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[norbert4]

Hi everyone,

Norbert hasn't passed any waste in the last couple of days and I'm worried about her. She's about a year and a half old medium sized female dragon. My mum cleaned her out and put those wood chips in as flooring and I'm very concerned that she's eaten one whilst going after a locust. She's as active as ever and her appetite doesn't seem to have diminished any. Her back legs seem fine and she's not black bearding or vomiting.

I've given her two baths complete with gentle tummy rubs and some drops of vegetable oil today and she's strained to go but only the white urate stuff has come out. I'm worried because she's never not pooped in the bath before. The wood chips themselves don't pose a concern size wise but they are quite hard and I'm concerned that if she's eaten one then it will cut her insides/make her prolapse or simply not come out at all. Right now she's not pushing herself too hard and I can't see any signs of prolapse or anything like that.

I'm attempting to convince my parents to take her to the vet (I'm unemployed right now and they're literally having to pay for my food because I can't) but they keep shrugging it off and saying she'll be fine (she's technically my mum's pet but I tend to feed her, bath her, play with her, usually I clean her out but I was out that one time). Is there anything else I can do to help her pass her waste properly?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there.....first of all it would be good to get rid of the wood chips because they will pose an ongoing risk. As for not pooing for a few days, that is pretty normal for adult dragons. Sometimes they don't go for 2 weeks or more ! Try some baby food prunes, canned pumpkin [ with no spices ] and add a few drops of veg. oil and/or honey. Give a warm bath every day, a bit warmer + deeper than usual but don't rub the belly too much or not bother at all. She will go when she really has to.

 

[Beardednoob]

Hi there.....first of all it would be good to get rid of the wood chips because they will pose an ongoing risk. As for not pooing for a few days, that is pretty normal for adult dragons. Sometimes they don't go for 2 weeks or more ! Try some baby food prunes, canned pumpkin [ with no spices ] and add a few drops of veg. oil and/or honey. Give a warm bath every day, a bit warmer + deeper than usual but don't rub the belly too much or not bother at all. She will go when she really has to.

All great advice! I would like to add.. 100% pure applesauce is also a good choice. The veg oil can be dropped onto a small bite size piece of lettuce. Only time I ever feed lettuce is if I am doing this.

 

[norbert4]

I'm relieved to hear you both don't think it's very serious at the moment. Thankyou for the advice. I should mention that she was straining to go before I started rubbing her belly, she definitely feels the need to go but can't. She's a little less alert today. I've just given her some oil and a bit of greens with calcium powder on. I'm going to give her another bath soon.

UPDATE: I gave her the oil and the bath and she was able to pass some waste. It wasn't as much as usual but everything seemed normal and healthy (although it was very slimy, I think that was the oil). Should I continue to give the few drops of oil and two baths a day or will she be Ok now? She's perked up alot.

 

[Beardednoob]

I'm relieved to hear you both don't think it's very serious at the moment. Thankyou for the advice. I should mention that she was straining to go before I started rubbing her belly, she definitely feels the need to go but can't. She's a little less alert today. I've just given her some oil and a bit of greens with calcium powder on. I'm going to give her another bath soon.

UPDATE: I gave her the oil and the bath and she was able to pass some waste. It wasn't as much as usual but everything seemed normal and healthy (although it was very slimy, I think that was the oil). Should I continue to give the few drops of oil and two baths a day or will she be Ok now? She's perked up alot.

I would definitely continue to bathe. It won't hurt to do another couple drops of oil tomorrow.

Has the enclosure been addressed fully? Can you show a picture of the setup please?

 

[diamc]

Could you explain what you meant by

My mum cleaned her out

?

It would be a good idea for you to give us the details of your setup. Could you fill us in on the tank temps and what type of thermometer you're using?

Also, what brand & type of UVB do you have and what is the distance of it?

 

[norbert4]

Ok, thankyou.

As for the enclosure, it's generally 27 degrees Celsius during the day, 32 in the summer but the winters are very cold here. She has a Reptisun 10.0 UVA bulb and an Extrotera (I think that's what it's called?) basking light. It's a 100 bulb. Don't know the exact distance but she has a log under the basking lamp so she can get close to it. A bit of a climbing wall (she's a great climber). I clean out her water bowl and give her fresh water every day but she tends to sit/lie in it rather than drink it directly. She usually gets a bath a week but I think she's dehydrated and needs more than that now. She eats locusts, spring greens and fruits such as apples (but she doesn't like fruit much). I put the calcium powder on her greens rather than the locusts because they shake it off. The tank is too small for her at the moment so I find myself taking her out for exercise a lot - my dad is building her a new viv, he had to wait until he was paid today to be able to afford some things for it but it's coming along well.

I can't change the setup right now since, as I said, I have no wage of my own and she's not my animal (I take care of her but ultimately it's my mum's decisions and money). I can however suggest things to my dad for this new viv (which is huge, I'm very happy with the size of it) so it'd be great if anybody has some suggestions for how to set that up and what she needs in it.

diamc: Ordinarily I use reptile-safe cleaning spray and clean out her whole tank. This time I was out and my mother cleaned her out instead. She also used the reptile-safe spray but put down some wood chips from the pet store on the floor of the viv. I was concerned that Norbert may have eaten one of these chips when going for a locust, but thankfully her waste seems normal and devoid of wood.

Thermometer is a stick on one - I know it's bad, but as I say, I can't do anything about that right now. She doesn't feel cold to the touch and she usually has plenty of energy. Her colours are all great, no fades or black beards.

Edited to add: I'm not sure if this is relevant or not but after handling her I developed a rather severe rash on my arms and torso. I don't think she has any parasites since she's only ever been outside when she's been under my supervision (I won't let her eat anything she's not supposed to). This is my first time caring for a bearded dragon - or any non-mammal animal actually.

 

[AHBD]

I'm glad to hear that she finally went ! As for your temps., you'll need to get her basking area up to about 38 C and the cool side should be about 28 C. If the basking area is not warm enough this can be a factor in her having digestive problems and not pooing as often. See if you can get an extra light fixture [ it doesn't have to be a pet store brand, you may find one in a hardware or home improvement store for less ] just be sure it has a ceramic /porcelain socket. If for some reason you can't get another one right now then cover part of her tank with a blanket to increase the hot zone, but take the water bowl out so the humidity doesn't go up, or only put the water bowl in for about an hour a day. About 2-3 X a week give her 10 minute lukewarm baths [ but early enough in the day that you can pat her dry + warm her back up in the tank completely, at least an hour before lights go out ] You can also drizzle water on her nose once in a while to see if she'll drink that way as well.