The color and consistency of a bearded dragon’s poop can tell a lot about bearded dragon’s health. In this post, we will discuss what normal bearded dragon poop and urates should look like. You will be able to find bearded dragon poop images and learn about abnormal bearded dragon poop – red, green, orange, black, watery poop.
What does a normal bearded dragon poop look like?
Normal bearded dragon poop should have two parts to it – solid digested food waste part, and soft yellowish-white urates, which is urine in solid form. Apart from poop, you might also see some clear pee – but it won’t be much pee if at all.
If your bearded dragon’s poop is smaller than usual, missing a brown waste part, watery or of a different color – it can indicate internal issues or temporary changes. Let’s discuss them below.
Various color bearded dragon poop
Please remember that some pellet and natural foods (fruits and greens) can color your bearded dragon’s poop. Even the food that the feeder insects have eaten can affect bearded dragon’s poop color! Before worrying, make sure to remember about any dietary changes.
Bearded dragon green poop – reasons
If your bearded dragon’s poop is green, then it might mean that it has been colored. Your bearded dragon’s poop might be green due to food – have you recently introduced any pellet food (can contain food dyes)?
Other foods that can color the poop green are high-chlorophyll (color that makes veggies green) or other green veggies, such as spinach, kale, peppers etc. It could also be caused by medicine if your bearded dragon is taking any. Another reason for green poop would be ingested substrate – such as colored sand, paper, moss etc.
If your bearded is otherwise fine and it’s actually because of specific food consumption, then it will pass. However, if your bearded dragon’s poop is green, runny and smells bad, then it could be a parasitic or bacterial infection such as Salmonella.
If it doesn’t pass, stinks and is not caused by new foods and your dragon acts lethargic, then take the poop for full screen fecal examination.
Bearded dragon black poop – causes
Black poop can also be a cause of food that your bearded dragon has been eating. If your bearded dragon’s poop is very black, it can be because it has been eating bugs that colored its poop. Especially if it hasn’t been eating any veggies or fruits. Also, poop naturally darkens slightly if it’s been in a tank for some time.
However, if your bearded dragon’s poop is black, watery and smells bad, then it could be a parasitic infection. Your bearded dragon could get infected, and infections spread from other lizards or from living in unsanitary conditions.
If you have just bought your bearded dragon, this is especially important to take its poop to the vet for a fecal examination.
Make sure to take some fresh poop to the vet – ideally that is less than 2 hours old. Refrigerate it in a zip bag before taking to the vet. Fresh poop is important because some parasites might not survive until you take it to the vet and show false negative results.
If your bearded dragon’s poop is hard and possibly darker than usual, then you could be giving too many high-chitin bugs such as waxworms, mealworms, locusts that are dry & harder to digest. They can also cause impaction, so make sure to offer salad too.
Bearded dragon yellow poop – causes
If your bearded dragon is having yellow poop, that could be caused by foods that colored the poop yellow. Has there been any change in the diet recently that could cause poop color? What have you been feeding your feeder bugs?
Maybe you have fed any yellow/orange colored veggies or fruits that could color the poop. These could be for example, carrots, sweet potato, or squash.
If your bearded dragon is a girl – could she possibly be gravid? If she is over 18 months old, she could be gravid without mating with a male. In this case, the eggs will be yellowish in color and look deflated. If you can see something similar coming out of the vent, that could be an egg.
Don’t pull on it though – this egg could be attached to another one inside of your bearded dragon. Instead, prepare a lay box immediately, offer calcium supplements and water. Place the lay box in darkened spot if your bearded dragon seems stressed.
Bathe your bearded dragon and see if it helps. If it doesn’t help, take your bearded dragon to the vet as she could be egg-bound and will need surgical egg removal.
What you could also see coming out of your bearded dragon’s vent is a seminal plug that you could confuse with poop or urates. Seminal plug is hardened seminal fluid in male bearded dragons. These seminal plugs are often white-yellowish in color and string-like.
Don’t pull on seminal plugs, but give your bearded dragon a bath and massage gently to help it come out. Seminal plugs are soft and stringy, but once out, dry out.
Bearded dragon runny poop – reasons
If your bearded dragon is having runny poops – there might be few different reasons.
First of all, has there been any change in the diet recently. Higher amounts of fiber-rich fruits/veggies or ones that act as laxatives could cause diarrhea. For example apples, pumpkin, beet greens and so on. If this is only a temporary issue, then it’s fine.
However, if your bearded dragon’s poop is runny and stinky, then it could be a parasitic infection. As discussed earlier in the post, make sure to take fresh poop to the vet and request a full screen. Another sign of a parasitic infection is presence of mucus or blood in the poop, lethargy, weight loss and loss of appetite.
Your bearded dragon might also be having runny poop if she is gravid. If your bearded dragon is a female and is over 1.5-2 years old, then she could be gravid. Remember that your bearded dragon can become gravid without mating with a male, too, and the eggs will be infertile.
Bearded dragon blood after poop – reasons
If you notice any poop in your bearded dragon’s poop, then this could be serious. Please review any changes in the setup or diet that could cause this problem.
If you offer your bearded dragon insects that are too large for it (larger than the width between eyes), then it could cause impaction. What is more, offering too many bugs that especially have sharp legs such as locusts or large roaches could cause tears in your bearded dragon’s intestines, leading to minor bleeding.
What is more, if your bearded dragon is impacted with foreign objects, they could cause tears in the guts, leading to some blood after poop.
But at the same time, this could be not blood, but colored poop. Certain foods can color your bearded dragon’s poop red. For example, have you been offering beets, raspberries or pellet food? Does the poop look more pink than red possibly?
Another reason of blood after poop in bearded dragons is a parasitic infection, such as Coccidia, pinworms or hookworms. If your dragon is also lethargic and refuses food, please have a full screen immediately. Parasites can irritate the lining of intestines, causing some bleeding.
Blood in a bearded dragon’s poop and struggle to poop
Also, if your bearded dragon seems to be straining and having hard time pooping, this could be another issue. In this case, your bearded dragon’s poop could be too large and causing discomfort for your bearded dragon to poop out.
This can happen with very large meals, or if your bearded dragon has constipation. Extremely large poop can also cause tears in the intestines, that will lead to some blood after poop. These scars are likely to heal themselves, but you need to think about more fiber-rich foods and hydration to prevent large and dry stools and constipation.
What is more, your bearded dragon could develop a polyp in the guts, which swells and takes some space, making pooping hard. A polyp will cause trouble pooping, some bleeding after poop and tears.
Dehydration can cause dry poop, and if your bearded dragon pushes too hard to poop, it could cause tears in the guts. This will cause some blood to leak in the poop.
Bearded dragon parasitic poop
If you suspect a parasitic infection in your bearded dragon, then you should take its poop in a zip bag to the vet as soon as possible. This is especially true if your bearded dragon is new, never got a poop test, or has been acting and looking differently lately.
Most parasites in your bearded dragon’s poop won’t be visible to the naked eye. However, you could sometimes see some moving parasitic amoebas in the very fresh poop that is less than 1-2 hours.
You should always act if your bearded dragon becomes more lethargic (unless it’s a brumation), doesn’t show interest in food, has loose stools, or even blood in the stool, is losing weight.
Even one or two symptoms could indicate a parasitic infection. Take the fresh poop (as fresh as possible, don’t freeze), and if infection is confirmed, a vet will prescribe medication for your bearded dragon.
What should normal bearded dragon urates look like?
So urate is the white part of poop and is a solid form of urine (to minimize water loss). Normal bearded dragon urates should be soft and yellowish-white in color.
Urate piece should also be well-formed. If your bearded dragon’s urate is hard or very yellow, then your bearded dragon could be dehydrated.
Very yellow urates can also indicate that your bearded dragon is getting too much calcium. Have you been dusting the bugs with calcium and feeding them calcium-rich foods? Make sure to only lightly coat bugs that you are offering.
You can find a supplementation guide for your bearded dragon in this post (opens in a new window).
Bearded dragon poops only white – causes
If your bearded dragon is only pooping white, then it is missing the poop part any has only urate in it. In this case, if urates are hard, this could indicate that your bearded dragon is dehydrated and possibly has constipation and can’t poop properly. Give your bearded dragon a bath and offer drops of water on the snout.
Does your bearded dragon drink enough water and is the temperature in the tank not too high? If your bearded dragon is in a small cage, that could affect it too – as it can be hard to create a temperature gradient in a small cage.
Adult bearded dragons need an at least 55-gallon tank that is 48 inches long. Monitor temperatures with at least 2 thermometers like this in the tank – one in the hot, and one in the cool spot.
Only white poop (urates) without any actual feces can also mean that your bearded dragon hasn’t eaten much.
This can be if your bearded dragon went off food (brumation for example) or was sick for any reason. If your bearded dragon is starting to eat normally again, you should see feces again in maximum a week or two.
Thank you for reading this post. If your bearded dragon hasn’t been pooping for some time, you can find a post on this here.