Hello, I have a female beardie 4 yrs old, who has had runny watery stool for several months. She has had multiple stool tests all of which came back negative for any parasites. She has had blood work and X-rays, all normal. She is relatively healthy has an appetite (mostly for bugs, but will eat some veggies, not as much as usual though) she is not lethargic and behaves normally other than being a little lower in energy. She is social, likes to sit in the sun, will walk around the house and basks in her tank. We recently tried a round of ponzuril because it worked in the past. It seemed she had bowel movements less often after treatment, but was otherwise unaffected. My vet doesn’t seem to know what to do with her. (She has had diarrhea issues off and on over the years, with different parasites being the issue at different times.) The vet suggested testing for crypto, but Remi, my beardie, doesn’t seem sick enough to have that be a possibility so I’m hesitant. I’ve spent so much money on this I don’t want to waste any more money on things that are unlikely and give no answers. Just thought I would make a post and see if anyone out there has had a similar experience and maybe has some suggestions or advice. Thanks in advance!
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Chronic watery stools
- Thread starter RachelV
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- watery poop
Please go over your surface basking temps and how your getting them-- No stick ons please you want digital probe thermometers to get an accurate surface temp --- 95-100-- UVB what brand and bulb and where is it for the tank? Inside or top of screen? Next the diet -- what are you feeding?
All spot and UV bulbs are mounted inside the tank, she is in a Zen Habitat 4x2, UV is Reptisun T5 39w, Temps in her basking area are between 100-110, she has rocks under the UV that that range from 90-95 and the cool side of her tank is 85. Night time she has black ceramic heat bulbs and temps are 70-85 depending on where she decides to sleep. I use an infrared monitor to measure temps.
I make her a “salad” every day with collards, kale, arugula, a little red pepper, 1 snap pea, and sometimes a little carrot or green bean. (The last couple of weeks she isn’t interested in her greens but will eat the other veggies) She mostly eats dubias for bugs. Sometimes I will get her super-worms or mealworms, or black soldier fly larvae.
I make her a “salad” every day with collards, kale, arugula, a little red pepper, 1 snap pea, and sometimes a little carrot or green bean. (The last couple of weeks she isn’t interested in her greens but will eat the other veggies) She mostly eats dubias for bugs. Sometimes I will get her super-worms or mealworms, or black soldier fly larvae.
The UVB has a basking decor piece directly under it approx 12-15 inches? It sounds like shes got a good diet going and I am not seeing anything that would cause all the watery stools - usually too much squash or things w /a lot of water content like cucumbers etc would cause it -- next poop please post a pic of it -- I am going to have another person look at your post and see what they can advise on this
Yes, the decor under UV is 12-15” away. Her poo smells horrendous (way worse that usual) I think she has some sort of parasite/bacteria but because her stools are so loose and watery we aren’t having any success with the stool tests.
here is a photo…Attachments
I am seeing undigested bugs in the stool --- you can get a sample w/ the poop you showed me -- she more than likely has parasites from what your telling me about the smell --- try some raw shredded sweet potato and see if that will firm up the stool -- please take it in for testing --- NO enemas--- are you getting the surface basking temps w/ a digital probe thermometer-- I heard back from the person I reached out to here is what he had to sayYes, the decor under UV is 12-15” away. Her poo smells horrendous (way worse that usual) I think she has some sort of parasite/bacteria but because her stools are so loose and watery we aren’t having any success with the stool tests.
It's hard to say what the cause is. Sometimes testing doesn't return an answer but can help eliminate possibilities. In this case, since there aren't any other symptoms and further testing would be cost prohibitive, I would just monitor things. It might be a good idea to offer more hydration to help replace what is lost via stool. Changes in diet could be tried to see if it makes a difference, but I wouldn't be too concerned about it if there is no lack of energy, weight loss, dropped appetite, etc.
I am still saying get a fecal test done --
I haven’t tried sweet potato, so I’ll see if that helps. I’m giving her baths regularly to keep her hydrated. I just had her stool tested again last week and it was negative. Do you know if there are there different labs the stool can be sent to? The lab my vet uses has never found anything. Thanks for responding and helping. I appreciate you!
Please get those last lab results--and post them -- I am gonna Tracie our vet tech on the board look at them - she can advise from there
The vet never gives me anything from lab work we have done, but I will call and request the lab report from the last stool test we did and post it as soon as I receive it. Thank you!!
Here is the report…
Attachments
I sent post to Tracie
Cool, thank you so much!
You mentioned giving her sweet potato, should it be cooked or raw?
Raw shredded
Hello,
The lab test don't really indicate any levels of worms or parasites. Most labs tend to test for the
same things or in the same manner too.
As Sadie suggested, try adding in some sweet potato to help with the looser stools. You can also
add in some type of probiotic to help with her digestion. Does she spend enough time basking to
reach optimal temperatures for a good portion of the day?
How close to her bedtime does she eat anything?
Tracie
The lab test don't really indicate any levels of worms or parasites. Most labs tend to test for the
same things or in the same manner too.
As Sadie suggested, try adding in some sweet potato to help with the looser stools. You can also
add in some type of probiotic to help with her digestion. Does she spend enough time basking to
reach optimal temperatures for a good portion of the day?
How close to her bedtime does she eat anything?
Tracie
I’ll keep trying sweet potato, she wasn’t interested yesterday. She definitely has lower energy this week, so I’m feeling more concerned. What probiotic do you recommend? My vet had told me to give her benebac but it always seems to make her feel bad. She stops eating and sits in her cave all day usually when I have given it to her. I think she basks enough and she usually eats only in the morning. So plenty of time to digest. She definitely has something in her gut, her stools smell horrific. When it all started she had a fair amount of mucus in her loose stools, now they are just super watery. She had a round of Ponzuril recently, because last time she had diarrhea it cleared it up. This time, she went less frequently, but didn’t help the watery stools. It is so frustrating the stool tests aren’t catching what is going on.
You can get some probiotic from Tracie -- here is a link https://bug-de-lite.com/Item/Reptophilus I used this for Blaze when he was on meds for a liver infection -- mucus is common in stools -- Tracie is going to have to elaborate on the testing not catching anything -- it may be she is just prone to loose stools -- but the smell should not be horrific --I’ll keep trying sweet potato, she wasn’t interested yesterday. She definitely has lower energy this week, so I’m feeling more concerned. What probiotic do you recommend? My vet had told me to give her benebac but it always seems to make her feel bad. She stops eating and sits in her cave all day usually when I have given it to her. I think she basks enough and she usually eats only in the morning. So plenty of time to digest. She definitely has something in her gut, her stools smell horrific. When it all started she had a fair amount of mucus in her loose stools, now they are just super watery. She had a round of Ponzuril recently, because last time she had diarrhea it cleared it up. This time, she went less frequently, but didn’t help the watery stools. It is so frustrating the stool tests aren’t catching what is going on.
Hello,
Just checking in, wondering how your dragon was doing? Is she still having really loose stools right now?
As Sadie mentioned, some are just more naturally prone to having looser stools than others. If the sweet
potato or squash doesn't seem to firm it up, you can try keeping her on probiotics for awhile to see if that
helps out any.
Tracie
Just checking in, wondering how your dragon was doing? Is she still having really loose stools right now?
As Sadie mentioned, some are just more naturally prone to having looser stools than others. If the sweet
potato or squash doesn't seem to firm it up, you can try keeping her on probiotics for awhile to see if that
helps out any.
Tracie
Hi, thanks for checking in! She is the same, she did have a BM today and there was a little less water, so hopefully the sweet potato is working. She decided she loves it
I ordered the probiotics and as soon as I get them I will add that in. If I can get her stools to firm up I will try testing again. Thanks!!