Best Remedies to Cure Impaction for your Bearded Dragon
Impaction in a bearded dragon can be incredibly painful, your beardie will thank you if you can find some useful remedies to help cure it!
Luckily, I have put a few together for you here. But first, let’s take a look at what impaction is.
What is Impaction?
Impaction is when a bearded dragon’s digestive system gets backed up, and they have trouble making a bowel movement.
The condition is similar to constipation in humans but is more severe and can lead to potentially life-threatening situations.
Note: If your beardie is impacted, then the first line of advice I can give you is to take your pet to the vet and have him, or her checked out.
Remedies for Impaction
In addition to a trip to see your vet, there are several other ways you can go about treating impaction in your bearded dragon. Things such as
- Providing a suitable diet
- Bathing
- Exercising
- Providing the right temperature
Keep reading to find out how you can achieve all of these things to help cure impaction in your bearded dragon.
1. Provide a Suitable Diet
Choosing the proper food when your bearded dragon is impacted will help ensure that your pet gets through this difficult time and ends up in excellent health again.
Impaction is a reasonably severe health ailment for your beardie. Once your pet has been diagnosed, taking the right steps to remedy the condition is crucial.
When all bunged up, your beardie will probably be struggling to eat; however, this apple-flavored food is going to be challenging to resist.
It is rich in goodness and full of fibers, which aid in the digestive process. It can significantly help treat your pet to ensure an optimal and speedy recovery.
There is also the pumpkin variety, which is also an excellent buy if you are treating impaction in your bearded dragon.
Pay attention to both choices and buy the remedy that fits your budget and your pet’s suspected tastes.
2. Let Your Beardie Exercise
It may not be intuitive, but giving your beardie proper exercise opportunities is crucial to your dragon’s:
- Weight
- Mental Health
- Bone Strength
Purchasing a leash and harness for your beardie will allow you to give your beardie the exercise it deserves.
A leash is both safe and practical, adding convenience to your pet’s exercise routine.
Taking your beardie for a walk around the house or out in the garden is sure to put a smile on their face.
Try to incorporate exercise into your beardie’s routine at least a few times per week if you can.
Doing so will not only treat impaction, but it will promote the proper functioning of organs and prevent the condition from occurring.
3. Bathing Is a Must
It may seem obvious, but the fact is, regular bathing does a lot to ensure the health and wellness of your bearded dragon.
When bathing your beardie you will need to treat the water with a conditioner. There are often chemicals in untreated tap water.
Chemicals such as chlorine and chloramines will cause an adverse reaction to your beardie’s skin.
Bath time for your beardie should be a fun and safe process for all involved, and this will be great at reducing the effect of impaction in your bearded dragon.
It could take up to 30 minutes for your beardie to pass a bowel movement in the bath, so be patient.
Once it does, its impaction will be cured. Gently massaging your beardie’s stomach area can help to speed up this process.
Note: You can find more tips on giving a bearded dragon a bath right here.
4. Maintain a Regular and Optimum Temperature
It is essential to maintain an optimal temperature within the terrarium at a reasonable level. There should be different temperature zones where the temperatures differ within the terrarium.
The hot zone should be between 90 and 110 F, and the cold area should be cooler, at around 85 degrees.
Having these separate zones will significantly increase the happiness of your pet, and will help prevent problems such as impaction down the road.
To help you measure the temperatures in the different zones, you should get yourself an infrared thermometer to accurately gauge the temperature at specific points within the habitat.
These types of thermometers are helpful because they don’t require contact with particular zones within the terrarium, and you can get a read on the temperatures from afar.
5. Consider Using Supplements
Considering supplements to boost elements of your beardie’s diet is a fantastic idea. There are many different types of supplements out there on the market.
Finding a calcium supplement that doesn’t take your beardie over the D3 limit can be tricky; however, Zoo Med has released a calcium supplement that ticks all the right boxes.
This assumes that your bearded dragon is already receiving the suggested amount of vitamin D3 in from their regular diet.
Lightly sprinkling your beardie’s food with calcium powder two-to-three times per week will be enough to ensure your bearded dragon gets enough calcium, which helps in preventing harmful impaction.
6. Feed Your Beardie Only the Best Worms
Varying your bearded dragon diet is an excellent way to fight off that pesky impaction.
Looking at adding nutritious worms to your pet’s food is a way to strengthen its immunity and cause it to help remove impaction if your lizard is already infected.
Hornworms
These are a delicious treat indeed for your much-loved beardie.
Keeping a well-balanced diet and spicing it up with treats like these will go a long way in curing your pet of impaction and ensuring long-term health.
Hornworms are typically .25 – .5″ long, so they offer a sizeable snack, and you can choose which ones to feed your beardie.
Superworms
Another delicacy that your bearded dragon will just love is .
These come in packs of 1,000, and feeding them to your beardie will not only delight your animal but will strengthen their diet by introducing:
- Calcium
- Fat
- Fibre
Maintaining a healthy diet will help to cure your lizard of impaction, and will strengthen its overall health by adding variety to its food.
Worms may seem gross to you and me, but a beardie who has an ample supply of high-quality worms is in cloud nine. They can’t get enough of them!
7. Ensure You Use the Correct Substrate
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that is especially true with bearded dragons.
Buy the right substrate right off the bat, and the risk of impaction in your beardie will be significantly diminished.
Simply select a non-particle substrate such as a substrate liner and you will immediately minimize the risk for your beardie.
Summary
Looking after your bearded dragon’s health is your responsibility, and getting it right will help to avoid costly visits to the veterinarian.
Some of the tips above will help prevent the need for treatment, while some of the remedies explained will cure impaction in your bearded dragon.
Changing your pet’s diet and including natural laxatives such as pure, unsweetened pureed prunes is a good idea.
Taking all the necessary steps to cure impaction will leave you with a happy pet, one that will be in your life for many years to come.
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I was just 15 years of age when I first met a bearded dragon. It was at my friend's house and I instantly grew an immediate attraction to, what has now become, my favourite animal on the planet! Making fantastic pets for both children and adults alike, they each have their own personality and are certainly full of character. There are, though, some important things that we should all know when it comes to caring for these amazing animals!