HUGELY bloated!

[momof2boys]

Okay so papi was cleared to try some superworms by the vet. he's six months old and his body is quite long, but he has a very short stub tail so it's hard to say if he'd be 16 inches. Anyway he had one worm Saturday, two Sunday and on Monday he had three. Tuesday he had four or five. You get the picture. He's pooped twice each day (which he did before), HUGE poops! He also had some crix and lots of salad.

yesterday he pooed only once, today one big one one small. But he is HUUUGELY bloated! He looks like a giant daddy bullfrog in the belly. His beard isn't puffed up. He's just enormous in the belly, somewhat lumpy.

What's the deal? If he pooped twice he's not impacted, right? He looks like he's gonna pop.

What do I do??? I"m really worried?

 

[Embee]

Hi there,

Good that he's pooped, but all the same, I'd get him into a warm bath right away. Additionally, you can rub his belly in a downward motion on the right side, from armpit to vent, while he's soaking. See if he doesn't have a bit more too poop out. Give him a good solid 20 minutes in the warm bath and see if that doesn't help a bit with the bloating. I know our girl will sometimes poop in the am, but if she's eaten a lot over a few days times, she'll often go again in the bath in the afternoon, quite substantially so.

Keep us posted!

Em

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

So he is 6 months of age? I would be cautious about feeding too many superworms just yet.
The problem is not so much the length that dictates feeding of superworms though that is a primary reason. However, I am not in total agreement with feeding them as staples at 6 months. The reason is that at that age, their intestines are still somewhat curved which makes it harder for them to pass larger items through. Their intestines do not begin to straighten out until they are around 1 year or so. Adults are much less prone to getting impactions than babies & juvies are though they can still become impacted for various reasons.
Did he eat anything else with the superworms? How did the stool look? Did it appear that everything was mostly digested or were there undigested parts in the stool?


Tracie

 

[momof2boys]

Hi Tracie

These are good thoughts, and I agree as I've been thinking those superworms are gnarley. The vet said he could be anywhere from 6 mos to 1 year. Many things about the pet store where we bought him were wrong, so he was probably not raised right and may be undersized anyway. So his poops are back on track now, and what they look like is clearish liquid, white urate solids, and black turd logs (sorry). Sometimes the logs are more solid than others, but now that he's been dewormed (that's how you'd say it in a dog, don't know how to say it in lizard), his bms are mostly pretty formed when before they were sort of liek diarrhea. Sometimes there are fibrous things in them, and every once in a while there are bits that look like shell. But mostly they jsut look like turds!

I have NO idea how many worms he should be getting, and a good reptile store guy told me that worms as the main protein source have too much fat esp for young guys, and it can stress the liver. But he thinks they're fine if secondary to crix and of course salad.

If I let Papi eat as many worms as he wanted in ten minutes, he would probably eat 100. Though of course I have no idea. I've always stopped at 5... And that seemed like way too much. I think instead I"ll be giving him two worms before each feeding of crix. He's on two feeds a day still bc he is so tiny and the vet wants to fatten him up before she takes a bit of tail off that's necrotic!

Any thoughts on how many is too many or is it mostly based on how healthy the poops are.

My husband thinks I"m the craziest woman being on this forum about the lizard. But taking care of this lizard is honestly harder than taking care of the dogs because dog care is just so straightforward and well-studied!!

 

[zebraflavencs]

Tell your husband that we are ALL that way, so you aren't alone, nor are you crazy !
That said, perhaps you should invest in some silk worms and some phoenix worms ( no calcium needed on the pw's they come naturally packed with their own !).

I would indeed hold off on the supers, as was mentioned above, they can cause all sorts of problems with dragons too young to pass them.

Also for staple insects, you can use crix, or roaches ! I personally have never fed anything other than roaches to my 3 and they are healthy, active and pigs ! lol

Hope this helps out, !
Welcome to our Family !
Janie.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Well, for instance, if he is closer to 1 year, you can start to cut back on his feeder for his weekly intake if you feel his weight it pretty good. Try for 50-70 feeders per week if he still needs some weight, but focus on greens & veggies now too since he is not growing like he was when he was a little tike.
As adults, it is recommended to stay at 50 or under feeders per week. IF you use superworms as a sole staple, I normally suggest sticking with around 30 or so per week with greens & veggies. If you want to mix it up, then do half supers & half roaches or crickets or another type of worm perhaps.
Right now though, I would maybe wait on the supers awhile longer until he is a little bigger if he is having some trouble passing them. Or just try throwing a few in here & there with other things for awhile.
If adults are fed too many feeders or higher fat protein items as they get older it does increase their risk of fatty liver disease.


Tracie