is my beardie impacted?

[beardy98]

She looks and feels rounded and kind of like a balloon she looks stuffed and hasn't pooped in about a week is she impacted?

 

[daner923]

Probably. Give her a slightly deeper and warmer than usual bath and encourage her to swim around, but keep an eye on her so she doesn't drown or aspirate any water. You can also try some olive oil, prune baby food, unspiced canned pumpkin, or applesauce. She may be impacted from something wrong in your set up or husbandry. Would you mind going over your whole set up so we can help you prevent an impaction from occuring again?

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)?
How long are lights on each day?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
What is the night time temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bathe your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

 

[beardy98]

Probably. Give her a slightly deeper and warmer than usual bath and encourage her to swim around, but keep an eye on her so she doesn't drown or aspirate any water. You can also try some olive oil, prune baby food, unspiced canned pumpkin, or applesauce. She may be impacted from something wrong in your set up or husbandry. Would you mind going over your whole set up so we can help you prevent an impaction from occuring again?

How old is your dragon? almost 8 months
How long have you had your dragon? since christmas
How long is your dragon? 12 and a half inches
What is the sex of your dragon? female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40 gallon breeder
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? ground walnut shells
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Mercury Vapor bulb
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? I don't know
How old is your UVB bulb? 2 months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? it is at the very top of the aquarium
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? white
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)? no
How long are lights on each day? from 6 am to 7 pm
What are the basking temps? 85 degrees
What is the cool side temp? 80
What is the night time temp? 60
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? a round one that attaches to the side
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? on the basking rocks and on top of the log
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? heat pad
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. mealworms, strawberry tops, celery, banana, and crickets
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? morning every day
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? yes I forgot what brand I use it one two mealworms or crix a day
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? she hasn't pooped in about a week
Do you bathe your dragon? How often? never tried
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? I offer water 24/7 I don't mist
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? no
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

no




here is a pic of the encloser http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u623/beardeddragon2/christmas715_zps65a3a138.jpg

 

[beardy98]

Thankyou! I just gave her her first bath, it was warm about 3 to 4 inches deep, and she pooped in the water! It sounds kinda weird celibrating that a beardie pooped LOL.

 

[daner923]

It's great that she pooped! But you have a few adjustments to make to help avoid it and other problems again.

Number 1 most important change is to ditch the walnut shells. they are extremely dangerous - they can cause impactions, eye problems, and even death. Take them out, literally, right now. Put in paper towels, and if you want something else, go with tile or reptile carpet. Nothing loose.

2) No more mealworms - they are not nutritious and the hard shell (chitin) causes impactions.

3) Dusting - you should be dusting one entire feeding each day. 5 days a week with calcium, 2 days a week with a multivitamin. And if she will eat that much, try feeding her twice a day. She is pretty small for her age.

4) You really need to bump the basking temp. It should be 100-105F in order for her to digest properly. Move the MVB closer, or get another light to bump the temperature.

5) Get a digital thermometer with a probe or a temp gun. Dials like you have can be off by up to 20F, so you could be overheating or underheating your beardie very significantly.

6) Your beardie is desparately dehydrated is my guess. Most don't drink from a bowl, so she probably hasn't had any water since you got her really. She needs 2-3 baths a week. They should be shoulder high, lukewarm water.

7) Greens - you need to feed actual greens. Everything you are feeding now is more of a treat than a staple. Dandelion, collard, or mustard greens are good options.

That's all. Honestly compared to some people, you don't have that much to change, and most of it won't cost you much money. Mostly just the thermometer, which is only about 10 bucks. The combination of walnut shells, dehydration, mealworms, and low basking temps probably left her severely impacted, so you're lucky she pooped at all!

 

[beardy98]

she drinks out of the water bowl
but how much should the heat gun cost?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, you got some great advice from Daner and it's great that she passed her impaction. I have one question about the MVB, is it not there in the picture ? I see a hood , and mercury bulbs don't usually fit in them....you want to be sure that you have a UVB bulb. Check to see what type you have. The set up is really nice [ after you get rid of the crushed walnut ]

 

[beardy98]

does this look okay? http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u623/beardeddragon2/stuff011_zps53ce8cac.jpg
It was warmer today and the tank was up to 90 degrees and my room is usually 48 to 65 degrees so once it gets warmer it will be fine.

 

[AHBD]

Those are just heat/basking bulbs, they provide UVA but don't provide any UVB. It's a shame that there is so much mix up at the stores and wrong info for the beardies they sell. A mercury vapor bulb provides both heat and UVA/UVB, but they are large bulbs and will say what they are on the box. You would need a basking dome fixture with a porcelain socket [ you can get at Lowe's, Walmart,Home Depot for less than the pet store ] but the bulb itself you will have to look for. If it doesn't say mercury vapor on the box, then it isn't a MVB. Or you can keep your bulbs for heat, [ but still get a dome aluminum fixture that projects heat downward instead of sideways ] and get a Reptisun 10.0 tube UVB that would need a separate hood because it's a flourescent long bulb. By the way, I see you live in N.C. If you have any days in the upper 60's when it's sunny, you could take her out in a plastic storage tote for real sun. The plastic will warm up inside and you can keep an eye on her to be sure she's safe from any roaming critters. Just be careful it doesn't over heat.

 

[beardy98]

okie dokie thanks