Mushy runny Poop, CONCERNED! [pic]

[Ripley1015]

Hi everyone Ripley is almost 7 months old and for the past month has been having mushy runny watery smelly poop!. When the watery poop started she also started going only about every 4-5days. Before this she was going daily and they were formed in a tube and not runny at all. The beginning of September she had some horn worms and ever since then she had the runny poop. I thought maybe it was from all the moisture in the worms or maybe she got sick from the hornworms because I did notice some mold in the hornworm cup. But it's been a few weeks since she's had any and resumed her regular diet.Her staple protein are Dubia roaches and her greens consists of a mix of turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, Escarole, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, green beans, mango, (not everyday but these are the usual things I buy). I brought her to the vet and she got a clean bill of health, vet says she looks great!, shes active and has a good appetite. I've also dropped off 2 stool samples on different days and both samples were negative for parasites. I can't figure it out!

one of my theories is that she isn't basking as much as she used to and maybe she isnt digesting fully? When she poops in her bath it kind of just scatters everywhere and I can see small pieces of the greens floating around. She also rarely poops in her tank, so I feel like if I don't take her out she won't poop unless she really has to. down below I have a picture of her poop, the urates are in her food bowl and the rest is in a pile under her cave.. I guess she started in her bowl and then moved ontop of her cave? who knows but her poop is in 2 locations.

my setup:
40G tank with front opening doors
-Slate tiles for flooring
-ReptiSun 10.0 T5 mounted inside the tank for UVB and she can get within 6-8 inches from it ( I have a solarmeter 6.5 to measure UVI output)

-flood lamp for basking- temps are usually between 108-118F, hot side is usually between 85-90F, cool side 82F-85F, CHE overnight if needed
- She also gets daily dusting of calcium and multivitamin 2x week. She gets bathed about twice a week.

any thoughts about why her poop looks like that or what I can do to improve her poop?

 

[CooperDragon]

If your vet gave a clean bill on two samples that's probably not it. Did the vet check for flagellates? That needs to be done under microscope and needs a fresh sample (given at the vet or soon before if possible). Does she eat many veges? I found blueberries gave awful poops for one of my guys. If she eats her salads maybe try reducing what you're offering to something simple like collards with some green beans and a bit of bell pepper for a bit and see if it changes things. If not, then her stomach is definitely upset by something so a check for flagellates might be worth it.

What are you reading with your solarmeter with a T5 at that distance? It seems too close but if you're getting safe readings that's fine. Usually the T5 needs to be at about 12'' from the basking spot to provide a good average amount of UVB.

 

[Ripley1015]

I don't think he checked for Flagellates, the samples were sent off to the lab to test for parasites , she eats more veggies now that she's a juvenile, mostly a mix of turnip greens, & escarole the last 2 weeks, should I switch over to just collards the next week and see if it helps? I am leaving on Wednesday out of town for 10 days and will be leaving her with my Aunt so now I'm super stressed and Concerned ! If she does have flagellates..how is that treated and is it life threatening? If I'm unable to get her to the vet before my trip will she be in danger ?

Her UVI readings are between 1-2 from the ground and basking area and she has 1 branch she can climb up to get a UVI 3-4 , my fixture isn't putting much UVI out even tho it's a T5, I just bought a replacement with a reflector but haven't hooked it up yet

 

[Ripley1015]

Just called the vet and he said that the flagellates would have been detected in the stool sample... then he recommended to cut back on the greens to see if it helps like you mentioned, he said maybe some greens just don't agree with her and to feed her more of her protein, he also asked me what she eats as her staple protein and when I told him her staple are dubia roaches he said "most people don't feed their beardies roaches , try feeding her crickets meal worms or super worms...." this made me question how knowledgeable he is in beardie care. I found him through the herp connection site and on his website it says that herpetology is one of his hobbies... another option he offered was to start her on meds like metronidazole or run more tests, I'm going to try the diet first since she seems healthy and in good spirits, I'll cut back on greens today and just feed her dubias which she will love anyway!

I know beardies aren't supposed to have supers until after a year old correct? I know meal worms are a no no and I hate crickets! I have a thriving colony of dubias at home and Ripley loves them so I am sticking to my dubias with occasional crickets every few months when I want to let my colony catch up

 

[CooperDragon]

That sounds like a plan. Stick to the roaches and cut back on the greens a bit and see if it makes a difference. Then re-introduce the veges one at a time and see if it's something specific that is causing an issue. Flagellates are usually only detectable in very fresh samples put under a microscope so I'm not sure if they would be alive/moving when a shipped sample was analyzed but that depends on how far away the sample went and how long it took I suppose. Metronidazole is a medication used to treat flagellates so I would try to confirm their existence before offering that med although it's not very harsh. The flagellates aren't immediately threatening. Just another type of parasite which can often be treated with meds if they are present. I agree with checking out the food first and seeing if something is just disagreeing with her. Like I said, it turned out to be blueberries with one of my dragons.

As far as the lighting goes, yeah that UVI reading is really low for a T5. Once you get a new fixture for it you'll probably find that you'll get 3-5 UVI (best basking zone in my opinion) at about 12'' up.

 

[Ripley1015]

That sounds like a plan. Stick to the roaches and cut back on the greens a bit and see if it makes a difference. Then re-introduce the veges one at a time and see if it's something specific that is causing an issue. Flagellates are usually only detectable in very fresh samples put under a microscope so I'm not sure if they would be alive/moving when a shipped sample was analyzed but that depends on how far away the sample went and how long it took I suppose. Metronidazole is a medication used to treat flagellates so I would try to confirm their existence before offering that med although it's not very harsh. The flagellates aren't immediately threatening. Just another type of parasite which can often be treated with meds if they are present. I agree with checking out the food first and seeing if something is just disagreeing with her. Like I said, it turned out to be blueberries with one of my dragons.

As far as the lighting goes, yeah that UVI reading is really low for a T5. Once you get a new fixture for it you'll probably find that you'll get 3-5 UVI (best basking zone in my opinion) at about 12'' up.

So Ripley finally pooped again today last one was 5 days ago.. which seems to be her new pattern.. since the beginning of september she's been going every 3-5 days. Since last week I cut back on her greens and only fed her Dubias (2x day). She got occasional green beans but not a full bowl of salad. Her poop is still loose but not as smelly.. I still can't figure out why it looks like this. All I want to see is a nice healthy formed tubey poop from her =[. Below is a pic of her poop

 

[CooperDragon]

That still looks pretty messy. I'd try some probiotics and see if that helps after a couple of weeks. If not, I'd get it checked out again. http://www.bug-de-lite.com/store/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=Acidophiliz

 

[Ripley1015]

That still looks pretty messy. I'd try some probiotics and see if that helps after a couple of weeks. If not, I'd get it checked out again. http://www.bug-de-lite.com/store/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=Acidophiliz

I let her out for play time and she pooped again! That's the 2nd poop today and guess what it's formed!!

So I'm guessing it was her greens?? I haven't seen a formed poop in a month so I'm very excited ! I'll still cut back on the greens in the next week but will give her some, so what's the next step of her greens are causing runny poop? She needs her veggies

 

[CooperDragon]

I would add the veges back into her diet one at a time and see if it's something specific causing an upset stomach.