about a week and a half ago I switched my bearded dragon to a new 75 gallon tank with sand substrate. She is 13-14 inches long. She didnt poop in her new tank for four days so I soaked her in warm water and she pooped. I noticed that she licks the sand a few times whenever I put her back in the tank after taking her out. Do you think she is licking up enough sand to get impacted? I put her back in her old tank with newspaper substrate for three days just in case she was impacted and she pooped every day. yesterday I put an area of newspaper in her big tank so she would recognoze the newspaper and poop on it and put her back in it(I feel bad about switching her to new tanks she is probably stressed). Does anyone have any ideas about why she isnt pooping?

Thanks!

__________________
Bill
0.0.3 painted turtles
0.1.0 bearded dragons (Sandy)

Is she eating? I doubt that she would consume enough sand to be impacted in a weeks time unless she is swallowing mouthfuls of it. Sand is something that impacts based on longterm consumption.
It may be as you surmise stress from the moving back and forth. Put her in one tank and leave her there for a while and see. Daily bouts of warm water baths are a good idea as well. We take ours out first thing in the morning, put him in the sink in an inch or so of warm water and he goes. Very seldom does he defecate in the cage.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Ditto Merlin!!

__________________
Answers are great. But I prefer questions!

Visit me at www.jaysreptiles.com

Sounds like stress to me, but I am totally against sand as substrate. Heard too many horror stories about it. I know some people here keep theres on sand and thats up to them, but I know the risks and choose to use wheatbran, or even the rubbery shelf liner is a good choice. I was on a site yesterday that had an x-ray o fan impacted Bearded Dragon from sand so I know there is proof! I will try to find it again and post it for ya!

__________________
Julie & Brad

okay, here is the link

http://www.reptilerooms.com/Sections...87-page-1.html

Hope this helps you!

__________________
Julie & Brad

She is eating fine. She doesnt eat mouth fulls of sand, she just licks it a few times when I put her back in her cage. Sometimes she doesnt even lick the sand she licks her backing branch. I didnt think she was impacted but I thought I would say something just in case. Contrary to your Bearded Dragons mine normally only poops in her tank. The only time she has not pooped in it was when I gave her a bath earlier this week. I normally give her a bath 1-2 times a week, and spray her after she eats(2-3 times). Julie and Brad, I had a hard time deciding between sand and reptilecarpet, but I decided to give sand a try. After seeing that x-ray it makes me wonder if it made the right choice. Thanks for all of your help

__________________
Bill
0.0.3 painted turtles
0.1.0 bearded dragons (Sandy)

Have you tried wheat bran, looks nice like sand, they can dig in it and its easy to clean up pooh!!! Pretty cheap too! you can get a 10 pound bag of it for under 10 bucks at most feed stores! I personally like the way sand looks, but would never put my Bearded Dragons back on it!

__________________
Julie & Brad

yeah its dirt cheap. i got a 50lb. bag for $8.50