Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an adult bearded dragon who recently ate a piece of a Joe Louis (its a type of chocolate cup cake if u dont know) wrapper. I was holding him on my couch, but as soon as i sat down he immediately lunged for the wrapper. It was not a large piece (only about 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches). If u dont know Joe Louis wrappers are very thin plastic, similar to the plastic that covers the straws on juice boxes.

If u have any advice, or have been through a similar experience please reply quickly.

ps: he hasnt gone to the bathroom for about a week, and is getting sorta bloated.
by the way, he is an adult male who is about 16inches long.

I recently went through a similar scare with my beardie, so i can try to help you out.

There are a couple of ways to get through this 1. the natural way or 2. surgery.

You say he hasnt defecated in a week and looks bloated, was it one week ago that he ate the plastic? Also, is he still eating?

As long as he is still eating you have a few days to work with, ideally you should start at home treatments the day it happened to increase chances of success, but you can still try.

If he is eating...

Give him warm water soaks 1-3times daily for 30-45minutes, the extra hydration will help lubricate his system and help him to pass the plastic. You can gently massage the belly while you are soaking him to help work everything down. Feeding foods that are natural laxatives such as squash and pumkin can also help. If he is agreeable enough you can also give him some mineral oil with a syringe. If this doesn't work after a couple days, go to a vet.

If he isn't eating...

Go to a vet asap. If he is bloated and not eating then the plastic is probably blocking him. A good herp vet will be able to take x-rays to see where the blockage is and will be able to preform surgery to have it removed. A vet will also be able to go over all your options with you, including tips for at home treatment.

Good luck!
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0.1 Bearded dragon (Hannabil)
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake (Morticia)
1.1.2 Leopard Gecko's (Pogo, Louise, Orion, Jeffrey Nothing)
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn (Autumn)
0.1 Bullmastiff (Asha)
4.1 Cats (Poe, Tucker, Abhid, Felicity, Emmy)

Yes he is still eating and i have been giving him soaks often and massaging his belly since he ate the plastic. He is also still moving around, although a bit less than he used to.

Can anyone suggest any veggies (or fruit) that may help with the digestion?

PS: 2 days ago he went poo, although it was rather small.

Yes, quite a perdiciment you have here. I would suggest feeding him lots of fruits that make YOU run to the bathroom really quick if you know what I mean =). Try blueberries, strawberries, apple, papiya, you know anything that's really watery. I would lay off of the insects and veggies that could help with the binding. Also if you get him to go to the bathroom, and can see some of the warpper but it isn't coming out smooth you might have to pull very very gently on it, I have had this happen to dogs with a whole plastic grocery bag hagging where the sun don't shine.