Bearded dragons are generally easy to care for. But from time to time you may notice some odd behaviors that may seem concerning. This is what may have prompted you to wonder why do bearded dragons poop in their food bowl?
To put your mind at ease this is a common behavior for bearded dragons. They poop in their food bowl because they are stressed or simply because you have kept their bowl where they usually poop.
Most likely, you are also stressed out because you are not sure if your pet is sick.
Indeed, understanding bearded dragon poop is important to catch potential issues with its health.
On that note, it is also significant to know how often beardies poop and determine whether they are ill or healthy.
Why does my bearded dragons poop in his food dish?
As previously stated when they do this, it is usually an indication that they are stressed.
If this happens, you should take steps to reduce stress in the environment.
This can include changing the lighting, temperature and humidity levels.
Another thing you can do is to provide more hiding places for the bearded dragon to take shelter.
Furthermore, by providing a larger tank with more hiding places, you can reduce the stress levels of your bearded dragon and prevent them from defecating in the food bowl.
Finally, a simple explanation might be that you are keeping their food bowl in the same place their have marked as their “toilet”.
You could move the bowl to see if it will make any difference.
How Often Do Bearded Dragons Poop and Pee?
Generally, bearded dragons poop depending on age, diet, some life events and health condition.
As you can imagine there is no magic number per say. Beardies may poop and pee three times a day or once a week.
A baby beardie from age 0-3 months can poop and pee 1-3 times a day because they grow and develop rapidly.
Furthermore, they eat lots of protein-filled diet throughout the day leading to higher waste production.
Young or juvenile beardies from age 4-18 months old are likely to pop once a day, and it may slow down to once or twice a week as they close into 18 months.
Beardies that are more aged than 18 months poop once or twice a week and pee around 1-4 times a week.
Please consult your nearest veterinarian if you have any concerns about the health of your pet.
Why and What to Do When your Bearded Dragon is Pooping Too Much
When your beardie pops too much, it would be important to consider factors such as age and pooping regularity.
However, your beardie may poop too much because of the following reasons:
Parasites
The digestive tract of most bearded dragons has parasites to some degree, but they are mostly harmless.
However, pesky parasites [1] can make your beardie poop too much.
If they pop too much while the feces are loose, runny, and have a very strong and foul odor, it’s a clear indication your beardie is infested with parasites.
It is advisable to make a vet appointment immediately and carry a fecal sample for the vet to determine what kind of parasite is present.
Nonetheless, to know the effective type of anti-parasitic drug to administer your beardie.
Stress
Environmental factors such as high or insufficient temperature and humidity and other pets hanging around your beardie’s enclosure induce stress and threat to your pet.
These factors can make your beardie poop more than usual. Moreover, moving your beardie to a new tank and feeders left behind uneaten can also cause stress.
If the cause of pooping too much is stress-induced, it would be helpful to adjust your beardie’s environment for it to calm down and adapt with time.
Pregnancy
Did you know that dearded dragons can be pregnant or gravid without copulation?
Yes, and for this reason, your beardie will eat more than normal and thus causing it to have frequent bowel movements.
Since the egs are unfertilized, they won’t produce any baby, but it would be wise to take the necessary precaution for it to lay eggs smoothly and successfully.
Bearded Dragon Poop: what does the color mean?
A healthy beardie will likely poop brown and have solid feces. But often, your beardie may poop a brown and white solid feces, and there is nothing to worry about the white matter because it is urine.
However, it may not poop a brown feces because it depends on the diet and other factors.
Aside from brown, your beardie poop may also have any of the following color:
Green
Green poop is normal because your pet consumes lots of greens. It is perfectly normal and healthy if the poop is well-formed and green with urate.
White
When its poop is white, know that it does not poop, but a urate passed down without feces.
If it passes out soft urate, it is perfectly healthy; however, a hard urate is a clear indication your beardy is dehydrated.
What should I do if my bearded dragon has white poop?
If it passes out a hard urate, we recommend soaking your beardy in warm water up to its shoulders level for about 15-20 minutes.
This helps your beardie to get plenty of moisture. Just monitor the process while soaking your beardie to avoid unintentional accidents.
Yellow
Yellow poop is also a urate that typically occurs when you feed your beardy with a diet that has too much calcium in it.
Therefore, make sure you provide a well-balanced diet with appropriate calcium levels.
Red
A red stool is a clear indication that your beardie is suffering from impaction or a severe health issue that causes internal bleeding.
When you notice a red poop, start looking for lumps and bumps on its underside and back limbs to conclude if your beardie is impacted.
Nonetheless, please pay attention to paralysis because it is a sign of impaction. Indeed, impaction is deadly and requires immediate attention before it is too late.
If the cause is not impaction, then your beardie is suffering from internal injury or constipation.
Make sure to get them medical help immediately as this can be due to severe issues like egg binding or a prolapse [2].
We recommend getting your pet a vet as soon as possible if you have any concerns over their health.
How to make your Beardy Poop if it has not been Pooping as Usual
Bearded dragons may also not poop as they do regularly because of stress-induced factors such as impaction and cage condition leading to dehydration.
Therefore, use the following tips to help your beardie poop.
Hydrate your Beardie
Dehydration can make your beardie relieve itself. If you notice its poop and urate is chalky as opposed to soft, then it is definitely dehydrated.
Simply drip a small bowl of water onto its snout for it to lick off the water to enhance rehydration.
Next, give your beardie a supervised warm bath for about 15 minutes each day until it can relieve itself.
Check the Tank Condition
Low UVB and cold temperature affect your beardie’s metabolism or digestion and thus causing your bearded dragon to stop pooping normally.
Therefore, double check the temperature is at the right level. Also monitor your UVB bulb because it loses its strength after about six months to a year.
The best tank temperature for baby beardies is 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit and 95-105 degrees Fahrenheit for bearded dragons 12 months of age and older.
Laxatives
Homemade laxatives are also the best option that can help to ease bowel movement.
Offer your Beardie 3-4 drops of olive oil a day until it can relieve itself.
You can also feed your pet one teaspoon of applesauce with no sugar added.
Conclusion
Finally, do not get mad or discouraged when you see or spot your beardie pooping in its water bowl.
However, you may also know the health condition of your beardie by observing its poops which is a good indicator of its overall health.
You may also like our article about how long bearded dragons live.
Resources Used in this article
[1] pesky parasites
https://www.raintreevet.ca/blog/pesky-parasites/
[2] prolapse
https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/
My name is Brad and I am the main editor of BeardieZilla.com.
The only goal of this site is quite simply to be able to help you. To help you by the means of my experiment, of the relation which I maintain with my bearded dragon as well as some of my knowledge about beardies.
I hope that you will find answers to some of your most pressing questions here.
Thank you for stopping by and enjoy the blog!
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