HOUSTON, WE AREN'T POOPING.

[FinleyMW]

Okay, I've had her nearly a week and Astoria just isn't pooping. She eats superworms and right now her veggies and fruit of choice are kale and apple. I rescued her from a friend's daughter, she couldn't keep her so I've been thrown into this world. I'm going to give her a nice warm bath later this morning and massage her belly for a while, I've been told they like to poop in the bath so perhaps that will work? Her new bathing schedule is Tuesdays and Thursdays but I had to help someone to move to hospice yesterday so her bath will be today. If she doesn't poop in the bath, what do I do?

Someone please help, I've fallen in love with this creature.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, how old is she ? This is very common, especially in adult dragons. A week is not really that long but to help thinks along you can offer unsweetened applesauce, canned pumpkin , baby food squas or prunes along with a few drops of veg. oil.

Try not to worry, they always go.

And can you post pics of Astoria as well as her set up ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload pics

 

[FinleyMW]

Her set up is pretty crappy, she's six years old and I'm assuming has lived here all her life? I have an empty cichlid tank full of rocks that had never been used so I added them but until August 1st (I'm on disability) she lives here in this big makeshift wooden terrarium:

Shes getting this on the first: http://www.petsmart.ca/reptile/habitats-and-decor/terrariums/national-geographicandtrade-reptile-desert-kit-27781.html
She is also obese. How do you help a beardie lose weight?

 

[JessPets]

First off, thank you for rescuing Astoria! I'm sure she will have a much better life with you

BUT, some things do need to be changed around. For starters, replace the sand at the bottom with a non-partical substrate like paper towels, non-ahesive shelf liner, slate tile, or newspaper to help lessen the chance of impaction. Next, get a good RI temp gun to help get accurite temperatures in his backing spot, warm side, and cool side. I see a heat rock in there - is it plugged in? Heat rocks are notorious for creating dangerous hot spots that can potentially burn your dragon. You can keep the rock in there, just don't have it turned on. What UV light do you have? This is critical. You need a ReptiSun (or arcadia) 10.0 t5 or t8 (the t5 is better). Without this she will develop MBD, or metabolic bone disease.

Feeding: A few things need to be adjusted here too. Superworms should only be fed as a treat, as they are quite fatty. Try crickets, dubias, silkworms, hornworms, or BSFL (black solider fly larvae). At 6 years old, she should only be fed bugs a couple times a week, with greens and veggies being fed everyday. Kale and apple shouldn't be fed everyday either, so try some of the foods on this list: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Hope this helped! And if you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

 

[EllenD]

I'll write more later, I'm in a hurry, but the very first thing you need to do is buy an adequate UVB light tube and fixture. In the US the Reptisun 10.0 tube is really the only adequate UVB light for beardies. You can buy an 18" flourescent tube fixture at Walmart for$10, but the Reptisun 10.0 (not a 5.0, that's for tropical reptiles only) 18" costs $37 at Petco, or if you get them to price match their online price it's only $27. No compact or coil UVB bulbs, only long, flourescent UVB tubes, as the compact and coil UVB bulbs that are said to be for beardies are not adequate, they cause horrible eye damage, and do not give off the correct wavelength nor strength of UVB light. Without a proper UVB tube light, he will not be able to process any nutrition, including his calcium, and he will eventually lose all appetite, develop MBD, and die. So this should be step #1 through 10, it's that important.

Next is getting his 3 temperature zones within his tank correct, without proper temperatures he cannot digest any food, amongst other issues. And the sand needs to go immediately, only solid substrates like paper towels, tiles, reptile carpeting, etc.

 

[FinleyMW]

THERE IS A GOD AND HE'S COME IN THE FORM OF A CHEQUE THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE SENT TO ME THAT I'M GOING TO DEPOSIT ANYWAYS. IM EITHER BUYING HER NEW STUFF TODAY OR ORDERING IT. MY NEW (old) BABY IS FINALLY GOING TO BE LIVING THE WAY SHE'S BEEN MEANT TO LIVE FOR THE PAST 6 YEARS. I'm so excited to offer this beardie what she needs for the remainder of her life.

 

[JessPets]

Yay! I am so happy for you and Astoria! You are such an amazing beardie parent!

 

[kingofnobbys]

THERE IS A GOD AND HE'S COME IN THE FORM OF A CHEQUE THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE SENT TO ME THAT I'M GOING TO DEPOSIT ANYWAYS. IM EITHER BUYING HER NEW STUFF TODAY OR ORDERING IT. MY NEW (old) BABY IS FINALLY GOING TO BE LIVING THE WAY SHE'S BEEN MEANT TO LIVE FOR THE PAST 6 YEARS. I'm so excited to offer this beardie what she needs for the remainder of her life.

Oh no !!! Please don't do that .... if the cheque was not meant to be sent to you and you deposit in your account , that's a serious crime , if you spend the money that's even worse , the banks take a very dim view of that and take very strong actions when people do it. You will be in serious trouble with the cops as a result. Best to either send the cheque back to the sender or hand it in at your nearest bank branch (it becomes their problem).

first task = get rid of the sand .

 

[FinleyMW]

Lol, it was addressed to me, they just sent accidental money. I'm on disability so they'll just take a little off each cheque until it's paid off. My animals do not deserve to suffer because of capitalism, I can deal with slightly less money monthly for the next bit. She needed this terribly.

OKAY: NEW DIGS:

 

[Permutation]

That's better, did you get a mercury vapor bulb? Normal heat lights don't produce any uvb, he can go out in the sun for now if its summer where you are as a stop gap measure.

I'm glad you got him, he will be much happier

 

[EllenD]

Looks good, except there's no long, tube UVB bulb. So either one of the two compact or coil bulbs you have on top of the mesh has to be a mercury vapor bulb, or you bought an inadequate compact or coil UVB bulb. If you did not buy another a Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube or an Arcadia 12% tube (which you didn't) or a very expensive mercury vapor bulb, you got a UVB bulb that most likely does not give off the proper strength or wavelength UVB light for a beardie, and if it's a coil bulb you need to turn it off immediately because it can really hurt her eyes. You'll know if you bought a mercury vapor bulb because one bulb costs almost $100...Also, if you bought a compact or coil UVB bulb not only is it too weak to begin with, but the mesh lid is blocking what little UVB the bulb is emitting. This really needs to be corrected, I can't stress this enough, without an appropriate UVB light your beardie cannot digest or process nutrition, she can't absorb any Calcium at all, and she cannot make any vitamin D3. This is the main reason that most beardies have calcium deficiencies which result in MBD, paralysis, and death.

 

[FinleyMW]

Looks good, except there's no long, tube UVB bulb. So either one of the two compact or coil bulbs you have on top of the mesh has to be a mercury vapor bulb, or you bought an inadequate compact or coil UVB bulb. If you did not buy another a Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube or an Arcadia 12% tube (which you didn't) or a very expensive mercury vapor bulb, you got a UVB bulb that most likely does not give off the proper strength or wavelength UVB light for a beardie, and if it's a coil bulb you need to turn it off immediately because it can really hurt her eyes. You'll know if you bought a mercury vapor bulb because one bulb costs almost $100...Also, if you bought a compact or coil UVB bulb not only is it too weak to begin with, but the mesh lid is blocking what little UVB the bulb is emitting. This really needs to be corrected, I can't stress this enough, without an appropriate UVB light your beardie cannot digest or process nutrition, she can't absorb any Calcium at all, and she cannot make any vitamin D3. This is the main reason that most beardies have calcium deficiencies which result in MBD, paralysis, and death.

I have a little card that measures UVB and it says that where it is currently, is exactly where she needs it to be?

 

[FinleyMW]

She FINALLY pooped in the bath. It was huge and the solid part was as long as her leg. I was curious as to what was in it so I examined it and her diet before coming to me just sucked. She was so constipated, another day and I'd have had to take her to the vet, she struggled so much to get rid of it all and it broke my heart. I just rubbed her belly and poured water over top of her and she finally got rid of the huge solid bit and then was able to get rid of the stuff backed up. It was a HUGE poop and I bet she feels like a new woman.

 

[Permutation]

Hah, ya ours will run around afterwards like they've never felt so free in their lives. I'm really happy for you that it pooped, we've felt the concern as many have of a beardy not pooping. Like I've said before, they can go a long time without pooping, and Fritz won't poop in his tank, just refuses, he likes to do it outside, all of our other guys have never had an issue with it, they are all unique. He's also the only one we've had as a baby, might have something to do with it.

Your going to be a good beardy owner . I always say one more saved is a victory for all of us owners who love these guys.