Newbie with a qestion regarding Beardies and poo

[Lene]

Hello to all,
Ive been having a daily squiz of the forum for a few weeks now, finally got around to registering, yay!
Love seeing all the different opinions, so thought id debute with a rather ick question.
Do Bearded Dragons eat their own poo? Im usually right onto cleaning out their enclosures, but missed yesterday, and think that there seemed to be some missing from what i had noticed the day before.
Oh and if this is the case, its not because of underfeeding. No way my little gutz needs any more, but he could be finding the extra food by his own means. ew!
Great, thanks, cheers
Lene

 

[koubee]

had a similar experience with my beardie Loki, i thiught that maybe it was a cricket or 3 that where loose in her enclosure. Not sure, glad it was you asking and not me. :lol:

 

[spottie]

my breadies never tryed to et there poo i think or i never sat there for that long to watch them try it

 

[junglepython2]

Any loose woodies in the enclosure would have a go at it especially at night.

Sometimes mine will try and eat anything when there being fed and are in the mood but usually spit anything unedible out such as poo or bark.

Also if you have sand as a substrate it will abosrb the moisture, and greatly reduce the size of the poo making it easily buried or broken up by the lizards running buy.

 

[koubee]

What type of sand is safe to use with beardies?

 

[Lene]

ah yes i do have sand substrate, but dont think it soaked it up. the reason i noticed what was missing was because it was a nice sloppy green poo (from the juvi pellets) and it was all gone!
and no stray crickets or woodies about either.
ahh well, some mysteries are never solved, cos i cant be bothered watching all day either to see if hes a greedy boy who recycles food!

 

[cris]

what temps have you got?

 

[Lene]

an average daytime temp of 27, 30 at hot end. at night it drops to mid 20s

 

[cris]

There is the problem beardies like their body temp at about 37-8 just like us, you need to give them a basking temperature above 38 degrees. I doubt any harm has been done but increase the basking temperature the easiest way is by letting them get closer to the light by using a suitable branch or rock.

 

[koubee]

Any pics of your beardie, Lene?

 

[cris]

leave the poo eating to hares, ring tails and other stupid mamals :lol:

 

[SnakeWrangler]

My little beardie had a go at his poo the first week I had him, but since settling in he doesn't anymore, he is always too busy basking because his gut is so full. He gets fed twice a day usually.

I use kids playing sand for the substrate. I washed it through gause to remove any crap then baked it at 250 degrees until it dried out.

 

[Lene]

are you serious about that temp cris? my little book , the lizard bible, says 30-32 for the hot spot. thats what ive always had, and my adult of 4 years seems fine.

 

[cris]

are you serious about that temp cris? my little book , the lizard bible, says 30-32 for the hot spot. thats what ive always had, and my adult of 4 years seems fine.

:shock: i would get a new book mate

 

[Lene]

this is why i always feel like a novice, no matter how long ive had my lizards and snakes.
people always say something different to what your originally told.
just checked out 3 random care sheets on the net, and they have all said the same. 32C hot spot.
i dont know

 

[junglepython2]

I'll second chris if you are in doubt Lene, they do relish warmer temps. It only has to be right under the basking lamp, it doesnt have to be over an extended area.

And don't loose any sleep over it, they won't have been damaged by being kept at 32 degrees.

 

[SnakeWrangler]

Most of the info I have found says the basking should be at least 95f (35c) and at most 110f (43c), my basking spot hovers around 91f (33c), I reckon 32c would be fine, although I don't have much experience with beardies I have had mine on 33c for the last 5 weeks and he is thriving, sometimes he doesn't even sit in the basking spot.

I know people say that they need really high temps to start the digestive system, but how could anyone possibly know that? Sure they need heat because they cant generate their own heat, but there is no way anyway can say (without extensive testing) that under 95f and they wont be able to digest their food. Mine has been going great guns for 5 weeks solid.

 

[Lene]

no doubt it would be a high temp right under the heat lamp? they can sit right under it
thanks for the advise though, ill look into maybe making it abit warmer for them

 

[junglepython2]

They will be fine at 32 and can digest their food no worries at this temp, otherwise they would go very hungry in the wild. However they prefer a slightly warmer temp for basking.

Remember temps that the weather bureau says are taken in the shade and are air temps, so temps taken in direct sunlight will be higher. So when people say 38 degrees for basking temp it isnt really as hot as a 38 degree day if that made any sense at all

 

[cris]

I know people say that they need really high temps to start the digestive system, but how could anyone possibly know that?

well lene says the beardie is eating it own crap, that kinda proves it doesnt it?