HELP needed quick!

[labomb]

I have a friend with a beloved beardie, not sure of the age but aprox 8 months maybe, and it hasn't gone poo in a week. I think she says it's eating crickets but not veggies lately and unsure if it is drinking water. no vet open this weekend, so hoping to get info here, is this a normal behaviour for a beardie?

[tHeGiNo]

Definitely should be defecating more often then that. Offer some pears or pear baby food, and give him a long soak in a tub of warm water.

[striko_69]

I dont know if there's anything wrong with him but I know when I put mine in water they used to take the biggest poops ever!

[peterm15]

ya give him a soak.. that might relax his stomach.. is he on sand.. if so take him off for a while... just to make sure its not impaction..

[labomb]

thanks for the info, she gave the warm bath and he pootied immediately afterward. she has removed the calci sand also as it is questionable how safe it is for a young bearded.

[striko_69]

Yeah keep him on newsprint for the mo. put him onto sand if you want (i did) once he reaches 8 inches or so

[peterm15]

DONT USE CALCI SAND for beardies.. its only like 10% digestable and they eat it cause they like the taste.. believe it or not its much safer to use washed play sand.. $4 for a 50 pound bag at home depo...

[striko_69]

Really? I never knew that. Yet all these products say that they are totally digestible. hmmm... shows how far some will go to make money.

[peterm15]

if you actually look it up on this site there is a whole explaination of it.. this is where i learned.. but all good dragon care sheets will say not to use xcalci sand cause beardies like the taste

[striko_69]

Oh right, i never read those... damnit, at least i cant remember reading em... I have a bad memory though so... lol... lucky me i kept mine on silica based ones anyway.

[labomb]

well I would never use it myself, my friend was misinformed by the petsore that it was needed.

[peterm15]

ya petstores will do that.. i think all pet stores should give a good quality care sheet on every reptile they sell...

[labomb]

I think petstore employees should be better informed about the care of the animals they sell. in the store I deal with there is a kid that always tries to sell me garbage. even when I go in looking for something specific, he'll always insist it is no good and I need this and that something other. when I was fairly new to herps I listened to him, but after a week or so I started to realize he was crap. now he knows better than to say anything to me.

[peterm15]

idiot.. lol... i know there ar a few like that.. the pet store i deal with wont even try to sell me anything... and if they dont think its worth it they tell me.. like they had horned worms and he said dont bother theyll prob be half price at the show... or here take this $50 gecko for 10 bucks.. its been 2 weeks and we havent sold him.. lol... thats how i got my banded

[striko_69]

Pet stores are so predictable. Money matters in their minds, not the animal at hand.

[galad]

Yes I would have to agree 90 %. I would have agreed 100% but to my surprise I was in a major pet shop in wpg. You can prob guys which one it is, anyways.
Im looking at the herps and overhearing a worker explain to some people that herps are not something you should buy on impulse. Always get your info first before you buy anything. The women even said ok well we'll buy one now and bring a book home to read about it.
Even more suprising he turned her down. Saying he would feel alot more comfortable if they took the book home to read first then bought the herp they wanted.

This has got to be one of the first times in years I ave ever heard someone at a big chain store say something like that.
I was impressed. I even told him afterwards.

so why would they make that cali sand have a good taste to it?
Is it not obviouse that reptiles will eat it once they find out it tastes good?

You sometimes got to wonder if these people have a brain in thier head. lol


peace

[labomb]

that is cool that petstore being concerned about the reptiles enough to not make a sale. sadly I have even been to shows where breeders themselves are more interested in a sale than making sure the critter will be cared for properly. I can't give up my crestie babies for worrying about what might become of them.

[striko_69]

Man i wish the pet store near me would be cool like that, then i could buy from them. I didnt even used to buy crickets from there lol. Like they say the only way to stop them is to take your business elsewhere, everything else is slander (i think?).

[labomb]

unfortunately for me I only have the one petstore in town, otherwise I have to travel a distance, which I have done a couple times anyway.

[striko_69]

I know, it's kinda the same for me, i needed to travel +- 30 miles for crickets most of the time just because I didnt want to buy from there. But i got gutloaded crickets from the guy who wrote the frilled dragon section in The Bearded Dragon Manual, I also got my old beardies from there. Now that place has some proper reptiles!!!!!!

www.natures-image.co.uk