Bathroom Schedules

[Falconeer999]

How often should a young bearded be defecating? I noticed Saturday that my bearded (5 months old) hadn't gone in about 4 or 5 days. I soaked her in some warm water and within 3 or 4 minutes a massive amount came out. She also went again Sunday.

She's never gone every day like my leopard gecko (who is very considerate and always goes in the same exact spot every day) but seems to go 2-4 or 5 days at a time. She's eating a good amount - 17-25 small crickets at a time and she eats about a tablespoon of 'salad' (collard greens, spaghetti squash, yellow bell pepper) a day. All the veggies are cut up super tiny. Crickets are coated with a multivitamin every day and 2 feedings a week dusted with calcium. I haven't seen any lumps in her movements.

Basking spot is 115, cool end temp about 78-80. Has a 10.0 UV tube. Substrate is ceramic tile. I keep a small bowl of water in with her but have never seen her drink from it. I spritz her veggies with water though.

I guess what I'm wondering is... are they a go everyday reptile like the gecko or just go when they gotta go?

[jarich]

Mine doesnt go everyday, more like every two days or so depending on how much they are eating.

How are you measuring your basking spot? Is that surface temp or ambient temp?

[Falconeer999]

That's surface temp on a wooden log. I've never really found mention of whether to measure the surface temp or put a heat probe to measure ambient temp. What do you check yours with?

[jarich]

I keep mine quite a bit higher, surface temp is around 130. The commonly referred to 100-110 is an old temperature that was given before the use of infrared guns, so is considered a probe temperature.

[fuzzhc]

Mine tend to go every day depending on how much veggies they eat

[Falconeer999]

I keep mine quite a bit higher, surface temp is around 130. The commonly referred to 100-110 is an old temperature that was given before the use of infrared guns, so is considered a probe temperature.
Thanks. I bumped the basking bulb a bit closer today.

I'm definitely going to start looking into breeding dubia roaches. The people at PetSmart see me walk in and start bagging up 100 small crickets for me. Doing it every 4-5 days. At $10 a whack, it's getting expensive. May be able to get them cheaper online, but with shipping charges I doubt it. I've also noticed if I keep them longer than that they grow to the point of almost being too big or start dying off (I keep water gel, cricket food, change veggies every 2 days and plenty of egg crate in a 2.5 gallon tank for them). Just isn't a very cost effective food item.

Last night I got home and she ate 28 of them in about 7 minutes before she gave me her 'full sign' (she looks at me and sits there with her mouth open - if I offer her any more at that point, she won't take them). She's not big enough yet for large size ones. So... looking like a roach colony is in the near future (my leopard gecko will enjoy also).

[jarich]

Ya, crickets suck. You'll be much happier with the roach colony. Not only is it much cheaper, but they are just so much easier to deal with.

[CanadianEryx]

My beardie goes every time I take him out of his enclosure to walk around. It's actually quite nice--easy cleanup on the lino anyway! At the moment he is in brumation and I haven't seen anything for over four months (he doesn't get up 'in the middle of the night' to go like I do :) I find that the more exercise he gets, the more regular he is along with a damp diet!