Choking

hi. i dont know where to post this but i think its a very good question. today i had a minor heart attack. i was feed my adult, Blaze, a full grown hornworm and i looked like he started to choking on it :shock: . I yelled for the hubby and he was like "idk what to do" but it passed and Blaze acted like everything was alright. but for future references, what do i do if my dragons are choking?!?!?!?

feed him medium sized worms

dangit12":15h1awr3 said:

feed him medium sized worms

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She is asking the question for future reference what to do if her dragon is choking.


BonesMommy1011 - I had that happen with our juvenile, who was very large for his age. We fed him a large hornworm and he had trouble eating it. It seemed like after that episode he was almost afraid to eat them. I don't think he would have actually choked and died, but it did seem to scare him! Have you noticed the hornworms feet are very sticky - like they can cling to almost anything. I wonder if their stickie feet attach themselves to the inside of the dragon's mouth for a sec and make it hard for them to swallow?

I am curious now that you have asked this question - does anyone know what to do if your dragon is choking? Anyone have any experience with this?

Thats a good point ShannyBeard! I didn't see him choke on it it just when I got back in the room he had bug guts all over his face. His neck was puffed out and his mouth was closed but didn't line up right and he looked beyond mad.

About two years ago I had a 3 month old puppy ( not mine) die in my arms from choking on a milkbone( she was a yorkie/pom so she was way to small and young for a milkbone). I tried CpR and everything but she cut her throat when she swallowed the bone so she was bleeding out on the inside) I bawled and went home to my two pups ( the puppy's actual brother and sister) and cuddled them like no other. I will not be able to handle one of my own dying from choking. My animals are my life. They are the reason I get up in the morning. Without them, I'd be nothing.

So I need to prepare myself for EVERY situation. Know what I mean?

Dangit, if you are going to give smart replies, keep them to yourself please. Obviously since she thought he choked on a large hornworm, she probably won't feed large ones anymore.

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I actually remember reading somewhere that holding them upside down is the right thing to do. I had an incident where my female vomited, and she looked like it was stuck in her throat she was twitching and shaking her head back and forth really fast. I was sooo scared and didn't know what to do. Within seconds she got it all out and was totally okay. After I calmed down I started researching what to do, I wish I would've saved the article or whatever I was reading. It did say first to try holding them upside down, meaning holding them so the top of their head is pointed towards the floor. If that doesn't work the next step would be to open their mouth and if it's in reach remove whatever is lodged in the throat. Probably the best thing you could do is maybe make a phone call to your vet and ask them what the best thing to do in this situation is. I would hate to have told you all this and I got it completely wrong. I've been known to have a forgetful memory!

-Kaleen

Olive has choked before... I was told to remove it, and if she wouldn't let me open her mouth and pull it out, to pry it open (gently!) with something like a credit card edge, and pull it out with tweasers. So you might want to keep those two things or similar near by just in case for future... Olive choked on greens, because her throat wasn't formed right, but i didn't know that at the time. I would say cut the worms in half for now if they are very big (gross, I know...). That way there's a much less chance of a repeat incident! I think with a soft bodied feeder, and a healthy dragon, he'll find a way to work it down though.

Thanks a bunch, Kristen! Yeah, I get my worms from LindasGoneBuggie and I saw her yesterday and asked her what I should do and she said chances of him actually choking are slim to none. I think I know what my problem was. The night before I realized that the worms ate all the food so I threw them in a Tupperware bowl with a slice of butternut squash. So I fed those 4 to Blaze and I think it was the squash and it made them taste different. The juices all over his face where orange like the squash... But I wanted to know what to do if they ever were choking, whether it be on a worm or something else!

This has been an interesting thread. You just never know when you might need the information, and it's good to know what to do. Thanks.

ShannyBeard":1z0bghdp said:

This has been an interesting thread. You just never know when you might need the information, and it's good to know what to do. Thanks.

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Exactly! Never hurts to ask There is no such thing as too much knowledge!

i always keep tweezers on hand near my tanks if you can see it you can reach in and pull it out with the tweezers. dont go farther than you can see

Like regular household tweezers? I always have them handy cuz I'm afraid to touch hornworms and silkworms and superworms. I'm cool with reptiworms which are actually maggots. Weird, huh? Lol

BonesMommy1011":36crfkw4 said:

I'm cool with reptiworms which are actually maggots. Weird, huh? Lol

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Same here. I'll touch reptiworms without a problem. Everything else... well the tweezers can do that. LOL!

My Lonzo, who's almost 9 yrs old, had the same type of thing; we found out later a virus went through all our dragons & made them sick to their stomach. So I was beside Lonzo when he threw up, but some worms got stuck in his throat & he stopped breathing. So I grabbed him, put him upside down & tapped his abdomen, that got the rest of the worms out. Then did dragon CPR, which worked! Yeah! It sure took me by surprise but I was so glad he survived. It's not really the same sort of thing you were talking about, but it is amazing how instincts take over, as I don't have any medical training. Who knew that CPR works on dragons? That was 2 years ago & he's in great health & eating away. I did take him to the vet after that, twice, just to make sure everything was ok & it was. She was very proud of me for taking the right steps so quickly. My dragons are like my kids, I always want to make sure they're healthy. So any time you're not sure, just life him gently upside down & tap his tummy. Seems to work!