Hi, Im new here and after searching for some advice i found this forum, I have a new male 7 month old bearded dragon, He has appropriate set up and seems to have settled great, he eats fine, both greens and crickets, is active and moves between basking and cool area's of the viv, had him 5 days now, now, they were feeding him mealworms and locusts!! the locusts were way too big and i know they should not have mealworms as a staple, as they can be hard to digest, so i have been offering him greens (which i wiggle to get him to eat) and crickets, first 3 days no poop, 4th day healthy looking poop, today slightly runny poop, not sure what to make of this, is it the change in diet from mealworms and locusts to greens and crickets? do i need to change diet slowly instead like with other animals? his basking spot is 105f, and the cooler area of his viv 80, is this not much to worry about? or should i seek a vet? he was checked by a vet when i bought him, and he told me i had a healthy male beardie, or just give him some more time? he is very settled otherwise, Is very happy to see me, approaches the door when i come near viv, is happy to investigate my hand and be held for a short amount of time, although he gets fidgety after a few mins so i return him to the viv
Hey there rachie, welcome to the boards! Its great to see that you are being so observant and are concerned about the well-being of your new pet; always refreshing when new members have done their homework on proper care. I would say that your new beardie is probably just fine - poops can vary quite a bit depending on a number of factors, and the diet is probably the most significant contributor. Diets heavier in greens and salad items, and even in moisture heavy insects like silkworms and captive bred hornworms can result in very runny bowel movements. In addition, as you've noted, you have only had the animal for a few days and acclimation to a new environment can take a couple of weeks physiologically. Indicators of illness are unusually formed, very smelly, runny and perhaps odd looking bowel movements... although identifying poo characters is pretty subjective and should not be the primary indicator for disease. The best indicators of illness are behavioral changes: bearded dragon's who are infected with some pathogen or parasite will become quite lethargic, lose weight, lose interest in food and basking, and will become far less responsive. It sounds to me like this your dragon is otherwise behaving like a perfectly normal, happy 7 month old beardie. Naturally, you'll want to keep and eye on his future bowel movements and behavior, but this is probably a case of an over-concerned new parent ; )
