Undigested food in poop

[SkeptiBee]

Title is what it says... The last few days Hermes has been passing stool with a lot of undigested food in it. Just a few moments ago, he pooped in the bathtub as I was bathing him and I noticed, after he started thrashing a bit and breaking the mass up, there was about three pheonix worms that went straight through him (one looked larger than usual but it might have been bloated) and quite a bit of his veggies and fruit where chunks.

Just wondering if this is a product of eating too much? Parasites would be making it more watery right? When he makes a bowel movement in his viv its good and solid, green, with a tiny amount of fluid and usual white uric acid mass.

 

[daner923]

What are your basking temps, what kind of UVB are you using, and how long do you give him to bask and digest after feeding him? As far as phoenix worms, my guy was pooping out not only whole ones, but live ones, but everything else was digested. I stopped using them after that - he just wasn't chewing them up. I've read a few other people have that problem too.

 

[SkeptiBee]

I feed him in the morning before I leave work, give him greens that he eats through the day. He usually has a little left over when I get home but it's dry so I chuck it and give him a little more fresh stuff. Live feeders will get tossed into his salad as well as put into a separate dish. So he has all day to bask for digestion. Basking temp is around 100-105. But I've been noticing that he's been hanging out more on the bottom of the viv which is around 86. Why I don't know. When I let him run around my office, he usually spends about 5-10 minutes exploring before finding a dark place then trying to sleep. He never uses his hide spot in his viv for anything though. He also gets both a multivitamin and calcium dusted foods 3 times a week. The UVB bulb is a ReptiSun 10.0, 24" tube (his viv is a 40 gallon breeder).

Maybe his body is still undergoing adjustments from what his former owners were using? They had a coil UVB bulb on one end of the tank, no clue what basking temps they used, never bathed him, but they did take him out of his tank and socialize with him a lot. Even his food was different. Lots of fatty stuff... lots of superworms, a pinkie every now and then. They still fed crickets but they gave him iceburg lettuce ( he gets good greens now collard, mustard, etc...).

Shame about the worms. I was so hoping to use them as a staple, but I'm going to have to try the dubias next. I'm sure he won't have issues with them.

 

[uabmicurn]

Just a thought from my side of the world, because I noticed this with my beardie, Al.....I feed him Phoenix worms as well and he absolutely LOVES them. However, if I put a bunch of the worms in a small shallow bowl and let him just gobble, gobble, gobble, he usually will just inhale several of them all of once and will not chew them. It's almost he acts like he's afraid if he doesn't eat them all up within a second or two, they are going to get away from him! :lol: When he eats them this way, I notice that he will poop out whole worms too. But, when I only put one or two worms in front of him at a time, let him eat those, he seems to "go slower" and actually take the time to chew them (maybe he doesn't feel as rushed to eat a bunch because there's not as many that might "get away"? :?: ). Yes, this does take longer to feed him, because I do still give him the same amount of worms I would if I gave him a bunch at a time, but he doesn't seem to have issues with pooping whole worms when I feed them this way.

Like I said, just a thought on something you maybe could try, if you haven't already!!

Good luck!!

 

[ohmybandit]

Don't stress too much! Someone on here posted that if the beardie doesn't bite the Phoenix worm then their body won't break it down to digest it. The worms are just either a little too small or your beardie just pigs out a little too much lol


Bandit did the same thing when she was younger

 

[Mustashio]

We have the same problem with "Phoenix worm Inhalation" over here too! Now if only we could teach our beloved beardies how to use their manners and chew their food before swallowing! I swear they are not bearded dragons they are bearded pigs!! :lol:

 

[SkeptiBee]

They certainly have the pot bellies for it, don't they? :lol:

Right now I've just gone back to the crickets and supers. I swear this guy acts like I never feed him! Some days I'll come home and he'll have salad leftovers but the second I pick up the container of superworms or butterworms or crickets he perks right up and stares intently at me. I've had to start using tongs to feed him as he gets so over zealous, sometimes jumping up at the feeder dish or a worm in my hand, and he's nipped or bit me. Gentle man, he is not. :roll:

Lately he's been digesting his meals, so all is well on the home front.

 

[daner923]

I never asked - how long is he? If he isn't over 16 inches, you really shouldn't feed supers yet.

 

[LassyKate]

Weird.... I'm having similar issues with Harvey, but his worms are all digested, but the greens aren't :| I fed him some collards and kale today (and some other stuff, but I don't know what exactly, just that its all okay for him ) and i threw in some shredded carrots. When he ate it, i was ecstatic, cos he hasn't be eatin' his veggies lately..... But he's pooped three times already today, and this last one (on my mess table) had a LOT of water, and if i didnt know better, I'd say it was pee.. Then he dropped whole chunks of carrots... Any ideas?
He's about six months old, and roughly 16 inches nose to tail...

 

[Jdsbeardie]

I love this forum.

Our approx 4 month old Spikes has been pooping out whole & LIVE Phoenix worms lately .... He even ate some out of his poo yesterday.

Maybe I'll see if I don't give him a bunch at once if he'll slow down. I'm doubtful. He's up to almost 100 dubias in the AM & 30-40 Pw in the evening. Pot belly is right. Maybe I should switch & do pw in the AM? Hmmmmm interesting.

 

[daner923]

100 dubia a feeding!!! Maybe you need to feed slightly larger dubia? You need to make really sure he isn't eating the P-Worms out of his poop, as that's a recipe for parasites.

 

[Jdsbeardie]

100 dubia a feeding!!! Maybe you need to feed slightly larger dubia? You need to make really sure he isn't eating the P-Worms out of his poop, as that's a recipe for parasites.

Oh believe me .... I went to get paper towels to clean up his worm poo, & he are them before I got back. He only ate 2 that I saw. But I will head the parasite warning. Thanks.

I have started to try & stock pils the small dubia, I have what's left of 1000 small order (just got it last week) & 1250 on order. Hoping to start overlapping so they can grow. I don't want to breed them because I AM hopeful at some point he won't eat as much live feeders. Can't wait for him to tear up a salad.

 

[daner923]

He will stop eating as much - once he reaches adulthood (~18 months old) you should be limiting him to 50-60 appropriately sized feeders a week.

 

[Jdsbeardie]

He will stop eating as much - once he reaches adulthood (~18 months old) you should be limiting him to 50-60 appropriately sized feeders a week.

A week? Or a day? He's measuring 13" at this point. He doesn't like crickets (and I don't either) .... Any other feeders you might recommend?

He's barely eating his salads. He will eat a few bites if I hand feed him. We've tried kale, mustard greens, dandelion greens, apple (he likes), banana (likes), cilantro (by far his favorite green but still will only eat 3-5 bites), orange pepper (most recent fav paired with the cilantro) .... Just keep at it?

 

[daner923]

A week. Adults should get 50-60 large enough live bugs a week. Such as adult male dubia roaches, superworms, silworms. I highly highly suggest doing the colony of dubia roaches. He isn't quite big enough for superworms, but dubia come in lots of sizes. They are not smelly, don't jump, don't climb, don't bite, don't make noise, and are more nutritious for your beardie. They're awesome. A bit of an up front cost, but a colony can always be kept on the smaller side. It just takes a few months to get up and running.

And yes, just keep at it with the salads. Try some other greens - turnip, collard, escarole, or even cactus pad if you can find it. And offer it first thing in the day, before he has eaten anything else. Also, sometimes a tiny sprinkling of calcium powder will get them interested.