Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I hope I'm not bugging anyone, but my Dragon doesn't seem to be pooping on a Regular Basis, unless I'm mistakened, mine only poops every 3-4 Days, he's very Alert, Active, and eating regularly, but seemingly having a hard time pooping, I don't think the heating could be the problem, I use a 150Watt Tight Beam and a CHE to help heat it further considering it gets cold in the house. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong... I do use calcium sand, which I will change ASAP as soon as I can. (Changing to Reptile Carpet) Is there something wrong with Disgestion system? Take note, he's done since I first got him, he eats but doesn't poop for 2-3 days.

Oh yea, forgot to add, yes, I do have a UVB lighting on the tank to.

How old is your Dragon? How long is he? What is the temperature at his basking spot?

Might also help if you told us what you were feeding them.

I really do apologize for the lack of information in that department, I will remember next time to supply sufficient information about the Dragon. He is currently around 5-6" from Head to Tail, I am feeding him crickets now, dusted with Calcium Suppliment, sometimes Herpitove, but I only do that one times a week according to what someone told me. I was feeding him WaxWorms before, because he became addicted to them, but now he's back on the crickets again. The basking spot remains at a 115 Degrees, possibly more, considering I put the Temperature guage on the top of the log and it continues to rise beyond 120 Mark line, but I was also told these are very inaccurate, so I'll try buying a more accurate one soon. I've noticed one time he used the bathroom while I was giving him a bath. Could the lack of Water be a problem?

I would say you're Dragon is unusual.

I would definately get a digital thermometer with a probe. When Dragons are cool their metabolism slows. This usually means they eat less and therefore poop less. A 5-6" Dragon is a baby, probably under or about 1 month old. Your should be feeding him appropriate sized crickets (1/4 - 3/8" at least 2 times a day (I never had any luck with feeding more often than 2) If he eats 20 a day that would be good.

Calcium. I'm not sure if you're only dusting with Calcium once a week or just Vitamins. So I'll list what I would do.

You need Calcium with D3 but no phosphorous (also no Vitamin A) and you should be dusting the crickets every meal. One meal a week I would dust with Vitamins alone instead of the calcium. I would use the RepCal Calcium & Vitamins since they use Beta Caratine instead of Vitamin A.

Temperature. The hottest part of the basking spot should be 110 - 120. The backgroung temperature(air temp) should be about 85 on the hot end. The cool end should be 70-75.

You didn't say but his tank should be no smaller than a 20Gal. Long (30 x 12 x 12H) in order to have the proper temperature gradients.

Moisture. When dragons are dehydrated they have difficulty going to the bathroom. Going in the bath is normal at any age. I commonly bath them when I want them to poop. There should be a small water dish in his cage. Can be like a large bottle cap for his size. You should be giving him fresh greens everyday. Mist the greens when you put then in and throughout the day if you can. That way when he eats the greens he gets water. Many won't drink from the water dish. I also offer mine water from an eyedropper daily. You can also mist the Dragon so some water will be absorbed through the skin. Mine hated this so I stopped doing it as they got to about 12"

Sand. I would definately remove the sand right away. That's a possible disaster waiting to happen. Just use newspaper or paper towels until you get the Carpet.

Hope this helps.

Actually I misread the measurments he's actually big, he's 8-9 Inches. I believe his bathroom problems are coming from the lack of Water. I do put water in the tank, but I've rarely seen him go drink. I do notice he uses the bathroom quite often after bathing, so I've decided to start misting him 3-4x a day, and bathe every other day. Question remains, how do I know he's still getting moisture?

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Dehydration.html

Check out the above website. They give a good description of dehydration.