Questionable Poop

[Queni]

Good Morning!

This is my first post and question here and I would appreciate any help and input. My husband and I researched a lot before bringing home a bearded dragon but there is still so much to learn and the more we read, the more overwhelmed we get.

We know our dragon is stressed, as she has the stress marks and isn't eating very well. She arrived to us last Thursday night and since then, she only eats 1 or 2 superworms/crickets each time they are offered. She has eaten very little veggies and did not try the apple I put in her bowl and in front of her yesterday. We are looking into breeding silk worms or Phoenix worms for her instead of superworms. The crickets really do smell terrible. I read that they would smell but didn't imagine it would be like this.

We are going to get a background for her enclosure as we know that the clear glass all around is not helping. She has been pooping consistently on her basking rock or bridge and I can take the bridge out to wash (she gets upset at me) but the huge platform rock is a lot harder to remove to clean.

I was using really hot water and dawn dish soap to clean it but I think I have to use a disinfectant too. Now I can't even use our laundry sink to clean her things because the pipe broke off this morning. Why do these things always happen at the worst times?

She had been pooping once or even twice a day and they all were normal. Today, her poop had some brown mucus and I'm afraid it might be parasites. Her tummy also looks weird to me and she has refused food all morning. She drank a lot when I misted her with warm water though. There is a little bulge on her lower abdomen but I don't know if that is normal.

I am so sad to think that she might be sick and it has only been less than a week since we got her. I appreciate your help and thoughts on this. Thank you!

 

[Queni]

I wouldn't consider that loose- it does have formation - are you feeding any treat worms like horn super meal worms?

We tried to tempt her to eat more by treating horn worms and she only ate...maybe 1 or 2 in the last week.

She grew up eating superworms and didn't have issues with it with the breeder and we were giving her those before we knew better the first few weeks too. She loves them so much. We have lessened them for sure and only offer 1 or 2 a day so she eat something. More roaches for sure and she ate very little Phoenix worms which...is frustrating.


Is it typical for the urate to come out with such light colored odd poop?

 

[KarrieRee]

We tried to tempt her to eat more by treating horn worms and she only ate...maybe 1 or 2 in the last week.

She grew up eating superworms and didn't have issues with it with the breeder and we were giving her those before we knew better the first few weeks too. She loves them so much. We have lessened them for sure and only offer 1 or 2 a day so she eat something. More roaches for sure and she ate very little Phoenix worms which...is frustrating.


Is it typical for the urate to come out with such light colored odd poop?

We can have AHBD look at it
@AHBD

 

[resamille]

We tried to tempt her to eat more by treating horn worms and she only ate...maybe 1 or 2 in the last week.

She grew up eating superworms and didn't have issues with it with the breeder and we were giving her those before we knew better the first few weeks too. She loves them so much. We have lessened them for sure and only offer 1 or 2 a day so she eat something. More roaches for sure and she ate very little Phoenix worms which...is frustrating.


Is it typical for the urate to come out with such light colored odd poop?

Urate looks fine to me (looks like she just needed to clear out some excess liquids & didn't really have anything digested to poop out yet), but I'm no expert.

I do have a bit of advice for the BSF larva, though! Or I guess a bit of personal experience to share that might help, rather. My beardie did the same thing when I first got him and getting him to eat phoenix worms was super hit or miss. Eventually I found that the color apparently made a difference to him. He'd only eat the dark ones that were close to metamorphizing or... whatever it is that phoenix worms do to turn into black soldier flies. He'd similarly chomp down on them once they cocooned up (when they go flat and dark and stiffen up). As far as I know, the nutritional value does lessen some as phoenix worms become flies, but definitely better than not eating. Also, the flies are slow-moving, easy to catch/corral, don't bite, and are somewhat drawn to light sources (the closest of which is probably going to be the basking light/UVB), so they're basically perfect for letting loose in an enclosure for some snacks & enrichment, as long as you don't mind listening to them buzz around for a bit.

 

[Queni]

Urate looks fine to me (looks like she just needed to clear out some excess liquids & didn't really have anything digested to poop out yet), but I'm no expert.

I do have a bit of advice for the BSF larva, though! Or I guess a bit of personal experience to share that might help, rather. My beardie did the same thing when I first got him and getting him to eat phoenix worms was super hit or miss. Eventually I found that the color apparently made a difference to him. He'd only eat the dark ones that were close to metamorphizing or... whatever it is that phoenix worms do to turn into black soldier flies. He'd similarly chomp down on them once they cocooned up (when they go flat and dark and stiffen up). As far as I know, the nutritional value does lessen some as phoenix worms become flies, but definitely better than not eating. Also, the flies are slow-moving, easy to catch/corral, don't bite, and are somewhat drawn to light sources (the closest of which is probably going to be the basking light/UVB), so they're basically perfect for letting loose in an enclosure for some snacks & enrichment, as long as you don't mind listening to them buzz around for a bit.

Ohhhh. It happened twice and had never happened before so I freaked out a little.

That makes so much sense!!! I love Sparkles but sometimes I stand there and ask "REALLY SPARKLES?!" because if a roach is flipped over, she will cock her head to stare at it but not eat it. When I flip it back over, she will go after it. She has proven to be particular with foods and has been refusing her veggies the last week or so.

I notice that she will also really only go after the faster insects like the roaches and superworms but often the roaches get away from her. She doesn't venture to the bottom of the tank often so she only gets the ones she sees on top.

She also does not eat her veggies or insects from a bowl. They must be put next to her. I know she is a young juvenile but she still seems more like a toddler to me.

Thank you for sharing your experience and advice!