Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was getting worried about my new dragon. She arrived last Wednesday and is almost 4 months old. She still hasn't pooped!
Her basking temp is 105 Fahrenheit and the cool end of her cage is around 80.
I noticed on another board the product called Dragon Dust was mentioned as cause of constipation. I did use that on her insects and also the veggie version on her veggies.

Anybody know anything about this product? When should I get worried about her not pooping?

I use dragon dust ICB (insect cricket balancer). my lizards are just going on three months and i use it every feeding. they are just fine and poop every day several times and are growin like crazy. if your lizard was/is kept on sand chances are it could have eaten some and possibly impacted. keep all hatchlings/ juveniles on newspaper or paper towels until atleast 15 inches. size of prey could also be a problem. smaller is better with young dragons.

also basking temp should be 110 to 115 for hatchlings and juveniles. 100 to 105 for adults. also a good uv light for calcium absorbtion repti-sun 5.0 or 10.0

I have read that the dragon dust can cause impaction but I think this risk can easily be prevented by not going overboard on how much of the dust put on greens and insects. I know the bottle does say to be liberal with the stuff but I think no more than a very light coating is needed. Mist the greens after applying as well, to ensure plenty of moisture is injested with the dust.

As your dragon is not pooping and eating normally, I would look into trying other usual remedies for constipation. Give your dragon a luke warm bath for about 10-20 minutes, very light gentle massage on the stomach moving from the stomach down towards the vent (don't squeeze or push down hard, your finger should barely depress the skin). Removing any loose substrate from the cage (ie sand, calci-sand, crushed walnut etc) and using paper towel, newsprint etc will also help prevent accidently impactions. Keeping greens well chopped and insects less than the space between the dragon's eyes, will all help prevent impaction.

You can also feed your dragon a teaspoon of pureed carrots, sweet potatoe or summer squash with his normal meal. The high water and fibre content of the puree often helps move things around. A bit of minerial or vegetable oil can help as well. I would try a combination of baths (maybe 2-3 a day, spaced out as possible) adding the puree to their diet and the gentle massaging for a few days.

If your dragon continues to go without pooping after a couple days of soaking etc, as suggested above, I suggest taking him to a vet, especially if he stops eating or shows any signs of stress or discomfort.
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PHLdyPayne

I went into my office today and already thought the cat had had a bad reaction to the new cat food (litter box is in the same room) because it was very smelly!
Then there it was: a super huge poop on the basking log.
Before she was shipped to me I had asked the breeder how many crickets she was eating to gauge how many I should get. She told me she didn't feed many crickets to her dragons at all and instead fed greens and meal worms.
I am thinking maybe she got constipated because of the mealworm overload?
I had ordered her some crix anyway and she loved those. Ate bunches of them today and left the mealworms in the dish...

Constipation was a VERY common complaint symptom that many owners and breeders also experienced when they started using the Dragon Dust when it first came out. Lethargic was another one.

In all cases when they Dragon Dust was stopped, they symptoms disappeared and in people like Wideglide and others that tried to reintroduce it, the same thing happened again.

So breeder felt that really high hydration helped avoid the problems, I threw out the samples we were given as there are other products out there that are proven effective like Rep_cal and time tested that do not have possible negative side effects.

If she has a problem again and your temps are right, Substrate safe and no mealies unitl she is loder to digest them and supers good (12 inches and 5 months both) then please discontinuing using this and try other proven supplements.
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