Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Not that my beardie is, in fact, constipated. But his feces has somewhat reduced in size, and I am concerned he may have ingested a small amount of the substrate I am using. (crushed walnut LizardLitter) Are there any greens he might be able to eat to "loosen" him up a bit. Thank you.

Nevermind about that problem... I put him in the bathtub with some warm water and let him swim around a little bit, and he used the bathroom in the water. I am no longer worried. I also changed the substrate to newspaper today when I cleaned his cage. Thank you.

that stuff is some of the worst stuff for substrate for any reptile. Newpaper isn't very good because of traction issues, but there are some non-adhesive textured rubber shelfliners that work pretty good that you can pick up in rolls at walmart. I use soil with my beardie personally, but you have to be careful and make sure the temps are high enough to allow him to pass anything if he might swallow some substrate or items contained in it (there's usually small pebbles and stuff in it). I keep my setup so that his basking spot gives him a basking gradient of 90-130 degrees f (surface temp). He uses the higher temps at times, and I think that even though I've never seen him lick the ground or pick up anything out of the ground, he probably has, and it has passed. He does have potty issues though, but he has had them ever since I got him (over 2 years ago). He only goes maybe once a week. He's also a fickle eater...all he likes are red repcal pellets and occasionally some crix. The only way I can get him to eat greens is if that's all that I give him for a week, and then he only eats just barely enough to stay alive. He's a pain in the butt as far as lizards go, but he's worth it.

Sand is also the old standby, but I don't care for it too much. I've tried it on various occasions and always felt that it was too dirty.

Have you tried giving him a warm bath? That usually works for most people with "constipated" dragons. Also, make sure he's well hydrated, if his got low water content in his body, his stool may be more dry then normal and therefor more difficult to pass.
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