Weird Colored Poop

[Autumnadele]

Hello! I currently have a bearded dragon who is about 4-5 months old. He has been doing great except I have noticed lately that his poops are less formed and more mushy than they were the 1st couple of months. With that, today he had a poop that had orange in it, and I am very concerned. He is also acting a bit more lethargic today than usual. Normally, he sits on top of a wooden block under his basking light and has periods where he goes back and forth from the cool spot to the basking spot, however, today he seems to be hiding under the wooden piece and taking periodic naps.

Lighting: I have a zoo med T5 reptisun hood that has a 10.0 UVB bulb in it - which covers about 2/3 of the tank. I also have a Zoo Med basking bulb in a dome fixture that is on 1 side of his enclosure.

Temp And humidity- the cool side of his tank stays about 75-80F while the basking side is around 90-100F. The tank stays at around 30-40% humidity, but I usually can not get it lower than that (I live in Texas ?)

Tank- I currently have him in a 40 gallon tank, but because of his rapid growth, I am currently setting up a Zen Habitat 4x2x2 for him to have more space.

Nutrition- honestly, he eats a ton! I usually feed him about 3 times per day; with a variety of different bugs. He will eat crickets, Dubia roaches, BSFL, and superworms. I have read some forums that suggest not feeding superworms, so I try not to do this often, but he does super love them. I have tried a variety of vegetables, but he really loves Kale so I was feeding him this pretty often. I read that this might not be a great staple veggie for beardies though, so I just bought some mustard greens and collard greens and today he ate some broccoli and a few cut up blueberries.

Calcium and supplements- I currently have Zoo Med’s Repti Calcium with D3 and give this about 4-5 times per week. I also have Flucker’s Reptile Vitamin with Beta Carotene and give this to him about 2 times per week. I have read some conflicting information online, so I am just curious if this is okay? Also, I am a bit confused on if I need a calcium with/without D3?

Substrate- I originally had the reptile carpet from Petco, but I found it pretty horrible to use. It was difficult to clean and things seemed to stick to it, so I did not like it. Currently, I am using dry paper towels as a temporary solution while I am setting up his new enclosure (which will have textured tile).

He is also still moving around and eating today, he just seems a bit less active than usual. He is also shedding on his tail, so I am not sure if this could be a cause for the lethargy? I am still concerned on his stool color and I am not sure if this is something that I need to take him to the vet for?

Thank you in advance for any recommendations and advice! I super appreciate it!!!

 

[CooperDragon]

That actually looks really well formed. I've seen the orange tint around urate before and it usually isn't cause for concern, although I'm not certain what causes it. It could be a hydration issue or perhaps just how some bit of food/nutrient was processed. Maybe cut down (or eliminate for a while) on the supplements. With your T5, you probably don't need to use the D3 supplement. Just plain calcium should be OK. As he gets older and starts eating more veges, you can usually offer enough of a variety of those to provide adequate vitamins and minerals so the multivitamin probably won't be necessary. Just a light calcium dusting on the live bugs should do.

For now, ease up on the supplements and see how that goes. Offer some hydrating veges like summer squash/zucchini and maybe offer some drops of water on his nose to help give him more hydration for kidney function.

 

[Autumnadele]

Thank you so much for replying so quickly! I will definitely try what you suggested and see if anything changes Thanks again!