Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My girlfriend just took our beardie Whip to the vet the other day for a fecal and a check up. From his last visit in Jan he went from 75 to 210 grams yesterday. He's nine months old and about 11 inches long from nose to tip. We think he's slowed down growing even though he eats like a pig , but we were a little worried he may have a parasite infection . The vet said Cocidea was normal in dragons and nothing to be to worried about, despite the fact that Whip's stool is kinda runny and mucusy. Would the Cocidea be doing this? Could it be something else? His veggies are romaine, mostly, with some carrot and squash, sometimes a diffrent mix of greens depending on whats on sale . Just could use some thoughts here from you pros, I'd like to have a big dragon. Not a runty one.

~M

It is true that dragons do always contain some amount of coccidia in their bodies. However, it is when stress or something else causes the population of coccidia to multiply that problems occur. However from the diet you describe you give your dragon, I think that is the main reason he has runny stools. Romaine, carrots and squash all have a high content of water and fibre which can cause runny stools. Nor are they good stable vegetables to be feeding your dragon.

The best stables to feed are collard greens, dandelion greens, endive, escaroli, mustard greens or turnup greens. Other greens, such as kale, romaine, Chinese cabbage etc, are added for variety. Then a small protion of various vegetables can be added for variety as well, such as carrots, squash, peas, stringbeans, bell peppers etc. But the bulk of your greens should be 2-3 of the first group I mentioned. (ie Collards to turnup greens)

As your dragon is still young, he should still be getting one or two feedings of insects every day, dusting one feeding 2-3 times a week with calcium/multivitamin powders. Good insects are crickets (no bigger than space between the dragon's eyes) silkworms, some superworms, hornworms, various species of soft bodied roaches or butterworms.
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PHLdyPayne

We will switch the greens diet over this week. Regarding dusting the crickets...he gets fed crix every evening around 7ish . We dust the crix with Calcium powder every time, and he gets his vitamins once a week...this an alright scedule?

~Matthew

That should be fine for now. Once he reaches full adulthood (about 12-14 months of age) I would cut back the calcium dustings to 2-3 times a week.

You mentioned you feed insects at 7pm? Is he getting at least two hours of light before lights go off at night? Dragons do need time to digest their food before lights out (ie bedtime). If they are not getting that time, digestive problems can occur, as the food can start to rot in their stomachs while they sleep.
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PHLdyPayne

His lights out time is like at 9:15...and his hot spot is around 100-110 depending on where he is sitting.His abient temps at night are still in the high 70's low 80's I believe but its been a while since I checked. 7ish is the latest he eats his crickets though we don;t feed him after that..so if he misses a bug meal, he gets mealies in his veggies in the morning. My girlfriend told me she is switching back to the spring bagged mix...but I'm gonna try and pick up some of the other stuff you mentioned on my way up today.

Here's an unrelated question..I was thinking about bringing him outside this weekend. Its supposed to be sunny but only about 65 or so. If he spends the morning warming up..will it be alright to bring him outside for a few hours this weekend? He hasn;t reallly had any natural sunlight yet.

~Matthew

65F is a little cool to bring brearded out into, especially if that is the expected high. However, sunny areas sheltered from wind could be much warmer in air temp. Bring a thermometer outside and check the sunny area and see if it's above 65. If it is it will be ok to let your bearded have some natural light for a bit. Make sure he is in a secure container to bask (rubbermaid is fine) and don't leave him unattended. Bearded dragons can get spooked easily and vanish with only a moments inattention, especially if not contained in anything.
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PHLdyPayne