Overhydrated or dehydrated

[Beansbanana]

Hello,
In the middle of the night I woke up thinking maybe my dragon is dehydrated. I had previously thought he was overhydrated. He usually has what I previously thought was a runny stool every other day. I am now thinking it is diarreah because it is usually not formed. His urates are soft and white, the poop is brownish-greenish and not formed with quite a bit of water around it. I have tried not feeding as much squash and drying his salads, and I think I have only been able to get his poop to look right a few times in the last month. I think he may have parasites and I am really hoping he will poop today so I can run it over to the vet. If not, I will take it Monday. In the meantime, I am just hoping to make sure he is not dehydrated. Other than his poop, he seems fine: he is alert, curious, loves eating salads(collards, mustard greens, squash) and bugs (BSFL, silkworms, dubia). He basks most of the day, somedays taking a couple hour nap in the middle of the day. He is about 6 months old. I have an Arcadia 12% T5 HO. HIs basking temps are 95-110. Ambient air is 90. The floor on the hot side is 95. The cool side is 80 to 83. He recently shed his tail and legs, he is about the shed his head. He shed his body when I first got him about 6 weeks ago. Another thing, I have had to replace his basking bulb twice in the past month. I think I will buy a new dome today, the one I have is an Arcadia, but I guess that might be why the bulb keeps going out? I have noticed when it went out both times right away so I don't think that caused an issue, I was just wondering how often most people have to replace those?

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello,
In the middle of the night I woke up thinking maybe my dragon is dehydrated. I had previously thought he was overhydrated. He usually has what I previously thought was a runny stool every other day. I am now thinking it is diarreah because it is usually not formed. His urates are soft and white, the poop is brownish-greenish and not formed with quite a bit of water around it. I have tried not feeding as much squash and drying his salads, and I think I have only been able to get his poop to look right a few times in the last month. I think he may have parasites and I am really hoping he will poop today so I can run it over to the vet. If not, I will take it Monday. In the meantime, I am just hoping to make sure he is not dehydrated. Other than his poop, he seems fine: he is alert, curious, loves eating salads(collards, mustard greens, squash) and bugs (BSFL, silkworms, dubia). He basks most of the day, somedays taking a couple hour nap in the middle of the day. He is about 6 months old. I have an Arcadia 12% T5 HO. HIs basking temps are 95-110. Ambient air is 90. The floor on the hot side is 95. The cool side is 80 to 83. He recently shed his tail and legs, he is about the shed his head. He shed his body when I first got him about 6 weeks ago. Another thing, I have had to replace his basking bulb twice in the past month. I think I will buy a new dome today, the one I have is an Arcadia, but I guess that might be why the bulb keeps going out? I have noticed when it went out both times right away so I don't think that caused an issue, I was just wondering how often most people have to replace those?

Check the wattage on the dome -- if the bulb is too high for your dome its going to go out -- next check the bulb - try another dome -- you need to rule out the cause for the bulbs blowing -- is the poop really stinky bad like it makes you want to leave the room smell ? If so it could be parasites -- he is hydrated w/ the extra water coming out not dehydrated

 

[Beansbanana]

The dome is for 200 watt and the bulb is a 150 watt. I have it plugged into a dimmer. I am going to buy a new dome today and see if that helps.

 

[CooperDragon]

Sometimes the bulbs are just faulty too, but it could be the fixture causing an issue. Do you have the fixture on a surge protector? You might want to try a few different brands of bulbs and see if one lasts longer than another. I didn't have very good luck with the reptile specific bulbs (ZooMed Repti Basking Spot is what I started with) but did find that halogen and incandescent flood bulbs from the hardware store tended to last longer (usually several months vs a month or so).

 

[Beansbanana]

Okay thanks! I had wondered about trying regular bulbs. Are they basically the same, like if I use a 150 watt, I could get a 150 watt regular bulb? Should I get a specific color, I know the light shouldn’t be yellow?

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah just a regular flood bulb. You don't want the energy efficient ones or LEDs because they don't produce as much heat. Usually a PAR38 halogen flood light or a BR40 or BR30 will do the trick. You'll probably have to try out a few different ones to find a brand/style/wattage that produces adequate temps in your enclosure. These will appear slightly yellow in color, but that's OK as long as they're bright.