One of the many things we love about owning a bearded dragon is that they are very hardy animals. Get a few things right and they are happy and healthy and overall great pets. So when Bacardi, our beardie, hadn’t pooped for a few days, we started to get worried.
One of the few health concerns bearded dragon owners need to be concerned with is impaction. A close cousin of constipation but quite a bit more serious, impaction is something all bearded dragon owners should know about. Sheesh, we never thought we’d ever pay such close attention to how much another living thing poops!
Impaction happens when a bearded dragon’s digestive tract is blocked. Common causes are substrate or undigested food. Symptoms include mobility issues, weight loss, and bulging along their spine. Because impaction can result in death, suspected impaction should always receive veterinary attention.
Knowing how to recognize and react to a possible impaction is something all bearded dragon owners should be able to do.
How to know when there is a problem
There are two types of signs that your beardie may have a problem. First are physical symptoms. Things you can see simply by looking at them.
Second are behavioral symptoms. The better you know your beardie, the easier these are to recognize.
The following signs and symptoms could indicate that your beardie is impacted. But they could also be explained by a number of other things. It’s important to look at the situation as a whole before making a determination.
A best practice is to see a vet if you are at all unsure. A qualified herp vet will be able to properly diagnose and treat your bearded dragon a lot quicker than you can.
That said, we don’t want to have to rush to the vet every time there is the slightest problem. As responsible owners, we should know our scaly little friends well enough to figure out what may or may not be causing their symptoms.
Keep an eye out for these things. Make note of them. Monitor your beardie closely if you suspect a problem. We’ve listed several possible treatments you can try towards the end of this article before seeing a vet.
Again, it’s better to consult a vet sooner than later. We can’t emphasize this enough. But if you catch a possible impaction (or constipation, a different problem) early, you can often take care of it at home relatively easily without having to go to the vet.
Physical Signs of Impaction in a bearded dragon
- Trouble walking (stiff or awkward gait)
- Shaky or immobile rear legs (possibly dragging them around instead of using them to walk)
- Weight loss
- Unhealthy appearance
- Tender belly
- Lumps between spinal sections
- Bulge at the point of impaction
Behaviors that can indicate an impaction in a bearded dragon:
- Regurgitating their food
- Loss of appetite
- Rejecting food completely
- Lethargy (moving slower than normal)
- Lack of activity (not moving at all)
- Not defecating on their normal schedule
- Not defecating for several weeks or more
- Straining when trying to defecate
Why do these symptoms occur?
For milder cases of impaction, it’s simply uncomfortable. Imagine if you had a large, hard, undigested lump stuck in your gut! You wouldn’t want to eat either. You also wouldn’t want to be very active.
An impaction causes a good deal of discomfort for your beardie. For us, this is one of the most important reasons to catch it early. The thought of our beardie laying around in pain is hard for us to imagine.
We want to do everything we can to make sure she is happy and healthy and feeling great all the time.
Serious impactions do much more than make your beardie uncomfortable. They can cause serious physical problems and even death.
A bearded dragon does not have much protection around its spinal cord. They don’t have discs as humans do. This leaves their nervous system vulnerable.
When an impaction gets large, it can press on these exposed nerves. This then causes them to lose some or all control of their rear legs. If your beardie is having trouble walking, is shaking, has trembling or non-mobile rear legs, or other similar symptoms, seek a vet immediately!
Constipation or impaction?
These are similar problems, but not the same. Both can cause similar symptoms. Both can be treated in similar ways. But they are different and it’s important to know exactly how they differ.
An impaction is when there is an undigestible mass present in your beardie’s digestive tract. It can be made of non-organic materials like sand or rocks. It can also consist of organic material that your beardie can’t digest, like insect exoskeleton, bark, or pieces of organic substrate.
This mass becomes hard and clumps together to the point where it simply cannot be passed or digested. It stays stuck inside your beardie growing with time and causing increasing discomfort and progressively worse symptoms.
Constipation is when your beardie is not defecating because they are having trouble digesting the contents of their gut. Maybe they ate too much. Maybe their basking spot isn’t hot enough, and they are having trouble digesting. Maybe they are dehydrated. As with people, there can be many causes of constipation.
Both mild impactions and constipation can be treated at home in pretty much the same way. Severe impactions do not respond to those at-home treatments and require veterinary care.
How often should my bearded dragon poop?
Healthy adult bearded dragons poop once every 1-2 weeks. Babies and juveniles will often poop every day. It’s not uncommon for some bearded dragons to go as long as 3 between poops, but anything longer than 3 weeks could be a sign of impaction or other health issues and should prompt a call to your vet.
As with most things, this will vary wildly from animal to animal. Our beardie used to go once a day like clockwork. These days it’s more like once a week.
This sometimes changes if she is being a picky eater, but we can count on her going regularly. If it’s been more than a week, we start to get a little concerned. We wrote a quick article here all about what to do if your beardie isn’t pooping!
Other bearded dragons can go several weeks between bowel movements. This will be their normal and for these beardies, it’s not a concern when they don’t go for days at a time.
You’ll get to know your beardie and its patterns. It’s a deviation from this known pattern that should cause increased attention. I wouldn’t panic right away, but it’s important to be aware of what’s going on so you can look for early signs of impaction.
As a general rule, hatchlings should poop about once a day. Adults over a year will average once every 2-3 days to a week. As I noted above, there is usually no cause for concern with an adult dragon who goes at least once per week.
Activity level will also impact frequency. The more active your beardie is, the more often they will go as activity aids in digestion.
The 5 most common causes of impaction
There are 5 common causes of impaction in bearded dragons. Knowing them will help you prevent an impaction in the first place. And that’s always the best approach to a potential problem!
Improper substrate
This is probably the most hotly debated topic among bearded dragon owners. I’ve written a very thorough review of the most popular substrates that you can see here.
In the end, some bearded dragons will eat their substrate and it will cause a problem. Make sure you are acutely aware of the pros and cons of your substrate of choice.
Eating insects with hard-to-digest exoskeletons
Some feeder insects like super worms, crickets, and mealworms have very hard-to-digest exoskeletons. Feeding your beardie too many of these types of insects can cause an impaction. This is one of many reasons we choose to feed our beardie dubia roaches as our feeder insect of choice.
Eating insects that are too big to digest
We put together a nice overview of the proper food size for your beardie that you can read here. In the end, never feed your bearded dragon food that is larger than the space between its eyes. Doing this can quickly lead to an impaction.
Basking temperatures that are too low
Your bearded dragon cannot create its own body heat. Heat is critical to proper digestion. This is why your beardie basks. If you don’t provide a hot enough basking area, they won’t be able to digest their food.
Not sure what a good basking temp is? You can reference our article here for everything you need to know!