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HELP I fear my adult female may be impacted. I have read alot about this however have never had to deal with it. I may be just over reacing however what are the symptoms. I have noticed her being just a smidge less active recently she was also burrowing inder the rocks in her cage. I was thinking maybe she laid some eggs, however i checked and there are none in the caqge. just a few min ago I thought to check her Cloaca because i beleive thats where you can first notice signs of impaction. Its does in fact look dirty and I am worried that this is a bad sign. It seems to be dirty arround the cloca and maybe a little "grainy" however I use the walnut shells and this seems to be a finr grain if it is infact a grain. she did used to be on a regular sand when I got her about a month ago. are ther other signs I can look for and if infact she is impacted what can i do to stop it can a vet do anything to help her. thanks for everything.

Joel

Give her a warm soak and see if you can get her to poop. A few drops of mineral oil might help also. Walnut shells are absolutely horrible, they not only have an impaction risk they are also very sharp and can cause cuts in the intestinal tract. I'm not a big fan of sand either, or any loose substrate for that matter, it's like forcing them to live in their own toilet. A vet can give an enema but it needs to be an experienced vet or they can really do some damage doing it.
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Heart Mountain Herps

is there a sure fire way to decide if this is whats going on or if im just overparanoid.

not pooping is a pretty good sign. babies are easier to tell because it creates pressure on the spine and you get neurological symptoms (siezing, paralysis, etc.) that go with it. Adults have a better success rate with treatment though. Also there are varrying degrees of impaction from severe to mild.
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Heart Mountain Herps

A dirty vent doesn't necessary mean impaction. If she has not been pooping for several days or you can feel a hard lump in the lower body, these are more indications of impaction. A warm soak as was already suggested is one way to help dragons pass if they are constipated. Giving them a few drops of minerial oil or a level teaspoon of pureed carrot or squash also helps loosen things up.

Crushed walnut shell is notorious in causing impaction in dragons and most other reptiles. I would deffinitely recommend getting rid of it completely and put her on papertowel for now. If a few days of warm soaks (soaking once or twice a day for 10-20 minutes in a luke warm bath (about 75-85F water) not too deep, about up to the dragon's armpits should get them to go to the bathroom.

If there is any straining with nothing coming out and loss of appetite, I suggest taking your dragon to a qualified reptile vet right away, if the soaking, carrots or minerial oil have done nothing to allow them to poop, then take to a vet as well. Vets have a few tools on hand to relief impaction. Some injections to break down the impaction, an enoma (make sure he really knows what he is doing as it is possible to seriously injure your dragon if not done right) or surgery to remove the obstruction completely.

Though pretty graphic, this link with detailed photo's of a disection of a dead young bearded dragon (died due to impaction from crushed walnut shell which it was also kept on) deffinitely gives a strong message about the risks of crushed walnut shells.

mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm
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PHLdyPayne

as gross as it may be, it is certainly a good leasson in anatomy, substrate and why one should NOT wait for a vet visit. Thanks for posting it.
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