Constipated Dragon

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Cloudk

Member
So. I'll be as through as possible: My 2yr old beardie is constipated. He's active. He's hungry. He basks. His home is: a 125gal tank w/ tile as substrate. Has a powersun uvb 100w on a basking platform. Temps are: 105-107 in basking spot and 75-80 on the cool side. His diet varies from collard greens, various squash, wax worms now and again, strawberries, grapes, carrot shavings, molting dubia roaches(when they're white and soft) and a few other rare fruit treats(i use "beautiful dragons feed chart"). I feed him probably 4 times a week. I'd say he's well cared for. Anyway. Its been around 2 weeks since he's pooed, usually he poos only once a week or so. Which i think he should go more, but nothing seems to "get him going" on a regular basis. To try to help unconstipate him, the past few days i've tried 2 doses of olive oil, baths, and massages. I am worried about giving him canned pumpkin or any other food. How long should i wait before i should be concerned and think about calling the vet? Theres nothing he can eat in his tank that could impact him. Honestly the only thing i can think of is he takes too big of bites, or he was possibly dehydrated...? Any advice on future prevention and how long before a vet visit should be on the table. Thank you for any help. :banghead:
 

Burra

Hatchling Member
How often are you bathing him to help him "go"? I bathe mine once a day if he appears to be constipated. This didn't work once, so I gave him 1ml of prune baby food, waited an hour, put him back in the tub and voila! No more constipation !
 

Goonie

BD.org Sicko
Retired Moderator
How much food had he eaten in the past 2 weeks?
Is his belly hard? Does he wince when you touch it?

You may want to lower the basking temps about 5 degrees. Only babies would need temps higher than 102; 107-109 is awfully hot. Such high temps would easily dehydrate a beardie, which could prevent him from going potty.
If he would allow it, give him oral fluids every day for the next week or so. You can use an infant medicine dropper to gauge how much he'd drank.
 

Cloudk

Member
Original Poster
He's probably eaten about 2tbs total carrot squares, and peas. Usually more varied but i figured, thawed carrots would be an ok temp food. He's not painful. Belly isn't hard, significantly bloated or anything either. He doesn't seem in any discomfort when i massage him. He just looks up at me. Baths have been daily for probably 3 days straight. Each bath is about 30-45min in warm water. He acts 100% normal. Just no poo. I will rearrange to lower his basking temps a bit. Will liquids fill him up too much? Idk if its dumb or not. But i'm worried about filling him up too much with liquids/foods, irrational fear of him popping(saw impaction dissection, scared me). Also, after i bathe him. He walks all over his tank, climbs on his rocks, and basks for awhile. After a few min he plops down, usually under his platform, and will just lay there until i move him which may have to do with basking spot too warm; too hot, doesn't bask or dehydrates, doesn't digest food right. Hm. I think the too hot basking area might be the cause not the big bites... i have a 6mL syringe(no needle of course), how much water do you suggest? Thanks for your help.
 

Goonie

BD.org Sicko
Retired Moderator
Start out by giving him about 2-3 ml of oral fluids daily. If he has excess, he'll just excrete them.
He can't get overly hydrated; just don't force too much water down his throat at one time where he may aspirate.
 

Cloudk

Member
Original Poster
Gave him some warm water and he's soaking right now. Rearranging his platform to get it to 95-100. I use rocks, so i need to wait for them to warm up before i can see if the temp is right. I expect it to be though. Hopefully I'll see some poo today... :)
 

snazzyglasses

Sub-Adult Member
Good luck! :) (Isn't it amazing how worrisome lizard poop can be? :shock:)

If it helps any, my adult sometimes goes for a week to 10 days without pooping. I know you said you didn't want to give yours more food, but so far I've had the best luck with plain canned pumpkin. About 1/8th of a tsp usually does the trick for my big guy. I'll give it to him in the evening, and I get poop the next morning or early afternoon! :)
 

Cloudk

Member
Original Poster
Amazingly. I cannot find pure pumpkin in any store near me. Its always the pie mix with the spices and stuff. Its annoying... :( i'd like to try the pumpkin. There's one more store i haven't looked. Hopefully they'll have it. And it is amazing how worrisome lizard poo can be :roll: Does anyone have an opinion on no sugar added prune juice?
 

vampy

Juvie Member
The prune juice is fine, and it may help, but won't have as much fibre in as actual mashed up prunes. Still, it'll get some liquids into him and maybe help, so it could be worth a try. Just make sure when it says 'no added sugar' it doesn't mean 'we added a ton of artificial sweeteners and other junk instead'. With the pumpkin, you could make your own...i know it's a lot of waste, but you can just boil up cubes of pumpkin until it's soft, then mash or blend it...then you can eat the rest or freeze it so you have some to use in case this happens again in future. Or you could try apple sauce, if you can get that without added stuff in...or again you can make your own, and there'll be less waste from an apple than from a whole pumpkin!
 

Cloudk

Member
Original Poster
i'm carving pumpkins tomorrow so i'll try to make my own pumpkin mush. And no luck on poo today. Gave him water, 2 soaks, and after hrs of adjustments got his platform set up and temps now vary 95-100, decided to add his log which was all he'd poo on when he was younger. Kinda quirky. But willing to try anything for my little man :)
 

Cloudk

Member
Original Poster
Been giving him water. Soaks. Massages. Still no poo. But. Yesterday he ran around jumping all over like he does when he poos. Which he hasn't done for awhile. So. Hopefully that's a positive start.
 

Cloudk

Member
Original Poster
No poo still. I was wondering something. When he was young we fed him fluker pellets, sometimes silkworms, and lettuce, and he pooed easily two or three times a week. Even though its not optimum. Should i go back to pellets? I was thinking adding various organic baby foods to the pellets to make them healthier. Apparently the fresh foods diet doesn't work for his tummy. So. Whats your opinion? Good pellet recommendations? Thanks.
 

Goonie

BD.org Sicko
Retired Moderator
That's because there weren't as much fiber in his diet, and the silkworms and lettuce both have high water content.
Keep giving him oral fluids and baths every day. His system should start fixing itself soon.
 

Matticus

Member
You may also want to try feeding him squash (butternut).

I have read that it is known to assist when they are having this issue.
 
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Mirage came out of brumation on April 26. He was doing great. On May 2 he started acting funny. We just redid his tank, and he keeps going into one of his hides. He just lays there. He shows no intrest in food. HELP!
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