Eventually the little baby had a severe hemorrhage and started bleeding out of his nose and mouth. He died shortly after that. It was so tragic. Maria and I mourned together.
Two weeks ago Maria texted me again (I love doing "text" support!) because she was concerned her boy Simba hadn't pooped. I gave her some suggestions and told not to worry too much. He looked okay and was probably just trying to bruminate. Unfortunately, her local vets are not good with reptiles.
Two nights ago, she found blood on his reptile carpet. Last night, she sent me this picture:
I could tell immediately Simba was in distress-- the black beard and flat eyebrows. Through texting, I walked her the process of giving him an enema. The result was what I expected-- more blood.
And then Simba's beard got really black and he was really lethargic. At that point, I was in tears. I told Maria I had lost two that day and was heartbroken to think she might lose her's too. I recommended she put him to bed in a warm tank and asked her to let me know how he was doing in the morning.
I was SO relieved when I got this pic this morning--
He made it through the night! I was almost in tears again. I had her give him some Pedialyte to hydrate him. Now the goal was to find a reptile vet. It seemed very likely he was constipated and that the blockage was causing a bowel perforation. Beardies can develop such large urate plugs (they look like pieces of chalk) that it's hard for them to pass them out through their vents without ripping the tissues & bleeding. Bowel perforations can cause internal bleeding which leads to death within a matter of days. :(
Maria found a reptile vet just over an hour away and off they went.
The vet was able to give Simba medicine to help him poop and calm his tummy down. If he's not able to poop soon, they'll follow up with an x-Ray and possibly bloodwork. But overall, Simba is doing better than we thought.
I was SO SO happy to hear that. He's not totally out of the woods yet, but he's got the help he needs now.
Plus it helped me realize I need to be a little bit more serious about helping my big boy Max poop soon. He hadn't pooped when he decide to bruminate a few weeks ago. I don't want to risk him causing bowel perforations himself. His belly is soft but I can feel the urate stone with my fingers. That's tomorrow's goal-- to get Max to poop. :)
This is Max. He ate two raspberries today and was quite happy with them.
Regular pooping is important for bearded dragons and "regular" is different for each beardie. I have every day poopers and every other day poopers and once a week poopers. I've had poop painters which are the worst!! You just need to know what's normal for your guys.
Also remember that in the winter, most beardies eat and poop less. That's totally normal. But if you know your beardie and know what he's like, then like Maria you will know when he is not normal and you can intervene.