beardie problem! what's going on?:S

[dragozz]

I received my red phase central bearded dragon 2 days ago. He has pooped for the first time, and geee you sure could smell it. It stunk the whole house out and went all over the enclosure! it was not firm, pretty sloppy is that normal? Does it usually stink that bad?

I mean I have pygmys and they don;t smell at all. I clean the enclosure on a reguler basis but when they do their business it doesn't smell :S

So is that normal? or is it stress? or.....?

 

[dragozz]

oh and one more thing, does anyone know any really good reptile safe cleaning products that get rid of the smell?

 

[Chaos]

I dont know for sure but it sounds likes the poor thing has diarrhea. What kind of things are you feeding him because I have read that lettuce can do that sort of stuff to them...
or I may be way off , but I thought I might try and help with some of the information that I have read.

 

[Earthling]

It is a reasonably common ailment when parasites become to much for the beardie. The smells a sure sign. Usually from running around on their own **** tooo much. they supposedly have these parasites in the wild, some say even a symbiotic relationship assisting digestion...... however...in the wild they crap and move on, in a cage they crap and run around on it and contanimate themselves even worse. make sense?
I would pop some poo down to the vet and get a fecal check and see what they find. Most vets will only charge you $10 for this plus drugs(as long as you know how to administer said meds). Could be coccidia or pinworms and the like.
Vet job.

For cleaning just use 5-10% bleach diluted in water. Spray and wipe it off.

 

[DrOsteo]

or it could just be a sloppy smelly faeces due to the stress of being transported from one owner and place to the next???

 

[Earthling]

Certainly is possible drosteo...perhaps just wait and see for the next week or so. It is however always advisable to get any new reptile checked out by the vet. A poo sample costs $10 to check. Whats your beardie worth to you?

 

[nzdragons]

or it could just be a sloppy smelly faeces due to the stress of being transported from one owner and place to the next???

yep, i get it all the time. make sure your dragon gets lots of water. normally takes a few days to settle down. always good to get a vet check on stool samples any way when u get a new dragon.

 

[Darkon]

i clean my cages with vanilla essance in water, smells nice....

 

[dragozz]

thanks for the replies guys. He was freighted up here so that might be the reaosn, but I thought I would double check. The smell was so bad everyone in my house was freaking out (especially if it was goign to stay constant like that).

But your right, if he does it again next time I'll take a sample and drop it off at the vets. If not then I will know it was stress. I just hope his ok, that;s the most important thing.

I used a couple of drops of lavender to clean the encolsure along with appropriately diluted bleach. Worked well. Then just ran a fan over the room in which he stays to push the air out the window hehe. and of course, it was bathtime for this guy, didn;t really enjoy it at first but he soon settled in.

So now I'll be waiting for his next poop to come hehe and hope for the best

 

[Squamata]

I agree with Earthling, if it is smelly and runny, you should take your beardie to a vet and get a feacal sample done. I have dealt with many wildcaught beardies and coccidia and pinworms do that to them. Keep him on paper towel so it is easy to clean up, use gloves when cleaning too. I would quarantine him as well, bleach is a great disinfectant but with something like coccidia i would use F10 Veterinary disinfectant or Vircon, it is expensive, but if you have other beardies you want to make sure you dont cross contaminate. When you feed make sure he eats all the crickets, dont let any hide or they will eat the contaminated feaces and round and round it goes again. Good luck!