it possible he likes fruit more than veggies (can't say I blame him, I'm the same way 8) )? What good fruits can we introduce to get more variety in his diet, and how?
He also has a water bottle for misting, but good God he HATES that. He also puffs and occasionally beards when he gets his baths.. he absolutely despises water. :lol: We still give him baths and tell him it's good for his shedding and his digestion, but the glare on his face tells me "get me out of here." He is so cute.
I am not sure of the temps in his viv or what the size of the viv is, but I do know he is getting a much larger tank here soon. I can not believe he survived 3 calcium sand impactions. My boyfriend has repeatedly thanked me for my advice that has come from this website. I am not Curt's owner, but I live in a "pet free household" and I have Curt's best interests at heart.

 

[EShell]

I am sorry to say I killed a beautiful and very tame Corn Snake about 15 years ago with a hot rock.

It had been just fine for a very long time, and the snake went from a baby to 3 feet long with the same rock in the enclosure. Evidently, it shorted out internally and this created a very hot "hot spot" that burned the snake (cooked him internally) and killed him. There was a swollen spot where he suffered the damage and I didn't know what had happened until years later, when people started posting comments and pics of damaged animals.

I guess when hot rocks were new, there were few failures and problems, but as they became older, they started to fail enough to create a clear pattern, and a very bad reputation. Because most of these reptiles don't sense temperatures well through their undersides, they don't realize just how hot they are getting and they will sit on it until they cook.

Now, almost everyone knows the grave danger inherent to hot rocks and under tank heaters and there really are no longer any excuses at all to cook your reptiles. IOW, these heat injuries and resulting deaths are no longer considered unfortunate accidents and it is very likely just a matter of time until your hot rock fails too. Guess I'll say "Gee, I'm so sorry" right now, in case I miss that thread.

Real rocks have "thermal mass" and a ceramic heat emitter radiating down onto a natural rock is MUCH better for keeping the tank warm in the dark. The heat emitter will keep the rock warm, the warm rock will help keep the tank temps up. This is much safer because lizard can feel the heat from above and will move before it gets too hot.

 

[athenacp]

You could get a CME for him (cermamic heat emitter) it only give off heat, this is better than getting one of those night bulbs, as they can see the light at night and it bothers them and keeps them up.

)

 

[Beardednoob]

You could get a CME for him (cermamic heat emitter) it only give off heat, this is better than getting one of those night bulbs, as they can see the light at night and it bothers them and keeps them up.

)

This is the best option but, I will voice that the blue/purple/black night lights do not keep any of my 4 dragons awake. Red however is a different story, I have tried one, my dragon couldn't sleep at all.