Bearded Dragon Poop – Everything You Should Know
Every bearded dragon owner should take steps to understand their dragon’s poop. The poop of the bearded dragon is a guaranteed sign of its general health—this supports beardie parents in identifying health issues in their pet before it escalates.
Beardie poops come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes, which can be challenging to keep track of as a parent. Aside from knowing beardie’s poop shapes, colors, and sizes, you also need to keep track of how often your beardie poops to identify whether there is an issue with your dragon’s health or not.
Luckily, this guide offers a solution to all problems faced with bearded dragon poop, making the process of identification easy. Read on for the tips to know when your beardie is healthy and when there is a critical problem in your bearded dragon’s health.
Normal Bearded Dragon Poop
When seeking to know whether your bearded dragon is healthy or not, you ought to know what a healthy poop from a beardie looks like. A healthy bearded dragon’s poop is a blend of two different kinds of wastes.
The first part is solid, brownish, digested food wastes, while the second part is whitish urine with a soft but firm, consistent texture.
The texture of your beardie’s poop is dependent on what it eats. Usually, it should not be extremely watery; otherwise, there is a problem. If you feed your bearded dragon insects, their poops will be darker and firm in texture.
Vegetables like carrots, spinach, and greens add some colors of neon green to your beardies poop—it also leaves your bearded dragon’s poop less firm but not watery.
The white part of your bearded dragon’s poop is its urine. Bearded dragons are created to retain the best possible water in their bodies—they, in turn, excrete the urine in solid waste form while retaining the fluid.
Know also that the size and firmness of the urine are dependent on how long your dragon had pooped; the longer they wait to poop, the bigger and firmer the urine would be.
Bearded Dragon Yellow Poop
If your bearded dragon’s poop is yellow in color, this could mean several things. Yellow poop can be pointers that your bearded dragon ate a yellow-colored meal like yellow wax beans or squash.
As a beardie parent, try tracking the food intake of your dragon, at least the last food taken before the poop—this helps in identifying whether the yellow poop of your bearded dragon is a health issue or not.
Also, if your bearded dragon is female, a yellowish poop may be an unfertilized beardie egg.
To be sure, you can make a reserved area for your dragon, feed her foods that are high in calcium while giving her lots of water. Monitor the situation closely for a two to three day period- if there isn’t an improvement, visit the vet.
Another indicator of yellow poop is an excess amount of calcium in your bearded dragon. Excess calcium is harmful to your beardie—it leads to varying illnesses, which cause eventual death to your dragon. Reduce calcium intake by your bearded dragon if its poop is yellow.
Bearded Dragon Green Poop
Green poops in bearded dragons could mean varied reasons also. If your dragon ate green vegetables like spinach lately, their poop would be green. When this happens, it causes no problem to your bearded dragon. Like the yellow poop, you should monitor your dragon’s diet to understand whether its poop is caused by the vegetables it had; if you’re confused, visit the veterinarian.
Also, if your beardie is on medication and has green poop, this might be caused by the drug taken. The best trick to identifying whether your bearded dragon’s green poop is a cause for worry or not is by the texture and odor of the poop.
Besides, the active lifestyle of your dragon indicates whether its green poop is a health issue or not. Suppose your dragon’s poop is green in color, has a foul odor, and is watery—these are indications that your reptile might have contracted a bacterial or a parasitic infection like Salmonella.
Your beardie poop having a green foul odor and watery can also be associated with anorexia, hemolytic anemia, and liver disease. Get a part of the poop to your veterinarian for a detailed test to know the cause of your dragon’s poop being green?
Bearded Dragon Black Poop
Black poop in beardies can be caused when your dragon eats a lot of insects compared to vegetables. To control this, give your bearded dragon enough leafy green diet, especially when you’ve got an elderly beardie.
Also, bearded dragon’s poop turns darker, naturally, after being exposed to the environment for a few hours or more.
Black poop in your bearded dragon can also be a pointer to impaction. Impaction in beardies occurs when your dragon has a block in bowel movements, which results in internal bleeding, tears, and severe constipation in your bearded dragon.
If your beardie’s poop is black with a foul odor and is watery in texture, these are signs of a parasitic infection in your dragon and should be a cause for alarm.
To be sure your beardie suffers a parasitic infection, take a sample of its poop that is less than 2 hours to the veterinarian for testing. Parasites do not show if the poop is over 2 hours old. You could also refrigerate the poop to keep it fresh.
Bearded Dragon White Poop
White poops by your beardie could result from dehydration of your bearded dragon, especially if it’s a chalky white poop. If your bearded dragon’s poop is chalky white and resembles string-like saliva or cough look, these are signs of mild dehydration in your bearded dragon.
To solve the problem of dehydration, place your bearded dragon in a 10 minutes bath for three days. The bath enhances moisturization of the scales on your reptile’s skin, which in turn rehydrates the dragon.
Also, give your beardie enough water to drink; the recommended tank temperature of the water given to your dragon should not be below 100 °F and should be a maximum of 105 °F.
Dehydration shouldn’t be taken likely- if left in your bearded dragon for long periods, it could lead to grave illnesses that can subsequently result in the death of your dragon. If your dragon has multiple chalky white poops, you should visit the veterinarian.
On the other hand, if your dragon poops only the whitish urinate part of its stool, this can indicate that your dragon is over hydrated or has had more water than food in the past days.
If this is the case, it calls for alarm. As a bearded dragon parent, make sure you give your dragon an equal amount of solid food and water.
Bearded Dragon Bloody Poop
If your bearded dragon’s poop is reddish in color, don’t quickly conclude this to be blood. Red poops in bearded dragons can be caused by your dragon eating beets, raspberries, or any other meal with a red dye color. If this is the cause, there isn’t any reason to worry.
However, blood traces in your bearded dragon’s poop is a sign of grave health issues in your dragons. Some of which can be as deadly as parasites or internal bleeding.
If your bearded dragon poops a bloody stool, take out time to monitor the progress of your dragon’s poops; if this bloody waste continues, take your dragon to the vet immediately; if it occurs once and stops, then there’s probably no need to worry.
Internal bleeding in bearded dragons is caused by the introduction of foreign objects like blades or pins into your bearded dragon’s body. Bugs with sharp tearing claws can also cause internal bleeding in your dragon.
Constipation is also a common occurrence with bearded dragons- this causes intestinal polyps, which leave bloody traces in your dragon’s poop.
If your dragon loses appetite, has difficulty in pooping, and eventually poops bloody stool, this shouldn’t be overlooked- visit the vet immediately.
Bearded Dragon Runny Poop
Runny poop in bearded dragons isn’t a cause for worry if done occasionally. Runny poops are an indication of a change in your dragon’s diet, which will usually resolve itself on its own.
Bearded dragon foods that contain a high amount of fiber can also cause runny poops in your dragon. To solve this issue, gradually reduce the content of fiber foods given to your bearded dragon.
Nonetheless, if runny poops continue, then it should be taken seriously. It gets worse when your beardie’s poop is runny with a foul odor and a bloody color. This symptom can be a sign of parasitic infection. Runny poops also dehydrate your dragon.
Bearded Dragon Can’t Poop
If your bearded dragon stopped pooping, this is a cause for concern. You should know that as your dragon grows older, it’s pooping size and time decreases. If you notice this, your dragon is fine. But there is an issue if your dragon does not poop at all.
Causes of your dragon not pooping can include an increase in the stress levels or any other illness—put a check on your beardie’s behavior if this is noticed. If your dragon has a loss of appetite, is weak, and doesn’t poop, this can be a serious issue.
A healthy bearded dragon that isn’t in brumation ought not to go for any time longer than 5 days without pooping.
Aside from stress, other causes that can make your dragon stop pooping are parasites, which is a serious health issue; impaction, brumation, and poor feeding are other causes that cause your beardie to stop pooping.
Bearded dragons pass their poops every three to five days after having a meal. The number of days to pass out foods can be reduced by the diet and the age of the bearded dragon.
Brumation is a period bearded dragons would lose their active lifestyle because of cooler temperatures. Brumation can stay up to five months in your bearded dragon’s life, and when in occurrence, your dragon would poop less than it used to.
To be sure of the cause of your bearded dragon’s refusal to poop, you should visit a veterinarian.
Can Bearded Dragons Have Parasites in Their Poop?
Parasites are organisms that live on other organisms. Parasites like Salmonella and pinworms are the most common in the bearded dragon.
Sometimes your dragon may show no signs of having a parasite in its system; a suitable way to find out whether your beardie has a parasite infection is to have its poop tested by the veterinarian.
These parasites spread quickly and are available in your bearded dragon’s stool. Parasites can cause severe illnesses to your dragons, like weight loss and runny poop.
A common source of parasites in bearded dragons is the ingestion of insects. If an insect eaten contains parasites, it passes these parasites to your bearded dragon.
If your dragon has a loss of appetite, is weak, has weight loss, foul smell in its poop, mucus in its poop, all these are signs of a parasitic infection.
A Definite way to know if your dragon has parasites or the kind of parasites it has is to take a poop sample to the vet to be examined under a microscope. Vets usually conduct fecal flotation, direct smear, or a fecal stain to identify if your bearded dragon has a parasite infection.
Some parasites in bearded dragons can make humans sick, especially parasites like Salmonella. Always be cautious when you notice parasite symptoms in your beardie; you can isolate your dragon to protect yourself and your family.
How Often do Bearded Dragon Poop?
A healthy bearded dragon can poop a lot, but there is no exact number of how many times they will poop.
There are many factors that will affect the digestive system of a bearded dragon such as their age, food, environment, stress or brumation.
Young bearded dragons will poop more often than adults. While adult bearded dragons will poop 2 to 5 times a week, young can defecate 1-2 times a day.
A calcium-rich food will also make a bearded dragon poop more often.
The temperature of their tank also plays a big role in how many times bearded dragons poop. Warmer temperature will speed up their metabolism, and will make them poop more often.
During brumation bearded dragons will not poop very often.
A high stress level, such as change in environment, can also affect the pooping schedule of your bearded dragon. Stressed bearded dragons can stop pooping for weeks.
Why Does Bearded Dragon Poop Smell Very Bad?
The poop of a bearded dragon usually has a bad small. However, if you notice a significant difference in the small, it could be a sign of parasite, bad food, stress or pregnancy.
First, try to adjust your pet’s diet to make sure that is not the food which is causing this problem.
If the poop still smells very bad, after changing the diet, take a fecal sample of your bearded dragon to a herp vet to examine it.
Stress as well pregnancy can also cause your bearded dragon’s poop smell very bad.
How to Clean Bearded Dragon Poop?
You should always try removing the poop as soon as possible. The easiest way to clean bearded dragon poop is to use a paper towel.
Fold the paper towel multiple times so it don’t get on your hands and remove the poop.
After you remove the poop, spot clean the surface with a vinegar mixture (10 to 1 – water, vinegar ratio). Make a solution in a spray bottle, so you have it on hand all the time.
After removing the poop, spray the area and clean it thoroughly with a paper towel.
Vinegar is a natural solution, which will help kill off the bacteria and will not cause any harm to your bearded dragon.
You should not use chemicals to clean the poop, because these can harm the respiratory system of your pet.
Do Bearded Dragons Poop During Brumation?
During brumation breaded dragons will not eat much, so they will not go very often to the bathroom either.
It is normal, that during brumation a bearded dragon will poop once a week or once every other week.
You can encourage your bearded dragon to poop during brumation by feeding and bathing.
Keep track of how many times your pet poops during this period, because no defecation could be a result of impaction.
Wrapping Up
Bearded dragons are adorable creations to have as pets. But they are prone to various illnesses, some of which show little or no symptoms in your dragon.
To protect your dragon from life-threatening diseases, you can track its poop for the needed information on your bearded dragon’s health status.
This guide explains in detail the various colors, textures, and sizes of bearded dragon’s poop that should cause you to worry about its health.
The post also states indications that should be a problem if your beardie refuses to poop and offers all there is to know on parasites and your bearded dragon.