Consistency and color of your Chinese water dragon’s poop tells a lot about its health. In this post, you will learn what healthy Chinese water dragon poop looks like and what red (blood in stool), white, black or runny (watery) poop mean and what it means when your Chinese water dragon is eating its own poop or not pooping.
What does healthy Chinese water dragon poop look like?
Healthy Chinese water dragon poop should consist of brown and white parts. Brown part is waste, while white – urates. Urate is solid form of pee – nitrogen waste that is excreted from kidneys. Poop also does smell, but not too strong.
Chinese water dragon pooping blood – causes
If you have noticed any blood in your Chinese water dragon’s poop, that’s not a good sign. Normally, there should not be any blood in poop. The reason for blood in poop can be parasites, damage to intestines, impaction and more.
Parasitic infections, including Coccidia, pinworms and hookworms, can lead to blood in poop by causing intestinal irritation. Other signs of a parasitic infection are loss of appetite, runny or smelly poop, lethargy, weight loss. If you notice those signs, please take your dragon’s poop for testing and the dragon itself for examination and treatment.
Another reason for blood in poop is impaction. Impaction with large and even sharp objects, such as bark, will cause scratches or even tears in intestines. Please take your Chinese water dragon to the vet for a checkup.
Another cause of impaction and tears in guts can be large bugs or those that have sharp legs, such as locusts or some roaches. When feeding bugs with sharp legs, make sure to break them off before offering.
However, your Chinese water dragon’s poop might also be colored from pigments in foods that it has eaten. Did you offer your dragon any beetroot, strawberries, cherries, raspberries or red pellet food? In that case, it could be colored (pinkish color). Same can happen if you have fed the feeder bugs those foods.
More serious reasons that can cause blood in poop are damage or infection in cloaca (would be small amounts of blood), internal bleeding or even serious issues with liver or other digestive organ. Struggling to poop can also indicate abnormal growth in the guts.
Constipation due to dehydration or feeding very large bugs/prey can make it hard for your Chinese water dragon to poop, causing small tears.
Please take your dragon to the vet if you notice any blood in the poop, as it could be life-threatening.
Chinese water dragon white poop
If you notice white part in your Chinese water dragon’s poop, it’s normal. Normal poop should contain a white part – which is a nitrogenous waste.
Chinese water dragon black poop
Sometimes, you might notice that your Chinese water dragon’s poop is darker than usual, even black. This can be a case when you offer mainly bugs and no salad, especially high chitin ones.
Those include mealworms, waxworms, locusts and more. Some Chinese water dragons might ignore salads too, but make sure to offer some for hydration and better digestion.
If your Chinese water dragon’s poop is extremely black, as well as very smelly or runny, this could be due to an infection. Take the poop to the vet for testing.
Chinese water dragon runny poop, or diarrhea
If your Chinese water dragon is passing watery/runny stools, there could be few causes. First of them is a parasitic infection. This is especially true if there are other symptoms such as lethargy, weight loss, no appetite and bad poop smell.
Another reason why your Chinese water dragon is passing loose stool is potentially due to change in the diet. This can also happen if you offer too much of fruits/vegetables/greens that have a laxative effect. Those would include high fiber foods, as well as pumpkins, beet greens, prunes, figs etc.
Chinese water dragon eating own poop?
If your Chinese water dragon is eating its own poop, then it could be to replenish a healthy gut flora. Often, Chinese water dragons that have had a treatment for a parasitic infection or were given antibiotics might do that.
That’s because antibiotics and wormers are strong medications that significantly lower the normal load of microorganisms in their gut. Most lizards that have been treated are then offered probiotics or other healthy dragon poop.
Another reason why your Chinese water dragon has eaten its own poop is if it has confused it with a bug.
Chinese water dragon not pooping?
If your Chinese water dragon is not pooping, that could be caused by various factors.
First factor that could make your Chinese water dragon constipated is low tank temperatures. Chinese water dragons rely on external heat to stay warm and digest food, too.
With low temperatures, your Chinese water dragon won’t poop or eat and can pass undigested food. Make sure to check temperatures regularly with thermometers and infrared thermometer like this.
Another reason for not pooping is impaction. If your Chinese water dragon has swallowed loose substrate, it can get impacted. Impaction can also be due to very large and feeding only harder to digest bugs, such as mealworms. If your Chinese water dragon hasn’t pooped for over few days, it could be impacted or constipated.
Dehydration can also cause issues with pooping. While you mainly need to feed your Chinese water dragon bugs, offer around 10-15% of veggies & greens too. Make sure to also offer fruit slices or water crystals to feeder bugs when gut-loading.
You can read a full diet guide with food lists and feeding schedules here.
Normal vs. abnormal poop in Chinese water dragons – comparison
| Normal poop in Chinese water dragons | Abnormal poop in Chinese water dragons |
|---|---|
| Brown part and white part, can be a bit yellowish (feces and urates) | Urates very hard, missing, too yellow (dehydration, kidney problems, too much calcium) |
| Both feces and urates are solid, well formed, uniform and soft | Runny or watery poop |
| There should be minimal to no undigested matter | Full undigested bugs in poop |
| Brown to dark brown in color | Different coloration, blood in poop |
| Moderate smell | Worms in poop and extremely strong smell |
Thank you for reading this post. To learn more about Chinese water dragon health issues, please see this page.