Finding whole worms in poop?!

[Kazyrock]

Not sure how serious this is. So, I have a bit of a problem with Martys poop
He is about a year and two months and has a good diet of crickets daily, with some SUperworms, waxworms, hornworms, silkworms and butterworms. He also gets fresh salad. Dubias are illegal where I live. He gets calcium plus D3 on all his salad and crickets 3x a week as well as a multivitamin once a week with the salad. He has the powersun UVA/UVB with heat and we have never had a problem with it. It is 4 and a half months old. He also has a ceramic heater. His basking temperature is 105 degrees and his cool side is about 78-80 degrees in the day. At night his tank is about 70-80 degrees. This morning I fed him 5 waxworms (trying to fatten him up, I usually give him about 2) and 10 large crickets. He hadn't pooped yet, so after he was done eating I let him be and got ready for school. I came down about 30 minutes later to see he pooped in his water dish. I'm his poop were some undigested cricket heads (not bodies) as well as what looked to be a waxworm. It was in one piece and looked completely normal. Should I get him checked out by a vet (we have one about 20 minutes away) or is this ok?
Thanks so much!!

 

[timisimaginary]

Not sure how serious this is. So, I have a bit of a problem with Martys poop
He is about a year and two months and has a good diet of crickets daily, with some SUperworms, waxworms, hornworms, silkworms and butterworms. He also gets fresh salad. Dubias are illegal where I live. He gets calcium plus D3 on all his salad and crickets 3x a week as well as a multivitamin once a week with the salad. He has the powersun UVA/UVB with heat and we have never had a problem with it. It is 4 and a half months old. He also has a ceramic heater. His basking temperature is 105 degrees and his cool side is about 78-80 degrees in the day. At night his tank is about 70-80 degrees. This morning I fed him 5 waxworms (trying to fatten him up, I usually give him about 2) and 10 large crickets. He hadn't pooped yet, so after he was done eating I let him be and got ready for school. I came down about 30 minutes later to see he pooped in his water dish. I'm his poop were some undigested cricket heads (not bodies) as well as what looked to be a waxworm. It was in one piece and looked completely normal. Should I get him checked out by a vet (we have one about 20 minutes away) or is this ok?
Thanks so much!!

i wouldn't worry about it yet unless it becomes a recurring issue. small worms like waxworms and phoenix worms sometimes make it through the digestive tract undigested, especially if they haven't been chewed up enough. 30 minutes isn't long enough to fully digest a meal, it usually takes 1-2 hours, so he probably just tried to poop too soon after eating and pushed it all the way through. J.J. once pooped (or regurgitated, not sure which since i wasn't home at the time) a full-sized adult hornworm. that couldn't have been pleasant, whichever end it came out of, but after watching him closely a couple days, and then eventually resuming feeding hornworms, it hasn't happened since.

 

[Kazyrock]

Not sure how serious this is. So, I have

i wouldn't worry about it yet unless it becomes a recurring issue. small worms like waxworms and phoenix worms sometimes make it through the digestive tract undigested, especially if they haven't been chewed up enough. 30 minutes isn't long enough to fully digest a meal, it usually takes 1-2 hours, so he probably just tried to poop too soon after eating and pushed it all the way through. J.J. once pooped (or regurgitated, not sure which since i wasn't home at the time) a full-sized adult hornworm. that couldn't have been pleasant, whichever end it came out of, but after watching him closely a couple days, and then eventually resuming feeding hornworms, it hasn't happened since.

What about the cricket heads? Is that normal?

 

[jarich]

Well, it takes quite a bit longer than an hour or two for it to pass through your dragon. The mealworm and cricket parts would be from his previous meal(s). I would guess that the mealworm was probably digested internally but that the hard exoskeleton was left intact. Not an issue really, and shouldnt be anything to worry about. Its one of the reasons why mealworms arent an awesome source of nutrition. It takes quite a while for the enzymes to break down the tightly packed proteins of the exoskeleton. In a good enclosure with a nice basking area and room for the animal to move about, the movement of the bolus is sometimes too quick for the total breakdown of the hardest bits.

 

[timisimaginary]

but it was a waxworm, not a mealworm. but yeah, the undigested bits aren't really a concern unless they begin occurring on a regular basis.

 

[Taterbug]

As jarich explained some bits are harder to digest (think corn for people). Undigested cricket parts like legs, worm shells and so forth are not uncommon. Are your basking temps good and is the dragon basking enough after meals?
It likely takes between 12-72 hours for things to go through so the parts could be from a meal a few days ago.

I think there must be something about the skin on larvae (wax, bsfl etc) that makes them less digestible if swallowed whole. That's just speculation on my part.

 

[jarich]

but it was a waxworm, not a mealworm. but yeah, the undigested bits aren't really a concern unless they begin occurring on a regular basis.

Oops, sorry about that, was apparently reading too quickly. Same basic principle though. Incidentally, why the desire to 'fatten up' your dragon? Normally its a problem the other way.

As Taterbug said, normal digestion time is about 30 hours, though heat and age will play a part in how quickly it happens.

 

[Kazyrock]

but it was a waxworm, not a mealworm. but yeah, the undigested bits aren't really a concern unless they begin occurring on a regular basis.

Oops, sorry about that, was apparently reading too quickly. Same basic principle though. Incidentally, why the desire to 'fatten up' your dragon? Normally its a problem the other way.

As Taterbug said, normal digestion time is about 30 hours, though heat and age will play a part in how quickly it happens.

A trip to the vet office. She said that he was a little underweight, (I don't know how much to trust her though as she sexed him wrong and said he was a girl) just for his age, he was a little thin. Not too bad any more though.

 

[Kazyrock]

As jarich explained some bits are harder to digest (think corn for people). Undigested cricket parts like legs, worm shells and so forth are not uncommon. Are your basking temps good and is the dragon basking enough after meals?
It likely takes between 12-72 hours for things to go through so the parts could be from a meal a few days ago.

I think there must be something about the skin on larvae (wax, bsfl etc) that makes them less digestible if swallowed whole. That's just speculation on my part.

All his basking tempuratures are listed above. There are no other ceicket body parts, I just saw like one head.

 

[Taterbug]

Sorry, I missed that. One head or a leg here or there I wouldn't worry. I see leaves and shells every now and then.