My beardie, Smokey, is most likely suffering from impaction. He has always had a sensitive digestive system, and been prone to constipation, but generally a warm bath will do the trick. He has not pooped in about a month now, and yesterday in one of his baths while massaging his stomach I noticed a hard lump. It did not seem to be causing any pain, but is likely what's preventing his pooping. I gave him some canned pumpkin with a few drops of vegetable oil after. Today, in another warm bath, I massaged the lump towards the vent, but he did not make an effort to expel it. It does move through his digestive track though, which is why I believe it is some sort of impaction. I don't want to harm him by forcing it out, of course. He licked up a few drops of organic olive oil for me while in his bath earlier today, but still no poop. I had been feeding him normally, but I believe I should stop giving him hard foods, so some advice on what types of soft foods I can feed him to keep him healthy and give him all necessary nutrients would be very appreciated. I am planning on picking up some baby food prunes today to try as well.
For a little bit of background, I have no idea how he could have become impacted - the only hard food he receives is crickets - the rest is softer foods like salad ingredients and treats such as hornworms and wax worms. He is on tile as well, no loose substrate. The only thing I can think of is the fact that his basking spot is a log (properly cleaned and treated by previous owner) which I have recently noticed has some of the outer layer peeling up in thin strips. I don't know if he has somehow ingested the wood, but even so, it does not seem like it could be an impaction issue. It is still connected to the log too - looks more like his claws have just scraped it up, or maybe the wood got swollen when I cleaned it and cracked the outer bark layer. Either way, I'm looking into replacing it, but I don't want to just remove it - he needs access to the warmer temperatures for basking.
Right now I am giving him warm baths daily, and trying to mix a little bit of oil into safe, soft foods. Any advice or tricks on how others have gotten their beardies to go poop with an impaction would be so helpful - as would advice on what to feed him to keep him healthy!!
For a little bit of background, I have no idea how he could have become impacted - the only hard food he receives is crickets - the rest is softer foods like salad ingredients and treats such as hornworms and wax worms. He is on tile as well, no loose substrate. The only thing I can think of is the fact that his basking spot is a log (properly cleaned and treated by previous owner) which I have recently noticed has some of the outer layer peeling up in thin strips. I don't know if he has somehow ingested the wood, but even so, it does not seem like it could be an impaction issue. It is still connected to the log too - looks more like his claws have just scraped it up, or maybe the wood got swollen when I cleaned it and cracked the outer bark layer. Either way, I'm looking into replacing it, but I don't want to just remove it - he needs access to the warmer temperatures for basking.
Right now I am giving him warm baths daily, and trying to mix a little bit of oil into safe, soft foods. Any advice or tricks on how others have gotten their beardies to go poop with an impaction would be so helpful - as would advice on what to feed him to keep him healthy!!