Not pooping thinking of changing diet

[tattykassy]

Hey All
Long time no post, everything has been peachy so just been living life.
But I have recently had an issue and would like to consult you good people about it.
So about 2 1/2 months ago my beardie started to have problems in the BM department. He just wasn't having them very regularly, it was every 1 1/2 weeks for the first bit. Then when my fiancé and I went on vacation for two weeks I left him with my mother, and he ate no problem the whole time he was there and went once after his first week of being there.
And he has not gone since.
I got home on the 23rd so that means he hasn't gone since about the 16th of January.
!!!!
He doesn't appear to be in any pain, and for the past two weeks I have been giving him warm baths daily and massaging his stomach. He doesn't have a blackbeard, and he is laying normal and eating normally and the weird thing still is that when I rub his stomach, it doesn't appear to feel hard at all, its soft and squishy and just feels like a regular belly. The other weird thing is that the only change in his diet is hornworms. My mom got him a hornworm when he was there and he loved it, so after about two weeks of getting him back I got him 4. Could the hornworms be hindering his process somehow? I thought they were fairly squishy and watery like a silkworm, because he has had those without issue.
I'm getting him some prune baby food tomorrow and seeing if I can get him to eat some and hopefully get him to poop, but I am wondering if maybe its time to start cutting back on the protein?
He is probably about 11 months old now give or take a few weeks, and he mostly eats his bugs and picks at his veggies, he will eat mango no problem but I try not to give it to him more then once or twice a week and he will eat a piece or two of collards if I hand feed them to him.
Is it too early to start upping his veggies and cutting back on his protein, or will that hinder his development and size?

Thanks guys!

 

[RaptorTheBeardie]

I personally dont see what you are doing wrong. The only thing is that you should wait on the hornworms untill a year old. I suggest taking him to the vet to further find out what is wrong with him because i cannot see a problem.

 

[tattykassy]

I've been giving him appropriately sized hornworms, here they can range from 2 cm big to the side of your index finger depending on what you want. He gets the smaller ones that are more silkworm size....
I'm just wondering if its possible for them to have varying dietary needs, does anybody else have a beardie that needs to be on a special diet or something?
Still hasn't pooped, he's getting his prunes today so if I can get him to eat some that would be great....if he still hasn't pooped by this time next week, I'll take him to a doctor.
They are supposed to go at least once a week, right..?

 

[Gail]

The horns aren't causing the problem, they actually should help him go since they are so juicy. At his age, he can be on more greens, a 80% greens, 20% bugs is a good ratio.
A adult normally goes once a week but it can vary, some may go 2 weeks between. How big is he and how much is he eating daily?

 

[tattykassy]

See I thought the same thing about the hornworms but it didn't seem to make him want to go.
Right now, he is eating maybe 3-8 supers a day depending on how hungry he is, maybe 1/4 tsp of veggies a day (he is picky) and he gets water every two days although lately its been every day for the past two or so weeks because I'm trying to get him to poop normally he will go in the bath.
He is about 14 inches, I don't know the weight I haven't weighed him but he is healthy looking, good fat deposits on the head and healthy sized limbs, a good sized belly on him.
He definitely doesn't look fully sized though, my friends dragon is way bigger I'd say at least twice the size. Thats why I am wondering if cutting back on his bugs might impair his development...?

 

[tattykassy]

Also I offer him more bugs and veggies then what he is eating he just doesn't seem to want them, I seem to lose more bugs then he eats just from them dying in the dish.
But as I said he seems to be pretty healthy looking he's definitely got meat on those bones.

 

[RaptorTheBeardie]

Ok, i thought you were giving him big hornworms. Some owners make that mistake and their beard cannot digest it and they end up being constipated alot.

 

[Gail]

Even a full sized hornworm won't cause a dragon to get constipated, there is nothing to them but mush and some soft skin. I would definitely remove supers from the diet until he is going regular again, they have a hard shell and can plug up a dragon.

He really isn't eating very much for a dragon his size. What are your temps? what kind of UVB do you have and how old is it? Have you ever had a fecal done? One reason for lack of poo is simply not eating enough, you need to figure out why he isn't eating good.

Can you get any large silks or horns? Preferably silks since they are a better staple feeder. Even if he will only eat a few a day, if they are really big it will help fill him up more.

 

[tattykassy]

So I checked and I bought the bulb about 3 months ago so I should be good what I did end up doing however was buying another bulb and light hood and putting it in the terrarium because his temp was a bit low it was around 94 so now its reading at just over 100. I think the problem was I had all the equipment from his smaller tank in his big tank (75 gal) and the bulb just wasn't cutting it so I am hoping that helps.
Also, I have gotten a bunch of horns and silks and he seems to eat one silk and one horn and then becomes disinterested, so what I also did today was pick up some organic chicken baby food, organic butternut squash baby food, and liquidized prunes.I mixed them all together and managed too get him to eat roughly 2 1/2 teaspoons worth.
I'm determined to get this guy to poop! :x

 

[SpazticMagic]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with dragon BM issues. My guy, I think, is in his brumation cycle. However, he's never been much of a waste-maker. At the moment he's not taking in much (just five adult male Dubia a week, he refuses to eat any salad at all) so I don't really expect much to come out from the other end. However, he's never produced much waste and it's even less now--his last bowel movement was over a week ago (unless he's eating them when I'm not home...which is highly unlikely because he never seems to move). He doesn't have any signs of an impaction. He's been screened for parasites/infections and he shows up super clean. He has started to drink from his baths now...which helps alleviate my concern over his hydration levels. But, overall he just doesn't seem to have high bowel traffic. Suggestions or thoughts? Here's some details that might help circumvent obvious questions:

UV bulbs are about 75% through their effective life expectancy.
His basking temp is around 95F (and before we panic, this has been settled by him...we tried raising the temps and he hated it to the point of flat-out avoiding his basking spot until it was reduced to a max of 95F. Even with this he's had times where he tries to shift out of direct basking position. He's the only hot and arid dwelling reptile I know that prefers cooler temps.)
Night time temps are around 65F-70F due to a ceramic heat emitter.
He's almost three years old.
He gets salad offered daily, but doesn't even seem to notice it's there. (That's ok, the roaches love leftovers.)

 

[tattykassy]

My little man finally did it!! all over his salad bowl.....but none the less I am quite pleased.

Thanks for the suggestions, I think the prune baby food is what really helped

 

[RaptorTheBeardie]

Good, im glad he finally... Went

 

[SpazticMagic]

Well, this morning it seems he's decided to finally try some salad again. Not a whole lot, but it's more than he's eaten of it in months. Mayhaps we'll have some BM later during bath time? Let's hope!

 

[RaptorTheBeardie]

Hope yo do see some poop in his bath. Best of luck!