Due to their calmness and distinctive appearance, bearded dragons have become fascinating and attractive creatures that anyone would want to keep as pets.
However, like all the other pets, bearded dragons come with unique features and attributes that anyone who wants to domesticate them should know.
One of the most intriguing questions that first-time bearded dragon owners grapple with is whether bearded dragons pee. The question is propelled by the fact that you’ll never see any visible sign of urine in their living areas.
This guide will help you know whether bearded dragons pee and cover all nuances about bearded dragon urination.
Do Bearded Dragons Pee?
Yes, bearded dragons do urinate, but not in the same way as other species. Instead of the traditional liquid pee that we see in other animals, bearded dragons produce urine in the form of a chalky white substance. The highly concentrated powdery white substance is uric acid.
You shouldn’t be worried when you bring a bearded dragon home and don’t find any wet spots or soiled beddings in its enclosure after some weeks.
You need to understand that these sweet and innocent-looking reptiles have a specialized method of passing urine. They excrete wastes in solid form instead of liquid form.
But if you may ask, what makes these creatures produce solid urate instead of the usual liquid pee produced by other animals?
Why Do Bearded Dragons Pass White Powdery Pee?
The primary reason why bearded dragons produce solid pee stems back to their original habitat. Essentially, the natural origin of the bearded dragon is the hot deserts of Australia. For these reptiles to survive in such hot conditions, they needed to conserve and preserve water in their systems for an extended period.
If they excrete liquid pee, they would lose moisture and become dehydrated. The best way to ensure that they don’t lose water through peeing is to eliminate uric acid in solid form.
A bearded dragon’s digestive and urinary systems are devised to help conserve water and ensure optimal hydration.
Therefore, the next time you check for a bearded dragon’s pee in its enclosure, look for a solid, white chalky substance.
How Frequently Should Bearded Dragons Pee?
Now that you know what bearded dragon pee looks like, you might be concerned about the frequency of urination.
You might have stayed a few days without seeing the urate in their cage, and you’re wondering whether there’s something wrong.
Although it’s hard to pinpoint the exact times a bearded dragon pees, the reptiles don’t pee that much. The frequency of urination will depend on age. You should expect to see the following from bearded dragons:
- Young bearded dragons that are less than four months usually pee 1 to 3 times every day. Since their rate of metabolism is higher, they accumulate uric acid in their kidneys much faster and have to excrete it.
- Teen bearded dragons aged 4 to 18 months will pass urate at least once daily. With their metabolism starting to plummet, they’ll only need to release excretes once.
- Mature or adult bearded dragons urinate 1 to 4 times a week.
While this is just a general guideline, it’s crucial to understand that different bearded dragons may experience different urination cycles. For instance, it’s also normal for adult bearded dragons to urinate daily.
Although age is a significant factor when it comes to a bearded dragon urination cycle, other things still come into play.
Things such as stress, diet, light, and the amount of heat in the reptile’s enclosure can also alter the frequency of urination in bearded dragons.
Do Bearded Dragons Pee When They Poop?
Yes, bearded dragons simultaneously excrete pee and poop. You’ll always see the poop and urate together. The normal color of bearded dragon stool is brown and white. Unlike most animals that pee first and then pass stool.
The brown part, which is log-shaped, is the poop. The white portion appearing at the sides of or the end of the brown part is the pee. The color of the poop and pee should be consistent if the reptile is healthy.
You’ll never find a bearded dragon pee on its own. It is excreted together with the digestive wastes.
Can Bearded Dragons Produce Liquid Pee?
Since bearded dragons have been made to adapt to the hot weather in the desert, they rarely excrete urine in liquid form.
However, this doesn’t mean that they can’t produce liquid pee. At times, the creatures can pass urine in liquid form when pooping.
When you spot a clear liquid as bearded dragons pee or poops, this is a sign that the creature is adequately hydrated. There’s a theory that if you feed your reptile too many vegetables, they’ll pass some liquid when peeing or pooping.
As a bearded dragon owner, you should conduct a fecal test to determine why your pet is producing liquid urine. If you’re not satisfied with the results, you should seek the opinion of a professional vet.
Why Is My Bearded Dragon Producing Yellow Pee?
Bearded dragons are also known to produce yellow pee from time to time. So, it should not cause an immediate alarm. The only time it should raise concern is if it keeps recurring. If your reptile consistently excretes yellow pee, this could be a clear sign of dehydration.
The yellowing of the urine means that the bearded dragon’s body doesn’t have enough water. Therefore, you should increase the bearded dragon hydration levels when you consistently see yellow pee.
The yellowing of a bearded dragon’s pee may also be caused by taking food with too much calcium.
Therefore, you should also observe your reptile’s diet to ensure that you are not feeding it with excessive amounts of calcium.
Since yellow pee could be due to dehydration or excessive calcium consumption, you should take corrective action by fixing the two issues simultaneously.
Give your bearded dragon plenty of fluids and reduce the amount of calcium in its diet.
6 Signs of Dehydration in Bearded Dragons
- Lethargy
- Sunken eyes
- Abrupt lack of appetite
- Wrinkled skin
- Producing pee that’s harder than usual
- Consistent yellow pee
Bearded dragons need to stay hydrated at all times. They get water by drinking off droplets from leaves and eating succulent plant foods in the wild.
But, when they’re domesticated, the creatures should be provided with a shallow water bowl.
Since bearded dragons don’t always find enough water on leaves and through food, you must introduce new ways for them to stay hydrated.
This will ensure that they don’t suffer from ailments caused by dehydration.
However, you won’t know whether your bearded dragon is dehydrated unless you understand the signs to look out for.
Dehydration may occur when the lizard is pregnant, shedding, sick or bromating.
If you discover that your reptile is dehydrated, you must act fast, especially if the bearded dragon is sick.
When ill, it might be challenging for the reptile to drink up. This will accelerate the problem further and can even be fatal.
How to Keep Bearded Dragons Hydrated?
Dehydration is a serious problem that can lead to various conditions, some of which can be fatal. For this reason, you should make sure that the creatures stay dehydrated at all times.
Here are 4 ways to keep your bearded dragon hydrated:
1. Offer water-rich vegetables
We mentioned that bearded dragons savor succulent plants in the wild to stay hydrated. Similarly, you should feed them with vegetables and foods with high water content.
This will ensure that they benefit from the dose of water while at the same time getting a rightful share of proteins, minerals, and vitamins.
Besides vegetables, you should also feed your bearded dragons with juicy worms, such as hornworms. Fruits will also help the creatures to hydrate.
2. Provide drinking water in a bowl
Bearded dragons are not fans of drinking water from the bowl. You need to help them drink by holding the water yourself.
Conversely, you can put the water in a shallow bowl and train your reptiles how to drink from it.
More importantly, a shallow bowl allows the lizard to dive in and absorb water via the skin. However, make sure that water doesn’t go above the shoulders since bearded dragons aren’t the best swimmers.
3. Please Give It a Shower
Bearded dragons can absorb water through the skin! Although there’s no scientific evidence to back up this claim, its proponents believe this is what has made the bearded dragons survive in the hot desert weather.
When your beardy friend is suffering from dehydration, bathing it in warm bath can help it hydrate.
Although only a slight amount of moisture gets into the body through the skin, at least it helps the reptiles avoid various dehydration complications.
4. Misting
Another convenient way to ensure that your beardy lizard stays hydrated is misting. Although some people claim that this method can cause respiratory infections, it can be beneficial if other methods fail.
Essentially, you should mist your bearded dragon using warm water. This will ensure that the reptile gets adequate moisture without compromising its respiratory system.
Can Bearded Dragon Be Potty Trained?
You may think that because the bearded dragon doesn’t produce liquid pee, it won’t spoil or mess its enclosure. However, this is further from the truth. The lovable little dragons excrete mean-smelling dumps that are a pain to clean up.
The question for many people is, can these cute and docile creatures be potty trained? Yes, bearded dragons can be potty trained to eradicate the foul smell and reduce the workload of cleaning the entire enclosure.
However, training this creature to go to the toilet is a daunting task that requires patience and consistency.
Just like us human beings, bearded dragons are habitual. They sleep in the same spot every night, go out to bask about the same time every morning, and start drooling for food at a predetermined time during the day.
If you learn their habits, you will be able to predict what they’ll do next. You can know when they relieve themselves and ensure that they have a place where they can poop.
Luckily, beardies don’t poop every day, and thus it can be easy to determine where they love relieving themselves.
If you learn where their favorite pooping spot is, you can be rest assured that they will always return to the same area to empty their bowels. Still, there are bearded dragons that don’t defecate in their enclosure.
These creatures wait until they’re taken out of the cage to poop. Whether your pet likes to poop in the cage or out of its enclosure, knowing its habit is the first step to training it to go to the toilet.
How To Potty Train Bearded Dragon? (2 Methods)
You can potty train bearded dragons via two distinct methods:
1. The Daily Bath method
This technique is ideal for dragons that like to poop out of their enclosure. As a part of bearded dragon care, pet owners should bathe the creatures 2-3 times per week in warm bath.
During bathing, the little dragons love to splash, drink and poop. If you discover that your bearded dragon likes to poop during bathing time, you should encourage it by making this a daily ritual.
2. The Litter Box Method
This involves the use of the standard litter box. Unlike other pets that naturally use the litter box, bearded dragons don’t love it.
It will take time and effort to train these reptiles to use it. A rule of thumb is not to use litter since it may be ingested by the dragons and lead to a catastrophe.
Instead, you should use Repti chips since they are safe for bearded dragons. Remember to exercise patience when potty train bearded dragon using this method.
Don’t worry, even if things don’t seem to be working. Take your time when potty training a bearded dragon.
Everything You Need to Know about a Bearded Dragons Poop
Since the bearded dragon pee and poop go hand in hand and are excreted simultaneously, it’s hard to talk about one and leave the other.
And since we have discussed everything about bearded dragon pee in the last section, let’s now turn our attention to its poop.
Don’t be fooled by these adorable reptiles’ innocence, gentleness, and cute looks; they’re notoriously known for having some fouls smelling poop.
Pooping might be a stinky business, but the stool tells a lot about the health and well-being of your bearded dragon.
Monitoring how often your bearded dragon poops the color and texture of the poop can provide insights into its health. Continue reading this guide to get more insights into the bearded dragon’s poop.
How Frequently Should a Bearded Dragon Poop?
Typically, bearded dragons should poop at least once per week. However, some bearded dragons may even poop every single day. Essentially, how often the cute friend defecates will depend on various factors.
First, the bearded dragon’s age will determine how frequently it will have bowel movements. Babies poop more times than juvenile and adult beardies.
Another factor that will determine how frequently a bearded dragon will poop is the kind of diet it’s taking.
For example, beardies consuming foods with too much calcium will defecate more often than those who only eat crickets.
Exposure to UVA and UBA light will determine how long it takes for a bearded dragon to poop. One of the roles of UVA and UVB is to facilitate easier digestion.
Lack of substantial exposure will mean less bowel movement hence less frequent pooping.
How Many Times Should a Baby Bearded Dragon Poop?
Baby bearded dragons aged four months or below should poop once or thrice every day. Due to their rapidly developing bodies, babies have high metabolism rates and thus have to eat a lot.
And as we all know, the more the food, the higher the digestive excretes. If you recently bought a baby bearded dragon and it keeps soiling its terrarium, there’s no need for alarm. It’s just going through a normal phase of life.
How Frequently Should Juvenile or Young Bearded Dragon Poop?
Juvenile bearded dragons aged between 4-18 months usually experience bowel movements after one day. However, things start to slow down when they clock 18 months.
Essentially, as juveniles continue to grow old, their metabolism slows down and their food intake. For this reason, their bowel movement starts taking longer.
How Frequently Should an Adult Bearded Dragon Poop?
The type of food your adult bearded dragon eats will affect its pooping frequency. However, if an adult lizard is on a proper diet, gets adequate UVA and UVB exposure, and is healthy, it should poop at least once or thrice every week.
Bearded dragons that savor calcium-rich feeders such as silkworms are known to poop more often. They can even poop daily.
Ultimately, it would help to remember that every bearded dragon is different in its way. Some bearded dragon may stay even for a whole week without defecating, while others can soil their enclosures daily.
Why Is My Bearded Dragon Pooping A Lot?
If your bearded dragon has bowel movements too often, it may be due to a health complication or another condition. However, remember that what is considered a lot for adult bearded dragons could be standard for babies.
For instance, if an adult bearded dragon poops more than once every day, this should be a warning alarm.
However, this is normal for baby bearded dragons. If your bearded dragon is pooping a lot, these might be the reasons:
1. Stress
Your bearded dragon may experience increased bowel movements or less excretion due to stress.
If you notice a change in your pet’s pooping habits, you need to figure out whether something is stressing the little friend, either inside its enclosure or outside its tank.
Is the enclosure too hot or too cold? Have you introduced a new pet into its tank? Or have you recently transferred your bearded dragon to a new tank? Check whether there’s something inside the enclosure that’s stressing your pet.
External pressures can also take a toll on your beardie. How many people are feeding the pet? Are there loud noises around its terrarium? Or are there bigger pets, such as dogs and cats, lurking around the bearded dragon tank? Make sure that the environment around your bearded dragon’s enclosure is peaceful.
2. Parasitic Infections
Another probable reason your bearded dragon is pooping a lot may be parasitic infections. Essentially, bearded dragons have some parasites in their systems.
Often, these parasites don’t need treatment since they don’t have adverse effects. However, they at times compromise the digestive system causing frequent bowel movements.
Often, poop that contains parasites smells terrible. If you think or see your bearded dragon pooping too often due to parasitic infection, you should collect a fecal sample and take it to a vet for examination.
3. Pregnancy
If parasites and stress are not what is causing your female bearded dragon to defecate frequently, the other reason could be pregnancy.
Female bearded dragons start to eat a lot when preparing to lay their clutches.
And as you may know, overeating means that the lizard will need to excrete more waste, hence the frequent pooping.
Even if your female bearded dragon doesn’t live with a male, it will still lay infertile eggs.
How Should Healthy Bearded Dragon Poop Look Like?
A bearded dragon poop contains two things:
- Solid digestive excretes that are usually brown
- Urate, which is typically powdery white uric acid
Usually, the bearded dragon poop should be log-shaped, firm in consistency, and brown in color with powdery white substances on the sides or at the end.
Both the poop and urate are excreted together. It’s normal for the poop to darken on some days in a month.
However, if substantial changes in color, texture, and frequency of pooping are observed, it might indicate a complication or a disease.
The changes should raise the alarm, especially if followed by other symptoms such as lethargy or loss of appetite.
What Does Unhealthy Bearded Dragon Poop Look Like?
Change in color, texture, or consistency of the poop is always an indication of a health complication. However, one thing that should immediately raise concern is diarrhea or runny poop.
As we know, bearded dragons conserve water by excreting powdery pee. For this reason, diarrhea or liquid poop should be addressed immediately since bearded dragons can become dehydrated very fast.
You should immediately see a reptile vet if your pet bearded dragon experiences runny poop or diarrhea consistently for a few days.
They have the expertise to diagnose your pet and evaluate whether diet, parasites, or infections are the cause.
In addition to changes in texture and consistency, any change in poops color may indicate illnesses or health complications. Let’s look at the various bearded dragon poop colors and what they insinuate.
Bearded Dragon Poop Colors and What They Indicate
When the cute pet is healthy, its poop will be brown with whitish uric acid on the sides or at the end. However, the color may turn yellow, green, black, red, or white to correspond with a particular condition.
The color of the poop provides valuable insights that can help you determine whether your bearded dragon is ill. Sometimes the color may mean something is wrong or indicate that the pet is on a specific diet.
Before you consider the change in poop color a serious thing, you need to review its diet and eliminate some foods.
If the bearded dragon stool regains its standard color, you don’t have to visit a vet. However, you need to be spooked if the strange color remains even after changing the diet.
Check out this bearded dragon color and what they indicate.
White Poop
Typically, bearded dragon poop is brown with some white uric acid on the sides and at the peripheral. However, when nearly all the poop is chalky and has some stingy saliva, this may be a sign of dehydration.
If your bearded dragon pet consistently produces white poop, you should find ways to rehydrate its body.
The most straightforward means is to give it a 15-minute birth. Although this will not replenish water in its system, it will ease the pangs of dehydration by moistening its skin.
You also need to ensure that your bearded dragon drinks enough water to stay hydrated. Since extreme heat can also cause dehydration, you need to ensure that the terrarium temperatures don’t go beyond 105° degrees Fahrenheit (40° C).
If the feces only contain white urate, it might indicate that your pet hasn’t consumed adequate food. You need to give it more food, and if things don’t change, you’ll need to seek the help of a qualified reptile vet.
Green Poop
Green poop shouldn’t cause alarm since it’s often associated with the type of food your pet has been eating. Bearded dragons usually defecate green feces after eating plenty of leafy greens or green food dyes.
You shouldn’t panic if your lizard passes green poop occasionally and doesn’t display any other symptoms.
You should only be worried when the green feces have a foul smell or are runny. This may indicate more severe ailments such as anorexia, liver disease, or rare cases of hemolytic anemia.
You should not hesitate to seek veterinary insights if you observe foul-smelling green and runny feces. Only a vet can determine whether your bearded dragon suffers from a severe disease.
Orange Poop
Although it’s not typical to see bearded dragons excreting orange poop, it usually happens if they take diets with several multivitamin supplements. This usually happens to new bearded dragon owners who don’t know how to balance various dietary items.
Pet owners should offer their bearded dragons multivitamin supplements not more than once every week. More importantly, these should be provided in sizeable portions.
If you don’t spot the orange color in feces, look for an orange hue in infertile eggs.
This is because too many supplements also affect the infertile eggs” color and shape. A balanced diet is recommended if you want to get rid of orange stool.
Red Poop
Bearded dragons may also excrete red feces when they savor foods like raspberries and beets. If your pet eats these foods or other delicacies with red dye, their poop will be red. You can get rid of the color by simply removing red items from their diet.
If you find traces of blood in your beardie’s stool, this is a sign of a more severe condition such as internal breading or parasitic attack.
If your pet has parasites like coccidian in its digestive system, they can rapture the alimentary canal and cause internal bleeding.
Red streaks in poop may also mean that the bearded dragon consumed sharp items that punctured the intestines.
Having bloodstains in feces should not be ignored as it can lead to death. You should contact your vet to book an appointment immediately you see signs of blood in a bearded dragon’s feces.
Yellow Poop
Although calcium is a vitally essential element for the bearded dragon’s growth, it may lead to yellow poop if it’s over consumed. Although hatchings and baby bearded dragons need daily calcium supplements, they should be offered in moderation.
Another reason why calcium may accumulate in your bearded dragon’s body is too much exposure to UV light.
The pet’s enclosure should be constructed to allow it to get in and out of the light source to prevent overexposure.
Black Poop
If your bearded dragon consumes a lot of insects and few veggies, it might excrete black poop. Your bearded dragon needs to eat 25% insect and 75% plant-based foods. However, if the pet’s stool is still black, it might indicate impaction.
Impaction occurs when an animal eats indigestible items, such as sand and indigestible insects’ exoskeletons.
These components block the intestine and cause forceful bowel movement that tears the walls of the intestines.
Black poop that’s damp and foul-smelling may be a sign of parasites. If the darkening of the beardie poop isn’t caused by food, you should have your pet examined by a certified veterinary professional.
How Long Can Bearded Dragons Stay Without Pooping?
Essentially, bearded dragons should not stay without defecating for more than one week unless they are in brumation.
Some may go for weeks without pooping, but this is a sign that things aren’t right health-wise. Some of the things that may cause a lizard to go for weeks without pooping include:
- Stress
- Parasites
- Imbalanced diet
- Brumation
- Poor lighting
- Impaction
Wrapping It Up
From the guide, we all agree that bearded dragons do pee. The only difference is that they have their unique way of excreting uric acid from their bodies.
Instead of the usual liquid pee that other animals produce, bearded dragons excrete a powdery whitish substance called urate.
Moreover, adult bearded dragons pee 1 to 3 times every week, so the lack of urine for a day or two should not raise any health concerns.
Additionally, owners need to monitor the consistency of the lizard’s pee since a deviation in color or texture could indicate an existing condition.
For instance, the passing of yellowish pee may indicate dehydration or consuming a diet with high amounts of calcium.
