help! sick beardie

I have a bearded dragon that appears to be constipated, straining ect. I have an appointment for the vet tomorrow. What is impaction, is it the same as costipation? I would appreciate any imput on this subject. thank you

Impaction is not the same as constipation. Impaction results from either eating too big of a prey item, ingesting too much substrate(sand, alfalfa pellets,etc.) or ingesting some other foreign object that blocks the digestive tracts. It is more serious than constipation and should be treated by a vet. For now, you can try soaking the dragon in a warm bath for a while and see if that helps. Good luck.

soaking id good advice, i ran into this problem once with one of my beardies, and after a good soak and a gentle tummy rub she popped right in the water. i make it a habit to soak my beardies at least every other day. if the soaking doesn't work, then deffintly make the trip to the vet. if it is impacted, they can go down hill fast, and you want to get it taken care of as quick as you can. hope ever thing works out for you.

Soak and the tummy rub are both good choices for now. And then to the Vet you go. Hope he has had a movement since you posted. Keep us posted.

You say she appears to be straining and appears to be constipated. Has she actually pooped if not then how long has it been? Is this an adult? Does she also dig alot in the sand or substrate? If so it is possible that she is ready to lay eggs.

If no pre-egg laying behavior is noted, has she actually passed a poop lately? If she is passing feces, then she is probably not constipated, but may still have an obstruction or other problem near the cloaca that is making her strain. This probably would require a trip to the vet. Has she had an opportunity to swallow anything other than food? For example, is she kpet on loose substrate such as calci-sand (yech), play-sand, repti-carpet that is frayed or whatever? If there was no chance of her ingesting foreign bodies then it is more likely constipation than impaction. What kind of diet have you been feeding her?

Note: If there is a chance that she is ready to lay eggs you don't want to put her in a warm water bath and risk losing the eggs (unless egg bound), but if you still; think she is constipated or impacted then a warm water bath is a good idea. Keep her in warm water for up to 2 hours.

Give us some more information if she has not already gotten better, and maybe we can help you out some more.

best regards,
Glenn B