Overly Large and Stinky Droppings?

[Quelaag]

So normally this would be an obvious sign of parasites or something, but I'm really not so sure. Recently my baby beardie has been making really large poops in the shape of a mound. It occurred after he returned from the vet. When my fiance and I got him, he was very dehydrated. We thought we could rehydrate him ourselves, but it turned out he was more severe than we thought so we had to get him help. Petsmart, who covered our vet bills through contract, also took him to the vet for us. They treated him for parasites and a respiratory infection just in case even though they were pretty sure he was just super dehydrated, apparently they occasionally have to deal with beardie breeders who are terrible at shipping their beardies and they think that's how he got so bad. They kept him for a little over a week and after we got him back he's been perky and normal and energetic. He eats A LOT, at least 30 baby crickets a day along with greens. He goes crazy especially for green beans and turnip greens which we feed him a lot of.

The only abnormal behavior he's showing is he poops large mounds. They're not really runny or anything, but it's still worrisome. They stink really bad. Though at the same time his bowel movements are pretty regular, he goes at least twice a day. It would probably help best if I took a picture next time he goes to show you guys, but I can't take one until he makes his next bowel movement. Sorry, I didn't really think about it.. I should have one up later today as gross as that sounds, haha.

But yeah, it sounds like one symptom of parasites, but if he was treated and tested negative is that really a possibility? He isn't showing any other signs. The only other thing he's displaying are stress marks, but could that just be from him going back a forth from Pet Smart to my house? He isn't acting like he's stressed out, we take him out regularly, his appetite hasn't faltered at all, and his enclosure is usually around 90 to 95 degrees on the lit side and 80 degrees on the cooler side. His basking rock is usually at 100 to 105. I make sure it never gets over 110. He also has a stick that's positioned to where he can get closer to the light if he needs to, which he loves it. He sleeps on the top part of the stick every night. He also just shed if that means anything and he gets fairly regular baths-- since he's no longer dehydrated we plan on only giving him 1 or 2 a week. We do mist him regularly with water and we make sure his greens provide plenty of hydration for him.

The only issue I can see that might be a culprit is I only had a basking lamp on him the week we got him back. He was sharing an enclosure with another Beardie who already has a UVB light, but when he got back from the vet the other beardie established territory so we separated them immediately. So for over a week after getting him back, we searched everywhere for a 75 Watt UVB light only to find that no one sells them here-- or at least not one that emits both heat and UVB. We had to settle for a 100 Watt Mercury UVB by Powersun which, according to the guy I talked to, should be okay for my little guy. Though I worry because he's in a 20 gallon long tank so I'm paranoid he'll get burned or something. Because of this, since we got the bulb 2 days ago, I've been keeping a close eye on the temperature and adjusting the height of the lamp as necessary. So far he seems to enjoy it and isn't doing the "open mouth basking" thing as much as he did with the basking lamp, so I assume that's good? Though his color has lightened which could mean it's too hot or could that mean he's at an ideal temperature if he's not regulating it himself? He hardly ever goes into the cooler side of his enclosure except for when he's eating greens. I just really don't want him to get burned or anything. When he gets bigger, we're going to put him in a 75 Gallon tank but that would overwhelm a baby of his size if we did that right now.

But yeah, could the week-long lack of UVB have affected his poop or stress? I guess that's a really dumb question, but it's the only thing I can think of. Unless he really is more stressed out than I'm catching onto. I handle him at least twice a day so he can get exercise and while he's super adventurous and curious about everything, he does really well out of the enclosure. Though sometimes I have to put him up early if he gets too active because I get terrified he'll get out of my reach or something. Sorry if I haven't provided enough info. I'm also sorry if this is a dumb post, I just worry really easily about my little guy.

You can also kind of see the stress marks in the picture below. :C This picture is also from over a week ago when we first got him back from the vet/Petmart, I think his stress marks are actually lightening up which I need to double check on when I get home today. I actually knew nothing about stress marks until today! I feel so awful.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. He's adorable I would give him baths every day just so he stays hydrated. Uvb does affect their poop habits, appetite, energy level. Make sure you use a reptisun 10.0 Tube and it needs to be mounted in the tank.

 

[Quelaag]

Hi. He's adorable I would give him baths every day just so he stays hydrated. Uvb does affect their poop habits, appetite, energy level. Make sure you use a reptisun 10.0 Tube and it needs to be mounted in the tank.

The only thing I hate about giving him baths every day is he just absolutely doesn't seem to like them so I worry about over stressing him-- though I think he hates them because he has had so many of them lately, haha. When we got him back for the first week we gave him one at least once a day, sometimes twice and made sure to try to get him to drink from it. It's been about two weeks since he got back from the vet and we've cut it to one bath every 2 or 3 days. I also have a little water syringe that I use to get him to drink from daily just to be on the safe side. But yeah, I love giving him baths so I wouldn't mind giving him one daily, I'm just conflicted because of the fact that, that might be one of the things causing the stress marks.

Also I got so close to getting a Reptisun the other day, but was unsure of them. I'll have to look into getting one now. Like I said, right now we're using a bulb by Powersun, though those aren't quite like the Reptisun from what I can tell. Thank you!

 

[Quelaag]

Finally got a picture of the droppings. Also it turns out that my fiance's sisters beardie has Pin Worms and Coccidia. I'm going to get his droppings tested just to be on the safe side even though I'm pretty sure he isn't affected since they never come into contact with each other. That and he's been making dropping like this since we got him back from the vet/Petsmart.

Does it look too abnormal? It's not runny like it looks in the photo, in fact it was pretty solid. Like I said, it's getting tested no matter what now, but I'd like to hear your opinions because if it's something from the enclosure the vet will only be able to help but so much.

And to make this post less gross, here's some updated pictures of my baby.

The last picture was taken passed his bed time, but he didn't want to leave my hand because his heating lamp was still warming up and he was sleepy. I can't get over how cute he is-- even if his poop is super gross.

Also, I've noticed a lot of enclosures with back drops in them-- is there any significance with that? I've tried researching to see if there's importance with it or if it's just for looks, but I haven't been able to find anything. I was also wondering if it would be okay with I just made my own?

 

[Tonja]

backdrops serve two purposes..they seem to cut down on reflection in the glass that contributes to glass dancing and some stress possibly, and for looks. For my female beardie I painted her backgrounds on canvas with oil and put them behind the back wall of her tank.

so yes you can make your own backdrops

 

[Quelaag]

backdrops serve two purposes..they seem to cut down on reflection in the glass that contributes to glass dancing and some stress possibly, and for looks. For my female beardie I painted her backgrounds on canvas with oil and put them behind the back wall of her tank.

so yes you can make your own backdrops

That looks gorgeous! Hm... That might be part of why my little guy still has stress marks, though he did go through a lot at the vet since he had to get injected with fluids and get meds shoved down his throat so I don't expect them to fully go away for at least another week or maybe even more. Though if a backdrop can tone down his stress levels in any way, I'll be more than willing to make one for him. He doesn't glass slide too often thankfully, but I'm still going to make him one.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....it sounds like he has recuperated nicely from being dehydrated, and his poos are fine. You can't go by the smell to tell if there are parasites, and since you just got him back in good health then he should be fine.

As for the lights, a Powersun MVB gives you all the UVB you need, you would get a Reptisun 10.0 if you only had a basking heat bulb, but the mercury vapor provides both heat and UVB.....so no need for the Reptisun.

 

[Quelaag]

Hi there....it sounds like he has recuperated nicely from being dehydrated, and his poos are fine. You can't go by the smell to tell if there are parasites, and since you just got him back in good health then he should be fine.

As for the lights, a Powersun MVB gives you all the UVB you need, you would get a Reptisun 10.0 if you only had a basking heat bulb, but the mercury vapor provides both heat and UVB.....so no need for the Reptisun.

Yeah, he recovered very quickly and gained weight pretty quickly once he recovered. Comparing pictures to when we first got him-- which I haven't posted because they're sad to look at-- you can instantly tell the difference. This post makes me feel so much better. Thank you!

Also that's good to know! I wasn't sure if the Powersun was frowned upon or something.

 

[AHBD]

Yeah, it sounds like he is doing well, it's really good that he enjoys his greens, too because they're full of vitamins, minerals + good amount of moisture. Be sure to keep him hydrated with his shallow lukewarm baths, and also offer water dripped on his nose for extra hydration since he had a problem before. His poos should have a certain amount of water around them, at least some of the time.

 

[Quelaag]

Yeah, it sounds like he is doing well, it's really good that he enjoys his greens, too because they're full of vitamins, minerals + good amount of moisture. Be sure to keep him hydrated with his shallow lukewarm baths, and also offer water dripped on his nose for extra hydration since he had a problem before. His poos should have a certain amount of water around them, at least some of the time.

Yeah, he enjoys his greens but doesn't seem to enjoy any fruit I offer him, haha. I guess that's good since most fruits aren't very good staples, but I'd like to spoil him once in a while with a treat. Along with bathing him, I did bathe him twice a day when he got back, now it's about 1 to 2 times a week. He has a water dish on the cool side of his enclosure, he doesn't use it much except for he sits in it every now and then. I often will take the water from that and put some on his nose to lap up. I also clean and change the water dish at the end of every day to ensure it stays fresh and bacteria free.

I'm also very religious about spritzing his enclosure with a spray bottle 2 to 3 times a day to make sure he gets extra hydration; not too much of course because I don't want to make the humidity go up too much, but enough to where he can get some extra water. Then of course his greens are a big source of water for him which he gets those daily. I make sure to spritz those as well. I also didn't know that about the slightly wet poops. Phew, that makes me feel a lot better. I was paranoid he was on the verge of having diarrhea or something. But they're pretty solid they just look wet, so I assume that's what you mean? If so that puts my mind at ease, I'm always paranoid that he's not getting enough hydration. I love my little guy so I kind of act like an overly worried mom around him. I don't mean to, but I just want to make sure he stays as healthy as possible.

I also can't wait to find out his gender, but I guess that won't be for 6 to 7 more months. I'm not sure how old he is exactly, but he's almost 10 inches long from tip to tail. If growth chart averages are anything to go off of then I would guesstimate 10 to maybe even 12 weeks old? Though he's made, from what I can tell based on pictures alone, some drastic growth changes in just a month so it's very hard for me to tell.

Sorry for posting so much, I have a tendency to ramble. A lot.