Constipated?

[Igneusthelizard]

Lately my baby beardie Iggy has been behaving very sickly. He hasn't seemed to be eating and when offered food he doesn't even look at it. In fact, he completely refuses to open his eyes though I have seen him do it twice in the last two days. To add to this he stays in one spot or nearly the same spot the whole day and night and I am beginning to be concerned that he isn't drinking either seeing he isn't moving. I have a water dish filled with water and I know he drinks from it normally without any issues. I wasn't sure what the problem might be until today I noticed some...poop....sticking out of his butt and it seems like he is constipated.

I have no idea what to do for this. I put him on the warm side of the tank and I have been debating whether or not I should give him a bath to try to help his constipation but I'm afraid to do this since he is acting like a ragdoll and I'm afraid he might drown. I'm going to bring him to the vet on Monday because the vets aren't open on the weekends . Does anybody know what might be wrong with him and what I can do to help him until I can get him to the vet?

P.S. Should I have posted this in the ER Forum?

 

[Luthien]

It does sound like he is constipated. First we have to deal with how to cure this. Giving him a bath is good, keep your hand under him (to prevent drowning) and gently massage his stomach and the top of the base of his tail, make the motion towards his vent (tail). This should get him to go to the bathroom.

Taking him to the vet would be a good thing as well.

Next we have to deal with what caused this. Check the following:
Temps - Basking spot 100-110F, Cool side 75-85F. Do you have a UVB source?
Substrate - No sand! Make sure you have a hard substrate such as tiles, reptile carper, newspaper
Diet - No meal worms! He needs dubious, crickets, veggies, calcium and vitamins

 

[RaptorTheBeardie]

Im sorry to counter the above post, but do not put your hand under him when bathing. Them trying to escape the sink bowl by swimming stimulates their fecal movement and in turn they will poop. Make sure the water is luke warm and keep him in there for 15-20 mins. As long as he is fat and puffed up, he has air in him and can breathe even if he is underwater. If he unpuffs underwater, take him out, dry him, and putt him under the lamp immediately. Hope this helps!

 

[Igneusthelizard]

First of all I would like to thank you guys for the help! I managed to find a vet that could take a look at him and he said he was indeed constipated and a little underweight since he hasn't been eating. He gave me some protein powder to give to him to get help get some weight back on him and he suggested I do the same thing that you guys told me to do with the bath. So I have done both and I have succeeded in helping him poop when he was in the bath.

Still though, in case anything else might be wrong I'll explain his tank conditions.

Temps - Basking spot 100-110F, Cool side 75-85F. Do you have a UVB source? His temperatures are correct and he does have a UVB source.
Substrate - No sand! Make sure you have a hard substrate such as tiles, reptile carper, newspaper For his whole tank I use paper towel which I change every so often.
Diet - No meal worms! He needs dubious, crickets, veggies, calcium and vitamins Normally I feed him crickets and phoenix worms while I also try to include collard and turnip greens with the occasional piece of strawberry. He has yet to eat any greens but on only one occasion have I managed to entice him to eat a bit of strawberry.

Right now besides the protein powder he still isn't eating much except for a couple of phoenix worms. He is starting to feel better and is walking around his tank more but does anybody know any types of food that he might be more attracted to or willing to eat?

 

[RaptorTheBeardie]

I dint know what wiuld make him eat more. I suggest just keep trying. If hes hungry then he will eat. If hes not, he wont eat. Phoenix worms are good for him and crickets should be staple. On second thought, try some silkworms. My beardies ALWAYS eat those things. Hope you hear nomnom noises from your beardie soon!

 

[Claudiusx]

You mentioned the temps are right and you have a uvb source. But can you be more specific?

Specific temps of the basking SURFACE, hot side, and cool side would be nice.
What type of uvb bulb and how old is it?

How often do you dust with calcium/vitamins?

Do you bath him often or not?

Glad you got him to poo.

Curiously, what is the protein powder that the vet gave you? Carnivore Care?

-Brandon

 

[Igneusthelizard]

Sorry if I wasn't specific enough before.

Specific temps of the basking SURFACE, hot side, and cool side would be nice. Around his basking rock on the hot side it is about 98-105 F (Though I usually manage to keep it over 100) and the cool side is about 75-86 F

What type of uvb bulb and how old is it? I have a Reptisun 10 which is about half a year old.

How often do you dust with calcium/vitamins? Usually I dust all of his food with calcium daily but I haven't really looked into vitamins.

Do you bath him often or not? I bath him about once a week.

Glad you got him to poo.

Curiously, what is the protein powder that the vet gave you? Carnivore Care? Honestly I'm not sure on that one but I think it's something similar to that.

 

[Beardednoob]

Sorry if I wasn't specific enough before.

Specific temps of the basking SURFACE, hot side, and cool side would be nice. Around his basking rock on the hot side it is about 98-105 F (Though I usually manage to keep it over 100) and the cool side is about 75-86 F

What type of uvb bulb and how old is it? I have a Reptisun 10 which is about half a year old.

How often do you dust with calcium/vitamins? Usually I dust all of his food with calcium daily but I haven't really looked into vitamins.

Do you bath him often or not? I bath him about once a week.

Glad you got him to poo.

Curiously, what is the protein powder that the vet gave you? Carnivore Care? Honestly I'm not sure on that one but I think it's something similar to that.

Up the baths from once to 2-3 times a week. What salad items are being fed? Does the dragon eat it's salad? Time to change the UV light (although the bulb says 1 year, you should change every 6 months, by the 6 month mark the light is putting out 50% of UV as it was when it was new. How old is this dragon?

 

[Igneusthelizard]

I'll give him baths more frequently and I'll get a new UV light. As for how much salad he eats....well pretty much none, but I keep trying to encourage him to eat some. Iggy is only around 2-3 months old so I have been crediting his lack of interest in vegetables to his young age.

 

[Beardednoob]

I'll give him baths more frequently and I'll get a new UV light. As for how much salad he eats....well pretty much none, but I keep trying to encourage him to eat some. Iggy is only around 2-3 months old so I have been crediting his lack of interest in vegetables to his young age.

With the age of the dragon, I would agree. This is why it is suggested to give younger dragons more frequent bathing over adult dragons. Please let us know of anything new or how Iggy is doing tomorrow or the next day.

 

[Igneusthelizard]

Today Iggy has been showing some signs of improvement such as more poops for me to clean up (sigh more work to do...jk) and he has brighter coloration. He is even interested in his phoenix worms again! However he still is keeping his eyes closed and this worries me as I know this can't be good so I was wondering if anyone knows anything about how I can get help him.

 

[Beardednoob]

Today Iggy has been showing some signs of improvement such as more poops for me to clean up (sigh more work to do...jk) and he has brighter coloration. He is even interested in his phoenix worms again! However he still is keeping his eyes closed and this worries me as I know this can't be good so I was wondering if anyone knows anything about how I can get help him.

Can you please provide a picture of the dragons setup? (detailed)

 

[Igneusthelizard]

I would but my camera's not working right now and my cell phone pictures are really low quality, but if you want I could probably get some pictures from that on here.

 

[Beardednoob]

I would but my camera's not working right now and my cell phone pictures are really low quality, but if you want I could probably get some pictures from that on here.

Anything can help.

 

[Igneusthelizard]

There's no need anymore since Iggy has died. Thanks all of you guys for your help.