Hi all - hoping someone can advise me on some questions I have. I acquired a stray Bearded Dragon several months ago - I think around May/June (she was found outdoors by a friend). I do not know how old she is (believe its a she, but could be a he), but she's pretty good sized (estimate her body to be about 9 inches or so, not including her tail). Her head is about 2 inches across - I can fit my entire thumb and then some between her eyes. Frank has been a fairly good eater since we acquired her - we feed her mainly crickets and waxworms - we tried greens, etc. but she stubbornly refuses to touch them. We bought her pellets - she won't eat those either. She's got a big water dish (she can climb in it at will) and she is misted daily or more often as well. We got her some sort of UVB light (can't remember right now), and she's in a 40 gallon tank with a crushed walnut substrate. I think its probably colder than it should be, but its very difficult to keep the temp up in this house She does not, however, spend much time under her light, and prefers to move away from it most of the time, so I'm not sure she's cold. We did move her from a much warmer room about a couple months ago, into the living room, which seemed to make her more active and happier. This coincided with a move to her new cage and the substrate - prior to that, she was on newspaper, for about a month. She's very active and inquisitive and does not seem sick in any way. She looks good (she seemed thin when we got her, but has plumped up since).
The problem is that in all the time she's been here, I have NEVER seen her have a bowel movement. Never... Until three days ago, when she produced an enormous pile of feces. I have read and was aware that they are prone to impactions, but having never seen her stool, assumed it was simply small and/or liquid, and I simply wasn't noticing it. Since she was eating normally and appeared to be acting fine, I was not concerned. Now though, having seen this huge pile of feces, I am paranoid that she had been impacted the entire time I've had her - is that POSSIBLE? Wouldn't she be sick? She's been even more active since the big poop, but seems to not be interested in her crickets the last few days. However, we did start getting crickets from a new source two weeks ago, and they are somewhat bigger than her usual crickets. We haven't offered her any waxworms in a couple weeks, so am not sure if she's holding out for them. Additionally, its getting to be fall, so am not sure if she's getting ready to brumate, and if this accounts for her diminished appetite. Also, starting about 2 weeks ago, she's started doing a lot of digging in her substrate. That seems to have abated since the big poop. I don't know if I would know if she were eggbound, but she doesn't *appear* to be. She seems to be acting the same as she normally does.
We do gutload the crickets and shake them in some powdered calcium supplement once or twice a week. She usually eats 6-8 big (1/2 - 1") crickets a day and that seems to be normal for her. The only thing I've noticed that is different about her is I can see her breathing. This may sound strange, but up until the last week or so, you could never see her sides move when she breathes, and now you can. It doesn't seem to be labored breathing, and there is no nasal or ocular discharge. She seems perfectly normal except the diminished appetite. She is watching the crickets as though she'd like to eat them, but doesn't.
I have taken to soaking her in warm water daily for the last couple days, gave her a few drops of vegetable oil on Wed. and again on Friday, but no stool.
I don't know if she has a problem or not. I am a vet tech, so not a complete idiot, despite how it might seem, but we don't treat reptiles, so am kind of at a loss as to whether she has an issue or doesn't. I'd be really grateful for some advice.

Welcome to Herpcenter!
First thing is ditch the crushed walnut,..That stuff is dangerous! Most either use paper or rock for a substrate. Some use fine sand but there is an impaction risk there.
If the dragon has not been fed greens before it may take a bit to get it to take it but you really need to try as that is where they get a great deal of their nutrition and water needs. Try backing off of the bugs for a couple of days and feed the greens in the morning.
Some sort of UVB bulb is pretty vague. Look on the bulb and give us the brand. Some are better than others and some are complete junk.
If I understand,... you do not have any sort of heating device on the tank?You cannot keep a Bearded Dragon at room temperature. They are a desert type of animal and need higher temperatures to maintain their body functions. If they are not warm enough they cannot digest their food. This may be the reason for the amount of time the lizard did not defecate. Keeping it too cool will also lead to illness. Also do not overdo the spraying. They live in a pretty arid environment.
Check out our care sheet. It should help you.
http://reptileguides.herpcenter.com/...-t15.html?t=15

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

You shouldn't be guessing. You should be using thermometers to measure the temps so you know exactly what they are. A digital thermometer with an external probe from Walmart will run you 10-15 dollars.

The idea isn't to keep the temps up in the house. You need to create the proper gradient in the enclosure itself.

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I agree with Merlin, add a ceramic heat emitter to one end to get a temperature gradient. To entice her to eat the veggies add some bright colors to the top. Strawberries, red or yellow pepper or butternut squash (all chopped very fine) will do the trick.

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[quote=Merlin;130474]Welcome to Herpcenter!
First thing is ditch the crushed walnut,..That stuff is dangerous!>>

Well, that's upsetting, as we spent a lot of time going through substrates, and this one was specifically labeled for bearded dragons... I'll change it to newspaper.



If the dragon has not been fed greens before it may take a bit to get it to take it but you really need to try as that is where they get a great deal of their nutrition and water needs. Try backing off of the bugs for a couple of days and feed the greens in the morning. >>

We've actually tried not feeding her, and even after several days of not eating, she snubs the greens. We've tried it in a dish, out of a dish, hand feeding her, putting crickets in the dish with the greens, and even putting it in her mouth, at which point she just spits them out. How long is it safe to not feed her for?


Some sort of UVB bulb is pretty vague. Look on the bulb and give us the brand. Some are better than others and some are complete junk. >>

Hopefully its not complete junk... There were a million choices at the pet store, so I bought one that seemed middle of the road and it was pretty expensive...

If I understand,... you do not have any sort of heating device on the tank?You cannot keep a Bearded Dragon at room temperature. They are a desert type of animal and need higher temperatures to maintain their body functions. If they are not warm enough they cannot digest their food. This may be the reason for the amount of time the lizard did not defecate. Keeping it too cool will also lead to illness. >>

No, I don't have anything seperate. What would you recommend? We had originally had just a plain lightbulb over the tank for heat, but then we bought the other light, which was labeled as a UVB "basking light" if I remember right, so I thought it would be adequate. There seemed to be a million choices for lights, and I found it confusing. Can you specifically tell me which one(s) are best?

Also do not overdo the spraying. They live in a pretty arid environment.>>

How often then? It seemed like she should have water daily, but maybe not? She spends a considerable amount traipsing through her water dish, so maybe misting isn't necessary at all?

Does it sound like she's ill and needs a vet?

Thanks for your help.

Are these made for animals, or are they more of a household item? I've been to quite a number of pet stores and haven't seen something that sounds like what you're mentioning.

They are at petstores and made for reptiles, you can also find them on line
everythingreptilesupply.com

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Ohh yeah that walnut crap is about the worst substrate out there next to crushed corncobs and dirty hypodermic needles.

First off, don't beleive ANYTHING a petstore tells you, they are looking for profit most of the time where as online forums aere looking out for the well being of the animal.

My parent's bought a bag of that walnut stuff my Bearded Dragon years ago, as soon as they put him in the tank he took a big mouthful of I and just about drowned him trying to get him to spit it out. Since then he's been on newspaper (only for about a week until I found out he was tearing it up and eating it) then I put him on carpet in which case he tried to pull up the corners ad eat it, now he's got the carpet on the bottom covered with rocks and such so he can't chew on it. (I NEVER claimed he was bright)
What i'm getting at is tht it takes alot of looking around.

From the sounds of it you either have a UVB light OR a basking light, but not a combination. If you want a combo light that heats and puts out UVB look here: Welcome To ReptileUV - Mega-Ray® UVB lamps for reptile lighting worldwide

Also realize that a UV light doesnt work if it has screen between it and the dragon unless the screen is something like a 1/4 inch between bars.

I personally would be VERY freaked out if Zola didn;t go for months, he could have kidney damage among other things. If you guys send out your blood at work to have pannels run i'd call the company and see if they have done enough bearded dragons to know what is normal, and even though you don;t see reptiles see if they'll do a full pannel to check things, or atleast find out what his BUN should be and check his Ca/Ph ratio.

Another thing to add to what you are already doing would be to massage her belly from breastbone down to vent while shes soaking to see if you can get things moving.

I've lso found that zola wont go in his tankand only wants to go after he's been out running around like a maniac.

Welcome ot the site, best of luck!

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~*~Lacey~*~

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Thats the problem with pet store stuff. A lot of it is very misleading and someoff it is outright lies.

You can find a digital thermometer at most any hardware or garden store. I prefer thewse as not only do they have a remote probe so you can actually read temps in 2 areas but they have a minimum/maximum feature that will tell you exactly how cold or warm it has been in the tank.

For heat alone I use regular household incandescent bulbs. Most bulbs that are labeled as basking bulbs are NOT UVB generating. Is your UVB bulb a flourescent or does it get hot?

I do not mist my dragons but rather take them every so often and let them swim in the tub. If you do choose to mist do it early in the morning so that it dries out quickly.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Some Pet store managers arent that bad.....................

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Answers are great. But I prefer questions!

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