bearded dragon poo

Question
QUESTION: We were reading about possible illnesses and saw descriptions of gastric
illness resulting in wet and smelly poo.  Our adult beardies have had fairly
nasty poo for years (since we got them) and we thought this was normal (like,
when you walk in to the room you can immediately tell if they've pooed, if
when they do if you're in the room at the time).  So what is normal?

thanks

ANSWER: Hello Ky,

Well, their stools do have a bit of a smell to them.  Does it like knock you out?  LOL  What is the consistency of it, runny or watery like diarrhea or is it formed & just moist?  
How are their appetites & how do you have them housed, alone or together?  What do you feed them, & how old are they?
You could get a fecal done on them if you would like to.  Or if you feel that it could be a problem, you could deworm them naturally with an herb instead of a medication.  It is called Parazap.  It is used as a preventative 2-3 times per year, for 10-14 days at a time, that is it.  
It helps to clean out the GI tract of any undigested protein & or fecal matter which can harbor eggs or bacteria & it just expedites the excretion.  So it will probably increase their appetites a bit, too.  It will not kill any worms or parasites they have though, but instead it just helps to flush it all out which would help get rid of anything in the system which is in excess.
They do have a certain amount of normal flora of bacteria in their system such as coccidia & or pinworms or maybe a few other types of worms.  If the levels do not get too high they normally don't bother them.  But if stress or other things cause their levels to get too high, that can disrupt their normal levels leaving them sick & to have a loss of appetite.  
Let me know if you have any other questions.
I hope that helps out.  :-))

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the quick response.

Their stools look a lot like large bird droppings plus liquid, usually part
white/part dark and semi runny; and yeah, the smell really does knock us
out.

They are about 9 years old and have a ready food supply of veggies and
reptile pellets, but they don't eat much until the crickets show up - they eat
about 20 each per week, except during the laying season when the female
goes through 60.  (We have 6 newly hatched babies and another clutch in the
oven).  They're housed in a 30 gallon tank with UV and heat lamp etc.  They're
pretty quite when confined but like to run around the house until they go
hide when they cool down.  They are outside in the grass 2-3 afternoons a
week with shade and basking areas.

Answer
Hello Ky,
How many dragons are housed together?  It normally is not recommended to breed a female dragon over the age of 7.  It can greatly stress her.  She really should be retired & let her live the rest of her life without having to go through that stress of breeding.
A 30 gallon is pretty small for 2 adult  dragons.  What are the temps & what do you measure them with?  What type & brand of UVB are you using & how old is it?  
That is probably the reason that they have had smelly stools then, just too much stress & improper housing.  

It would be good to get fecals on both of them if possible.  Just to see where they are at.

Tracie