Diarrhea

[03sinclairp]

My beardie had a dose of the squits 2day and the only thing that has changes is the size of the crix im feeding him he still eats a few meals worms aday to go with this and he eats the odd bit of fruit and veg not much tho. Is this bad or do they always have a dose every now and then.

cheers

 

[irishanaconda]

u feeding him lettuce?

 

[03sinclairp]

nope

 

[Drache613]

Hello,
We need more information from you please.
What types of foods are you feeding him? You mentioned fruits, what types of fruits, & how often do you feed fruits to him? Do you feed any other feeders besides mealworms?
What type of substrate are you using?
What are the temps in the tank, & what do you use to measure them with?
How is he doing today?

Tracie

 

[03sinclairp]

ok no only mealworms and crickets he gets the odd darkling beatle that the meal worms have changed into. iv only had him just over a week he has eaton a grape or two half a tomatoe n some collyflour leaves and a couple of dandylions. i offer the veg n fruit everyday but he normally only eats it once every 2 or 3 days he a pain for it. the temp at the hot end is at 97 degrease that measured with a prob leading to a digital thermometer and in the cool end it is between 85 and 90 n that is mesured with one of those crap exo-terra round things lol. I use sand for the substrate i now every1 sais its bad but its attractive and easy to clean and i dont really now of much else if there is a alternative thats atractive and easy to clean let me know it was today that he had this one dose of diarhea about 3 hours earlyer he had done a regular poo at the moment he is asleep im using a red basking light at the moment im planning on changing it but would this have any effect and my thermostat is one that turnes it off when it gets to the desired temp does this matter or do i need a thermostat from exo terra that keeps the light on all the time but keeps it at the temp by dimming it

cheers

 

[03sinclairp]

he has now done 3 poos 2day when he normally does 1 and the last 2 were a bit on the runny side has he just got an upset tummy?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I would cut out the fruit daily. They just need fruit a few times per week, as too much sugar can give them diarrhea.
Tomatoe, & cauliflower are not recommended feeding items, either. Go to http://www.beautifuldragons.com & click on the nutritional link for more feeding ideas.
Right now, stick with mustard & collard greens, & squash varieties or bell pepper varieties. Also, too many mealies will upset the tummy as well. Do not use them as a staple on a daily basis. A couple of times a week you can feed a few just not every day they are too fatty & hard to digest for them.
What are you measuring the temps with a digital probe on the basking side? What is it directly underneath the basking side? Recommended basking temps are 95-110 & the cooler end around 78-82.
Some good alternative for substrate are non adhesive shelf liner, tiles, or paper towels.

Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[03sinclairp]

ok i think i might of had a break thu since he has had the squits i have noticed that he has been very slow and dopy and that he is not basking under his lamp just staying in the cooler end on his logg staring at the uv, so i have moved his hut under the basking light and placed him on it and iv noticed a massive improvment he is alot more active and livly so i will just have to wat till the next poo.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How close is he to the basking light & the UVB? He needs to be within 6-8 inches for maximum UVB absorption & heating for him. Perhaps he has not been getting warm enough?
How is he doing this evening?

Tracie

 

[03sinclairp]

he can get as close as he wants within about 4 inches of it at max but he just isnt spending time under the heat lamp just the uv

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Well, 4 inches is too close to any light. You will want to move it to at least 6 inches. The basking light needs to be placed directly beside the UVB light to protect the eyes.
What type & brand of UVB are you using, is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light? I need a specific brand, please.
How is he doing today, any improvements?



Tracie

 

[03sinclairp]

i mean normally he is about 8 to 6 inch away but if he wanted to to he could get closer but he doesnt the heat lamp is a red 1 100 watt thats on a thermostat that turnes it on and off to keep the temp it gets anoying and i want to change it to 1 that keeps it on all the time and keeps it at the temp by dimming it but i dont no if there is any point and the uv is a repti-glo 10.0 6 days old. Well today i havnt really been able to keep an eye on him but he was up and about when i got up around 8 he didnt eat any cricks but the ones i had left for him i think are 2 big so he just ignores them going to get some smal ones 2morrow morning so ye he had mealworms 2day he didnt eat any veg he ate 1 dandylion out of about 6 but he seems alot more lively he has had a few outbreaks of very crazy behavoir running up and down his tank but he hasnt done a poo 2day so will have to wait. But since the beginning of having him iv had poo probs with him first he didnt poo for about 3 dayws then was ok then the diarrhea now a long pause 2 days or so

 

[diamc]

As Tracie mentioned, it sounds like the fruit is at least part of the diarrhea problem. I would certainly hold off on all fruit to see if his pooping consistency straightens out.

How old is your beardie and what size tank is he in? How long have you had him? They do much better under bright white basking bulbs so removing the red one would be a good idea. The colored bulbs are hard on their eyes too and that may be one reason why he is trying to avoid it.

It's really not a good idea to have the lights turning on & off. You said you have a digital thermometer with a probe on the end? If so, are you laying the probe end so that it is resting on the basking surface, waiting about 45 min for the temp to stop rising before you get the final basking temp? So, your cool side is reading between 85 and 90? That's really too high but the round gauge thermometers can be off as much as 20 degrees. It's very important to have accurate temps and the cool side temp needs to be within the 78 to 82 range so that he can thermoregulate properly. I suspect you're using a 10 or 15 gallon tank, is that right?

How do you hydrate him, with baths (how often), misting or giving drinks on his nose for him to lick off?

Are you using calcium and vitamin supplements? What brand and how often?

The sand really isn't a good idea because it's impossible to clean up all the poo, especially when it's diarrhea and can cause bacteria to grow. Since your beardie is licking a lot, he has to be ingesting some sand, it's impossible to watch him every minute. He is probably ingesting some when he is trying to eat his crickets & other live food. Mealworms really aren't a good feeder due to their chitin shell and can also cause impaction as well as feeding crickets larger than the space between his eyes. It would be much safer to remove the sand & even replace with papertowels for now.

So, you're using a Repti-Glo 10.0 bulb? Is it a compact, coil or strip fluorescent bulb? It's very important that we know this. How close is he to this UVB bulb?

As soon as you fill us in on the rest of the answers, we can help further.

 

[03sinclairp]

ok wow that alot of info to take in. on the box of the uv lamp it doesnt say what is it but i have the idea its a floresant since it needs a starter and it clickers alittle it is also 33% Uva he can get about 7 inches from that and spends all his time there not under the basking lamp. He or she not sure is about 8-9 weeks now i think. i dont now what the conversion is for the tank in gallen all i know it is 3ft long 1 and a half tall and 1.3 deep. Ill get the light colour changed and get a propper thermostat so the light stays on. Iv never mesured the actual basking spot directly under the light i just now at the end with the bulb it is usally 95-97 degrees and the cool end is around the 80 mark according to that round thing this is the end the dragon spends most of his time at the colder end. I have stopped gving him fruit and veg for now to see if anything happens. Iv been teaching the chap to drink from his bowl as he never drinks at all if i dont and i have also been bathing him and dripping it on his nose but he does not drink when being bathed. Im not using the calcium and vitamin supps at the moment because the last type i perchased he would not eat the crickets dusted in it but i carnt remember the name of it i would only recognise it but im making an effort to go to the pet shop tomorrow to get a new brand.

i think thats everything

cheers

 

[diamc]

Yeah, I know, it is a lot of info. :wink: Ok, does sound like a strip fluorescent then, must be in a holder at least 18" long. Unfortunately, there have been some problems with the Repti-Glo 10.0 fluorescent. The safest way to use them is to have them no closer than 10" from your beardie, use it right alongside the basking bulb & to make sure you are using a bright white bulb to help with possible eye damage. For now, I suggest you remove the red lightbulb and can even replace with a standard household lightbulb. Since you don't really know what the temps are, it's hard to say if you should use a 100 watt or 75 watt. Does your one thermometer look anything like this?

To get an accurate reading, you need to have a digital with the long wire & probe on the end. And test the basking temp this way lay the probe end so that it is resting on the basking surface, wait about 45 min for the temp to stop rising before you get the final basking temp and then do the same thing on the cool side. If you buy one like the one in the picture, you can get the basking temp & cool side temp at the same time by placing the thermometer part on the cool side while the probe is leaning on the basking area. Then the "out" reading would be the basking temp & the "in" reading would be the cool side. You can get a thermometer like this at Walmart for about $12.00 and it's the AcuRite brand. It's very possible that he is overheating in the basking area and that's why he's not laying there but if he doesn't bask, that is not good at all, so be sure to get the accurate readings asap.

So, your beardie is very young at only 8 or 9 wks so it's important that you dust with calcium with D3 but phosphorus-free 5 days a wk, 1 feeding a day and with vitamins the other 2 days a wk, 1 feeding a day. Most of us use the Rep-Cal brand calcium & vitamins, the vitamins are called Herptivite. They are quite cheap.

It's good that you've been giving baths, make sure that you put a cloth down in the bottom of sink or container so he has something to hold on to & that his vent (where he poos) is right down in the water for about 15 min. That will help in case he has an impaction and even though he seems like he has diarrhea, he may have a blockage of sand or mealworms preventing the normal poo from coming out, so a bath & increased fluids will help that. I would still offer the greens from the beautifuldragons site that Tracie gave you.

Make sure to get the right sized crickets, he needs lots at his age since he needs the protein to help him grow. Some babies can eat 30 to 100 crickets a day & should be fed those 2 to 3 times a day, all he can eat in about a 10 to 15 min timeframe each time.

I think that's it for now, let me know if you have any questions & be sure to keep us updated.