Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will touch on the problem real quick then give you his daily routine and tank set up. His feces seems to be very runny and thin.

I just bought Saku 5 days ago. He looks to be an Adult or on his way to becoming one. He is 12-15 inches long but seems to be fairly skinny. He stands up right and doesnt drag his belly (sometimes after i have had him out a long time) and he is active and shows no signs of problems at all (as far as i can tell).

He eats,

~ crickets (every other day or so, well thats the plan...),
~ waxworms,
~ colored greens (every day)
~ canned carrots (no salt) (every day)
~ canned potatos (no salt) (every day)
~ shreded carrots (i cut up) (every day)
~ green beans (every day)

He gets sprayed every morning and at lest once more during the day and sometiems before he goes to bed. His water also gets sprayed in the morning when i put it in the tank.

He has a basking spot on a nice log about 6inches from the heat lamp and about 6-10 from the UVB light.

Im mildly concerned. I read somewhere that runny feces is a sign of problems. But on the other hand im thinking it might be contributed to the fact he is eating lots of watery products (canned veggies are real watery and squishy). I also need to mention that he has not had crickets in 2 days, my order of 1000 crickets arrives today. Im thinking that might attribute even more so.

So im not sure what the cause is....

One one hand he is skinny....

On the other it could just be his diet for the past few days...

Dont freak this happens time to time but unless it persists then a vet check might be in order. Is the food runny when you feed it to him by runny i mean real wet? Also how hot is the basking spot temp, it should be about 110 degrees. Keep up the greens but try fresh, mustard greens etc and think about pellet food also. But the short time youve had him he could be stressed etc, so basicly as long as it clears up soon you should be fine, but try to feed him food thats not soaking wet and see if that helps. scott

Thats what i figured, but id rather be safe then be sorry!

As for the food. He gets fresh collored greens, fresh greenbeans and lil strips of carots. In addition he gets canned (no salt) carrots and potatos which are very soggy and wet. But he LOVES um!

He hasnt had crickets in two days because im waiting for my shipment to come in. We orderd 1000 crickets tuesday and ar arriving today. Ill look into pellet food as well, its jsut the greens are real cheap.

This morning so far he has refused to eat. Like ya said, im just gonna play it out and see how it turns out.

Thanks alot!

just remember if it persists dont wait to long find a good reptile vet as hard as that is to do. Where are you from maybe some one here can recomend a good herp vet, and thats a good thing to have on hand. Dont hesitste to email me if needed. scott

Ive got a real good exotic pet hospital/vet. I own 2 snakes 2 cats and a frog and my GF owns an iguana, 3 snakes, scorpion, tarantula, 6 birds and 4 dogs so were definetly good on the vets! *lol*

It jsut gets quite expensive and i dont want to take him in unles sim sure there is something wrong, but i definetly wont wait to long to take him in. Im going to take him off the canned foods and feed him lots o crickets tonight and see how it turns out in the mroning.

Thanks again!

>>Ive got a real good exotic pet hospital/vet. I own 2 snakes 2 cats and a frog and my GF owns an iguana, 3 snakes, scorpion, tarantula, 6 birds and 4 dogs so were definetly good on the vets! *lol*
>>
>>It jsut gets quite expensive and i dont want to take him in unles sim sure there is something wrong, but i definetly wont wait to long to take him in. Im going to take him off the canned foods and feed him lots o crickets tonight and see how it turns out in the mroning.
>>
>>Thanks again!

something (oxilates) that bind with the calcium preventing it from being useable.

Check this out!!

Good sight

Look at the nutrition section. That will tell you what you should be feeding and how often!!

Good luck!
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Rob

Hmmmm link is broken. o(

Hmmm definetly didnt know that about carrots! Can ya fix the link for me so i can do some reading on it? And thanks a bunch!

Go to www.beautifuldragons.com It's a great site, and I have it bookmarked. Excellent source of information. You'll find the list there.

Mkay im gonna go check it out after i get back from picking up those crickets!

Also i have another Question..

Saku opens his mouth alot when basking. He just sits and opens it up. I thought they do that when they are too hot? Could this be a symptom of something? Or is he just too hot?

hes just hot not a big deal. But your headed in the right dirction now. Good luck

WOW I just took a temp reading under the baskign spot. No wonder he has hism outh open! My flukers guage goes from 65 - 110, and at 6-8 inches away from the basking light it has almost made its way allt he way back around to 65!

Is this a problem? should i move the light so its not directly over the branch he is on? If i had to venture a guess the temp there is like 140 -160.

>>WOW I just took a temp reading under the baskign spot. No wonder he has hism outh open! My flukers guage goes from 65 - 110, and at 6-8 inches away from the basking light it has almost made its way allt he way back around to 65!
>>
>>Is this a problem? should i move the light so its not directly over the branch he is on? If i had to venture a guess the temp there is like 140 -160.

One, Flukers sucks. Check out the following sites. I'm giving up on the links!

http://www.reptilerooms.com/modules.phpop=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=64

http://www.reptilerooms.com/modules.phpop=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=45&page=1

You may need to copy the tail end of those links in your browser for them to work.

Two, the round dial type thermometers also suck!!

You will probably want to go buy a digital thermometer. You can get them from Wal-mart, Target, Radio Shack, etc. Get one with a probe for outdoor and indoor measuring but instead tape the probe directly to your basking spot. That will give you a much, much, much more accurate reading.

If you want even better Radio Shack carries an Infrared temp gun and it's awesome. I think it's about $35. The others are about $10-$20.
-----
Rob

Will do about the digital thermo! I was going to buy one at kmart the other day but i decided to save my 10 bucks.

And i just got back from picking up my 1000 small crickets and decided to get a dozen large to feed him today and they wound up giving me almost 2-3 dozen. I dumped them all in the tank and BAM he went nuts! He at all of them within a 2 min period. so id say around 30 large.

>>Will do about the digital thermo! I was going to buy one at kmart the other day but i decided to save my 10 bucks.
>>
>>And i just got back from picking up my 1000 small crickets and decided to get a dozen large to feed him today and they wound up giving me almost 2-3 dozen. I dumped them all in the tank and BAM he went nuts! He at all of them within a 2 min period. so id say around 30 large.

pretty happy with you.

Keep in mind you don't want to leave crickets in the tank over night becuase your beardie sleeps so soundly the crickets will actually gnaw on him. You don't want to wake up and have a beardie without an eyelid!

Also, one thing you might want to try is getting a seperate container of some sort to feed him in. This will do two things. One, it will make sure your don't forget to leave any crix with him and two, it will train him to know when you stick your hand in his home to get him out, he will be happy and not afraid and try to run away.
-----
Rob

Thanks for the warning. I most likely would have left them in their over night if there were any left *lol* Ill remember that for future reference though.

I just started working on my current cage project. I might use a spare tank after im done to feed my animals in. o)

Here is a picture of my current set up and one of my current project tank....

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/32101/p/574611_681811239993174801_vl.jpg

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/32101/p/574610_4551464619119864704_vl.jpg

These are two pics that i am using for inspiration O)

http://www.geocities.com/tnstuttle/images/cage_right.jpg
http://www.acanthurus.org/Terrariumfertiggross.jpg

BTW, if your only UVB source is that flourescent on top it needs to be no more than 12" (closer is better) from the beardies basking spot. Farther away and it doesn't do any good.

'Course if you're using a MVB in that hood then don't worry about the flourescent!

Man, both those inspirations are extremely cool! Someday I would love to have something like that!!
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Rob

"something (oxilates) that bind with the calcium preventing it from being useable. "
This refers to spinach, bok choy, cauliflower, brocili, cabbage and kale....spinach contains oxilates....and because of this (even though it is high in calcium) prevents the reptile from metabolizing the calcium! The rest on the list contains goitrogens and they bind iodine and often cause hypothyroidism! Carrots are on neither of these lists, but should not be fed as a staple diet. They are high up on the iguana diet after collards and dark leafy greens because they contain a lot of vitamin C. I always recomend to reptile owners that orange vegis be served fresh and should not be a higher percentage of the diet than dark leafy greens are!
Just adding my thoughts...than again I am speaking from experience with Iguanas have a great day guys

Just incase anyone got as confused as I did there are two people using the "reptilicus81" name. Me (dan) and my GF (amy). I was the origonal poster of the thread and amy had the last two replies. Im sure someo f you noticed the difference in post type.

As fo rigth now im going to register on my own name. I was hoping she wouldnt reply to this thread using the same name as it creates MASSIVE confusion, but i guess i didnt get what i want *lol*

Off to cereate my own name...

His name is "Saku" named after my favorite PRIDE Fighter Sakuraba!

>>"something (oxilates) that bind with the calcium preventing it from being useable. "
>>This refers to spinach, bok choy, cauliflower, brocili, cabbage and kale....spinach contains oxilates....and because of this (even though it is high in calcium) prevents the reptile from metabolizing the calcium! The rest on the list contains goitrogens and they bind iodine and often cause hypothyroidism! Carrots are on neither of these lists, but should not be fed as a staple diet. They are high up on the iguana diet after collards and dark leafy greens because they contain a lot of vitamin C. I always recomend to reptile owners that orange vegis be served fresh and should not be a higher percentage of the diet than dark leafy greens are!
>>Just adding my thoughts...than again I am speaking from experience with Iguanas have a great day guys

to check out this one as well.

link

If the link doesn't work copy this in to your browser:

http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/cal_ox.html

You will definitely want to look at this and since you have experience with iguanas here's a caresheet link that I believe will be the best reading you can find on them. It mentions the high contend of oxalates in carrots among a ton of other information your iguana and dragon will appreciate!!!

caresheet

URL in case link fails:

http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/icfs/index.html

I'm glad you mentioned oxilates and goitrogens as they are important and often confused!
-----
Rob

Speaking of confused!

I just went from understanding what everyone was saying to thinking i posted without my even knowing to being really confused about carrots!

Anywho, got my new name (im the origonal poster of the thread)

Now im going back to try and make sense fo everything...

he is fed collard greens not colored greens lol...and they are very similar to mustard greens in regards to nutrition! I like to go back and forth with the two, but collard greens stay fresh longer!

Just a quick note to remind everyone that runny feces may just be a sign of changed diet.... however if it does not go away within a week or so... have it checked out

are getting better, stick with it and watch the runny food and carrots and you will have a happy member of the family. Ps whats the buggers name?

His stools are so runny due to the high content of carrots, especially the canned ones. Carrots should only be a small amount in his regular salad, not 30-40% of it. The canned potatoes are no good either. Better to feed him collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, escaroli and endive. Use two or more of the former list of greens, then add for variety, parsley, kale, other dark greens, mixed frozen vegetables (thawed and chopped more as appropriate), bell peppers, brussel sprouts (in moderation) etc.

You mentioned you fed your dragon 30 large crickets, please be careful with larger crickets, making sure they are no bigger than the space between the dragons eyes. To large prey items can cause severe problems, even death in young dragons.

As another note, so you don't go several days without any insect food to give your dragon, is try adding cooked chopped chicken (white meat only) or turkey mixed with his salad. This won't be too much a problem once the dragon is over 12 months old since they won't need as much protien in their diet. Also, regular dusting of your crickets is a good way to ensure he isn't missing essential vitamins or minerals (like calcium and vitamine D3)

"""You mentioned you fed your dragon 30 large crickets, please be careful with larger crickets, making sure they are no bigger than the space between the dragons eyes. To large prey items can cause severe problems, even death in young dragons. """

Yup he is definetly big enough to eat large crickets no problem. But ill keep an eye out for those mammoth ones you get every once and a while!

"""As another note, so you don't go several days without any insect food to give your dragon, is try adding cooked chopped chicken (white meat only) or turkey mixed with his salad. This won't be too much a problem once the dragon is over 12 months old since they won't need as much protien in their diet. Also, regular dusting of your crickets is a good way to ensure he isn't missing essential vitamins or minerals (like calcium and vitamine D3)"""

Ill try this today since i have no crickets left! Does it matter what type of chicken it is? Like flavored? The suff i have is cooked already with flavors added in (lemon peper, honey roasted) that sort of deal. I also have just a plain frozen chicken breats i can cook for him on the george foreman grill. Do i feed it cold? warm?

As for his age, i would assume he is almost full grown and either right at the 12 month period or over it. He might ahve a lil more growing to do though cause he is fairly small but who knows. Ill post a picture of him today.

you might try zoomeds canopillars. they are for thin reptiles my beardie likes them - ok LOVES them....his belly drags alright!