How Much Out of Enclosure time is recommended?

[felixandfideaux]

I have a 3 year old beardie female living in a 40gallon breeder aquarium. Her temps are 100 at the basking spot and in the 80's in the cooler areas. She spends most of her time laying in the basking spot. She has had problems with constipation her whole life. She has been to the vet many, many times. She is on calcium glucobionate now to stimulate her bowels, but she rarely goes on her own without enemas, baths or calcium. She is that lazy. I have taken her to the vet, and she pretty much goes on her own there from stress without intervention. It is a horrible joke on me.

Needless to say, she is now also overweight. Too many crickets, which has probably not helped the other issue. She is down to about one cricket a day or 2 every other day and has actually gained weight.

I am thinking that maybe more exploring time outside the cage would help. My Philip Purser book says no more than 20 minutes. My beardie doesn't even start to move at 20 minutes. I assume she is afraid or overstimulated from being out of her house. Plus the risk of having a 2 week explod-i- poo everywhere is not very appealing.

Any tips would be appreciated. I have researched getting her a bigger house, but we have our own space limitations, so the extra money, and man hours would only get a few more inches and she would probably not move anywhere anyway and still refuse to "go". Or even worse, die shortly after we invest in all this stuff. Her lifestyle just does not seem real healthy to me, in spite of the vet telling me she is very healthy. Any suggestions would help.

 

[Taterbug]

Dragons sized reptiles can hold their heat for about 20-30 minutes before getting too cool. Your outside cage time will depend on how you can keep her warm/give the opportunity to bask. If you can make a lizard safe area with a basking spot so she can regulate she could be it much longer than if she didn't have any heat. Exercise would definatly be good for her but she may just sit under a light outside her cage too. I give pepper a hotter basking area when he is out to roam so that it encourages him to move and thermoregulate - if the heat is "just right" the lizard has no incentive to move.

Some folks do water therapy, encouraging the dragon to swim in a warm bath to get them moving and even stimulate then to poop. If she tolerates baths well it could be something to try.

How does she get her water? Dehydration can contribute to consitpation.

Is she eating enough greens and veggies? Introducing more fiber or even some laxative foods (Apple, squash) might also help.

Have you tried raising the temps a little bit to 105-110? As long as you can keep the cool side down she may need some more heat to keep things moving. And again it could help her be more motivated to move and thermoregulate.

What uvb Lights do you use?

 

[felixandfideaux]

She gets a bath about once a week.

Her temps are about 84 on the cool side and her basking spot gets up in the 100's as the day goes on. She has a Reptisun 10.0.

Since I have cut back the crickets, a process that has taken place over several months, she has eaten more of the dandelion greens mixed with defrosted unsalted peas, carrots, green beans and lima beans heavy on dandelion greens. Sometimes I mix in arugula. Greens are hard to find around here and even harder to store. She has a bowl of water that is more for show, but she doesn't use.

She doesn't drink the bath water in front of me either. She bathes about once a week.

This is the only pet in the world whose family does the happy dance when she poops.

Poor girl. No its not eggs either. We have xray'ed which also seems to induce pooping. I think the vet really doesn't have anything else. Although she has talked about cleaning her teeth, which they don't really need. She would just like the practice with a healthy lizard if I am open to it. I have to draw the line somewhere, right?

I just have a dud, right!?