Impaction???

[sammyluwho]

Hello all! My 6 month old beardie, Draco, is a happy and healthy dragon! However, every once in a while he will have a spell in which he gets very lethargic. He will just lie in the corner flat on his stomach and not get on his perch or anything (very unusual for him.) I never let this go on for more than a day. I put him in a bath and he goes to the bathroom, then seems to feel much better afterwards. This just happened today, and after coming out of the bath he is perched and feeling great.

My question is: is he on the brink of getting impacted when this is occurring? Or is the bath/bowel movement just a coincidence? Could he be getting dehydrated. I have the right temps and lamps (not a coil), and use reptile target so no sand substrate. He eats crickets as his staple, sometimes superworms, turnip greens, and squash. I know he's healthy, but he just looks like he doesn't feel so good sometimes, and I want to help prevent that. Suggestions?

 

[brittani299]

Hello . What brand of UVB is it? It could be that he is used to going to the bathroom in the bath. You can give more baths. You can bath 2-3 times a week that's ok. I would do that and see of that helps him.

 

[sammyluwho]

He has the Reptisun 10.0 tube. He has no problems going in his cage usually. Just every once in awhile he gets kinda stopped up, it seems. And it obviously makes him feel yucky. He HATES baths, but I may just try to do it more anyway. So you think he's getting a touch impacted?

 

[brittani299]

Maybe. He is too young for brumation. I am not really sure why he is doing that.

 

[Taterbug]

It does sound like he is uncomfortable from the poo. Have you noticed anything in common with the times he acts like that, like not pooping for a few days, or only after eating super worms? Is he big enough for supers? When he gets stopped up like that, how is the poo that comes out? Is the white part mooshy or more hard and chalky?

The warm water and stimulation really has an effect on them that helps them go. How often do you bathe him and what is the bath like (location, depth etc)?

 

[sammyluwho]

I've never really noticed anything out of the ordinary when it happens. Definitely not related to the superworms because I only feed those occasionally, and he had not had any before this occurred. Usually he will skip a day of pooping, then the next day he will be acting this way. Though, it's not unusual for him to go to the bathroom every other day. He is a big boy (especially for his age, I think) and eats/digests the supers just fine.

When it comes out, it looks pretty normal. Mushy, but just seems like there's A LOT of it. I KNOW I don't bathe him enough, only because he hates it so much. I usually do a long soak every 2 weeks (sometimes more like every week, depending on if he seems stopped up.) I put him in the kitchen sink with enough warm water to cover up the base of his tail. He doesn't always go to the bathroom in it, but he always does when he has spent the day acting sick.

 

[Taterbug]

Poor guy, I wouldn't worry too much, if it's only a day or two between poos. I think about the only thing you could check is to get a fecal test run to see of he has any parasites running him down.

A few ideas to help him like baths or at least tolerate them better.

I use a sterilize shoe box, it's getting too small but I'll probably upgrade to something similar. It clear and I think pepper likes to be able to see out. I've tried the tub and bathroom sink and he struggles a lot more than in the box. Plus, I can just dump the nasty water in the toilet when we are done.

You can also out down a hand towel in the water for him to grab, or even a rock or stick, just something to feel secure with.

We've reached a compromise on the "don't wanna bath" days.

Good luck with the baths

 

[sammyluwho]

Thank you for the suggestions! I will try that. Like I said, I figured it was nothing to fret over too much, but I just don't want him to feel icky if I can avoid it. And I didn't want it to be a small problem that turned into a big one. I don't think it would be a bad idea to get a fecal test on him, since I got him from Petsmart, so I'll start looking for a herp vet.