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What Does Bearded Dragon Poop Look Like?

What Does Bearded Dragon Poop Look Like?

Monitoring your bearded dragon’s poop is an important part of its care. If you have recently purchased a new beardie, it may not poop right away due to the stress of moving but this needs to be monitored. If it lasts more than a week then there could be a serious problem.

This can also happen if you’re moving it to a new enclosure. As soon as it adjusts to its new surroundings which usually takes about a week, the bearded dragon’s bowel moments will get back to normal as long as its enclosure has the correct husbandry.

Also, during brumation, which is similar to hibernation in mammals, your beardie won’t eat as much (or at all), so it won’t have bowel movements as often as it normally would.

Here are some of the most typical bearded dragon BM’s look like:

Brown and White 

The most common bowel movement type in bearded dragons will be brown and white. the brown part will be log-shaped with the white part on the end. The white color is the urate or their pee – waste product from your beardie’s kidneys. Bearded dragons don’t pee, so urates come out with their BM.

Chalky Hard Urate

The white part should be soft. If the white part of your pet is chalky and hard, this means your beardie has too much calcium in their diet. You will need to amend your dragon's diet, either by offering less calcium-rich foods or usually by cutting back on the calcium supplements.

All White

All white poop in your dragon can mean that he/she is overly-hydrated, as the white part is urate, and this should not concern you. However if the white part Is hard or chalky or off-color then see the relevant section in this article.

Runny Poop

Runny poop means that your beardie has diarrhea, particularly if your pet is going frequently. The two most common reasons for diarrhea in dragons are diet (overhydration) and parasites (most commonly, coccidia). Overhydration is usually caused by feeding your bearded dragon too many leafy greens, fruits or horn worms. Parasite-caused runny BMs tend to be more smelly than normal, you will also notice that the poop is more of an unformed mess, compared to an overhydration runny poop. If this is the case then it needs to be treated as soon as possible since diarrhea can severely dehydrate your pet.

Yellow Poop or Yellow Urate

The yellow color of your lizard’s BM can come from red fruits but can also be indicative of liver problems that would need bloodwork to determine. However, if your dragon has off-color yellowish urates, it may be a sign that your pet is dehydrated, you will need to add more hydration to your dragon's diet.

Blood in Your Bearded Dragon’s Poop

Blood in your pet’s stool can be upsetting. However, you may want to wait for another poop or two to see if BMs normalize. If blood in your dragon’s stool re-occurs, this may be due to constipation or internal bleeding (intestinal or stomach).

In case of constipation, your beardie may also appear lethargic, lose appetite and reject their food, display pale color, and rapid weight loss. This could mean that some of the stool is stuck in their intestines, in which case a gentle belly massage and warm bath can help, along with plenty of hydration, However if it persists then veterinary attention should be sought.

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Comments

Reptile Supply - September 16, 2022

Hi Kristen — Fruit usually results in runny stool. It’s nothing to worry about unless it lasts for several days, but since bearded dragons should be fed primarily insects and leafy greens, avoid offering fruit more often than a small quantity (1 piece, 1x/week). Aside from helping with regular digestion, limiting fruit also protects your dragon from the consequences of a high-sugar diet such as tooth decay and excessive weight gain.

Kristen - September 16, 2022

So my baby beardie (3 months) has runny poop just started today he had apples yesterday could that be why?

Reptile Supply - July 29, 2022

Hi Kat — Your beardie is probably fine, but if the runny stool becomes a trend, we recommend taking her to an experienced reptile vet for a checkup.

Kat - July 29, 2022

I’ve had my bearded dragon for a few weeks now are her poop was fine but I bathed her today and she had really runny poop, she been eating all of her carrots but none of the other plants I give her. She eating crickets every day to. She doesn’t seem to be over hydrated either. Is there anything wrong with her?

Reptile Supply - April 15, 2022

Hi Jacob — If you suspect that your bearded dragon has parasites, it needs to be diagnosed and treated by an experienced reptile veterinarian. Bring your bearded dragon and fresh poo sample for analysis.

Jacob - April 15, 2022

So I feel my Beardie has a parasite. Cause his poop is a mess and really runny. He stopped giving him leafy greens and fruit to see if he was over hydrated, but he’s still pooping really runny poop and it smells and when I give him a bath he start drinking the water like he hasn’t had water in days. If it is a parasite how or what can get rid of it?

Reptile Supply - January 5, 2022

Hi Kelly — Glad to hear you plan on taking your beardie to the vet. It sounds like his digestive tract may not be working optimally due to low UVB levels and low temperatures. Basking air temperature should be at least 104°F. If he’s basking for long periods at a time, that’s a pretty reliable indicator that he’s having trouble getting the heat energy that he needs. Please read our bearded dragon care sheet for more information about updating your setup. https://reptilesupply.com/blogs/care-sheets/how-to-care-for-your-bearded-dragon

Kelly - January 5, 2022

Dio is 18 months old and in the last month he’s only pooped twice and both times we had to put him in the tub. He’s pooping like a small child. The urate is huge and not that soft. He had two of them in this round. He also pooped a very very large amount. He’s starting to scare me a bit.
He eats crickets ever 2 days, large worms once in awhile and salads daily. I think he wants to burmate but will only sit in his hammock all day if we let him. He won’t go into any of the hides
He has proper lighting with a 100 for basking and a 85 che. If I put a higher bulb in he doesn’t like it. Uvb/ uva lights are a reptisun T8
Setting up an 18 month check up for him.

Reptile Supply - December 15, 2021

Hi Randy — 105-110°F is a perfectly acceptable temperature range for bearded dragons to bask at. If you are keeping your bearded dragon at 70-85°F, that’s fine for ambient air temperature, but if there is no basking area available above 85°F, that is too cool for bearded dragons to properly metabolize. Please see our bearded dragon care sheet (https://reptilesupply.com/blogs/care-sheets/how-to-care-for-your-bearded-dragon) for further information on appropriate bearded dragon husbandry parameters.

Randy - December 15, 2021

This an answer to austyn’s question your bearded dragon is getting to hot that’s why he comes out and sits with you he’s cooling off and I think you temperature is way to high. I have a bearded dragon and her temperature is always between 70 and 85 degrees if you read up or just google it you will find a lot out hope this helps so end suggestion is lower the temperature

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