upset stomach?

[traceyb73]

My 11 week old has had regular bowel movements from the day we got her. All of a sudden, today there was that wet spot in her cage. Jus a few minutes ago she had to go, some urate came out (not as much as I would hae liked) and she was gassy and straining. Instead of poop it was mucus about the size of a pencil eraser. Since she was kind enough to go on my shoulder I know about the gas. Lol she was straining though. Ok, diet...every AM she gets her greens (dandelion greens today), 2 slices of a carrot (sliced thin enough to be transparent, then that is cut into quarters), today I gave her a grape (peeled and cut into small pieces), a tiny piece of banana mashed and mixed with water for consistency and crickets. She usually puts down 60 mediums a day. She actually ate almost all her greens today which is a first and most of the carrot pieces and let the other stuff. (I forgot about a very small piece. Of strawberry that is still there. Yes, crickets are dusted and I put a small amount in with her salad. She does NOT poop in the bath. Doesn't matter what I do, she refuses.I Do give her a fairly short bath nightly and I offer her water throughout the day by putting a drop on her nose. She does drink like that too. I also want to ask about the crickets. I read that they can make them really sick (a virus) and I feed her twice a day. Now I'm afraid that sick crickets might have something to do with the belly problems. if its even true. Any help would be great!

 

[traceyb73]

Just a quick update...she has tried 3 times today. Second time was on me and the only time there was anything close to poop. I am going to give her a nice long soak tonight but meatime she is inside her little cave...she nevr goes in there, always comes over to the front of the cage when she sees me and when I talked she didn't move. She is not acting like herself...

 

[AHBD]

Hi Tracey...no, the crickets can carry worms, but they don't pass a virus on to beardie. If the only thing different was the large salad, fruit and carrots, it just may be that the carrot pieces were a bit too much, or the combination of lots of crix and the big salad. Leave her in the heat of the tank where she can digest everything better [ rather than having her out ] and try an early warmer than usual soak. If she doesn't go by tomorrow, try applesauce, canned pumpkin, baby food prunes or veg. oil. One of those or a combination can get things moving. And the crix are no longer than the space between the eyes ?

 

[ClydesGirl]

It sounds like she may be mildly impacted. My advice would be to NOT PANIC and try apple sauce, pumpkin, or a little oil tomorrow and see if that helps her out at all. Even if she won't poop IN the bath, a warm bath might also help loosen things up.

 

[traceyb73]

Oh how you know me so well. LOL I gave her a nice bath tonight and rubbed her belly (light massaging I guess you could call it), just don't know if I am in the right area. She was acting weird in her cage and hiding but every time she would hear my voice (I use my "inside voice" with her. lol) I would get a reaction, even while in hiding, so I took that as a good sign. She is now sleeping on my shoulder, under my hoodie and her blankie of course, soaking up all of my body heat.

She did eat A LOT today, including her greens which she usually doesn't do alot with other than throw it around her tank like (enter four letter word here) confetti!!!! LOL she will take every little piece and make sure they are all nice and spread out. :roll:

I do want to thank you again for taking the time to find this and reply ClydesGirl. Obviously you know by now I would do anything for this little girl. You and so many others on this site have taught me so much. Your advice, words of encouragement, sympathy (Riley), support, even just humoring me when I asked you to...you have been wonderful and the information learned from this site is absolutely priceless!!

 

[traceyb73]

Hi Tracey...no, the crickets can carry worms, but they don't pass a virus on to beardie. If the only thing different was the large salad, fruit and carrots, it just may be that the carrot pieces were a bit too much, or the combination of lots of crix and the big salad. Leave her in the heat of the tank where she can digest everything better [ rather than having her out ] and try an early warmer than usual soak. If she doesn't go by tomorrow, try applesauce, canned pumpkin, baby food prunes or veg. oil. One of those or a combination can get things moving. And the crix are no longer than the space between the eyes ?

Thank you so much for the info! I am soooo careful with leaving her in there after she eats. I literally watch the clock to make sure it over 2 hours. seriously, after the first one I am doing everything by the book plus some! She is so easy to handle now. I put her down on the floor (on a blanket so she doesn't get cold) and she jumps up on me, usually running up and down my legs/stomach/chest a few times. LOL Lately she has been climbing on my face and head. We do have this down to a science though. When I take her out, I give her a chance to run around for a while and get it out of her system, then she is ready to cuddle. I am very careful with her and when she is awake, I always make sure I have my hand over her body so she can't jump off. Not sure if she would try being so trusting, but I'm not taking my chances!!

I wonder if she didn't eat some of the bananas or the strawberry. I've given her a grape before and nothing, but I could hear the gas coming out of her when she was trying to go on my shoulder. I felt so bad. Then I could hear the noises her belly was making. poor thing is liable to explode once she gets going. Tomorrow I will be worried about the opposite thing. lol :roll: That was why I held her so long tonight. I felt so bad she was feeling so crappy. I couldn't just dump her in the cage when she was so much happier being held. Not when she was sick. I'm going to skip the carrots tomorrow (she is going to be sooo MAD!!!) and just go with the greens and see how she does. At least now I know I don't have to worry about the crickets! I would love to know where you guys go online to get crickets. It's time...I'm tired of going to Petco or one of these stores and giving them money a few times a week when I could be helping someone in our community here.

Thanks again!!!!

 

[AHBD]

You can try Ghann's, that's where I get mine , or just Google cricket breeders and see who has the best prices. I've heard others use Premium cricket, I think LLLreptile sells crix as well, but I could be wrong.

 

[traceyb73]

You can try Ghann's, that's where I get mine , or just Google cricket breeders and see who has the best prices. I've heard others use Premium cricket, I think LLLreptile sells crix as well, but I could be wrong.

Thank you!

 

[ClydesGirl]

I use Ghann's as well. The only thing I'd point out about them is their crickets tend to run on the smaller side, so I would order a size or two bigger than you normally would. For your little Zoey, you would probably want to order at least 1/2" crickets from them. Maybe a little bigger even.

If you order from Premium Crickets or Flukers, their 1/2" crickets are probably too big, so you'll want to go down a size or two. A warning about Premium Crickets: their boxes are very wide and flat, so the opening is quite big. It can be awkward to dump them into your cricket bin unless it's quite large. My bins are just barely larger than the opening of their boxes, so it's quite a challenge. I find Ghann's boxes to be a much more manageable size.

 

[traceyb73]

Oh,thank you for telling me that! Last batch came from Petco...they had either small or large. Usually the smalls are mediums but not this time. she HATES the small ones!!

I will be hanging onto this info.

 

[traceyb73]

She finally pooped!!! YAY! I was shocked that it was formed too. She must feel so much better. I do have yet another question though. I gave her some canned pumpkin this AM, and she really loved it. I put some in her dish but I was wondering if I can keep offering it to her. She was so excited when she smelled it that she bit my finger (good thing there apparently are really not teeth in the front. LOL), she was just gulping it down. Isn't pumpkin in the squash family? I know that is good for them. Just curious.

 

[ClydesGirl]

Pumpkin is on the "feed occasionally" list on Beautiful Dragons, but there are some other squashes listed on there that can be fed daily, so you should try some of those out and see how she likes them!

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[Mummapinkham]

That was why I held her so long tonight. I felt so bad she was feeling so crappy.

I understand that one oh too well. My Harry seemed to have an upset belly the past couple of days so I had a light on my table beside my bed and let him cuddle with me today to make him feel better! He loved the attention and the comfort of being in my bed and still had his basking light to help his belly and keep him warm. I felt bad putting him in his viv while he felt crappy!! So I roasted under his light with him so he knew I was concerned, lol The things we do for our Beardies!!

 

[traceyb73]

Hi Tracey...no, the crickets can carry worms, but they don't pass a virus on to beardie. If the only thing different was the large salad, fruit and carrots, it just may be that the carrot pieces were a bit too much, or the combination of lots of crix and the big salad. Leave her in the heat of the tank where she can digest everything better [ rather than having her out ] and try an early warmer than usual soak. If she doesn't go by tomorrow, try applesauce, canned pumpkin, baby food prunes or veg. oil. One of those or a combination can get things moving. And the crix are no longer than the space between the eyes ?

Hey I did the pumpkin and it worked. A little too well. She pooped light brown water last night. I think her belly is still really hurting, obviously by what is coming out of her, but also because she has been lethargic and I could swear I hear her stomach making noises when I was holding her. (I am always generous on the 2 hours after eating rule. I like to be on the safe side with my little one so I give her a bit over 2 hours just to be sure.) I have NEVER given her a large cricket. I am going to start ordering them online this week but until now we have been getting them mainly from Petco. They only carry large and small so I get her the small. The size of them usually varies greatly (sometimes 3 will equal one normal size cricket for her, other times they are just the right size for her) but I never get the big ones. This time they are actual just the perfect size for her and for paying $21 for 150 crickets, I kind of expected them to be trained to walk into Zoey's mouth or something. That price is off the wall! .14 cents a cricket is weird. The woman who works there told me she gets hers from Ghann's and I think she was a manager no less! :shock:

 

[traceyb73]

That was why I held her so long tonight. I felt so bad she was feeling so crappy.

I understand that one oh too well. My Harry seemed to have an upset belly the past couple of days so I had a light on my table beside my bed and let him cuddle with me today to make him feel better! He loved the attention and the comfort of being in my bed and still had his basking light to help his belly and keep him warm. I felt bad putting him in his viv while he felt crappy!! So I roasted under his light with him so he knew I was concerned, lol The things we do for our Beardies!!

I was just thinking those exact words when I read them from you!!! The things we do!!!! But it's all worth it. And I know we all hate seeing them hurting.