Bearded dragon's mouth keeps on opening

Well, I just fed my beardie crickets and for some reson he is basking on his rock and he is opening his mouth for like a minute and closing it for like 10 seconds. Please if anybody knows what the problem is please message me thanks :lol: :lol:

It's called gaping, its how they thermoregulate.

-Brandon

wats gapins and wats thermoregulate mean

Gaping... is what your dragon is doing right now that's why I said it lol :mrgreen: . Its when they open up there mouth.

Thermo regulate means control the bodies temperature, in this case.

-Brandon

oh so this is regular and safe and everything else thanks for helping me out))

Moved here from Website Comments so that it would get more attention.

It does sound like he is gaping. Just to be sure that everything is perfect for him and there isn't another reason for him doing that, can you fill us in on your tank temps for the basking & cool side as well as what type of thermometer you're using? What size is the tank and what is the wattage of the basking bulb(s)? Does he gape a LOT?

How old is your beardie and were the crickets no larger than the space between his eyes?

Basking side strip thermometers. 150 watt Exo-Terra Intense Basking bulb in a Flukers 8 1/2 inch fixture on a 10 gallon tank. Temp on basking side reads 92 degrees. Again, this is a strip thermometer on the outside of the glass. The other side of the tank reads 85 degrees with a second strip thermometer. We also have an 8 inch heat map under the tank and there is a carpet substrate which increased the heat. Do we need the mat?? He has eaten crickets today and yes they are the appropriate size. He even took some romaine lettuce. Up until this morning, we had a 100 watt bulb and he wasn't sitting in the tank with his mouth open like he is now with the 150 watt bulb. Is the bulb too big for a 10 gallon tank? He will be moved into a 50 gallon tank this week which is why we got the bigger light.

Oh wow, a 150 watt in a 10 gallon tank. I can guarantee you that he IS over heating. Please turn that off and go down to a 75 or even a 60 watt standard household bulb but you may actually only need a 40 watt but it depends on your room temp and the distance of the basking bulb to his basking spot. I'm going to send this now so you can do that right away and then I will post more info in a new post.

Any type of stick-on thermometer can be as much a 20 degrees off. They measure the temp of the glass when what you really need to know is the basking surface temperature. The only 2 ways to get accurate readings are with either an infrared temperature gun or a digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end. If you have a Walmart near you, they have the AcuRite brand digital with probe that will give you basking & cool side temps at the same time as well as a humidity level. It only costs about $12.00 and she be in the area of the store where the outdoor plastic thermometers are sold although some members found them near the light bulbs. If you'd like a picture of it, let me know and I can post one. It's critical that you find out what the true temps are because high temps can cause rapid dehydration as well as heat stroke. It is very hard to be able to get good temps in such a small tank. It's very important that they have a good basking temp and a cool side to be able to escape the heat to help them thermoregulate. Hopefully you can get a good thermometer soon, tomorrow would be good. In the meantime, give him frequent baths and offer oral fluids by putting drops on his nose for him to lick off, water would be good.

To give you an example of appropriate bulb wattage, one of my tanks is a 40 gallon breeder 36 L x 18 W x 19 H and I only need a standard 60 watt household light bulb for the basking bulb and a 40 watt for the cool side to give me temps of 102 and about 80. The distance of the bulb to the basking stone is about 13".

Please turn off the heat mat as he doesn't need that, they can be dangerous. A beardie senses heat from the 3rd eye on top of his head so if the mat overheats, he could get burned very badly by the time he realizes it.

I'm glad you're using a carpet for the substrate, no impaction worries with that.

What brand & type of UVB light do you have or is the 150 watt bulb the only bulb you're using now?

Rather than feeding romaine lettuce which is mostly water and has hardly any nutritional value, there are much better greens/veggies to feed. Here's a site that shows the best ones in green ink. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

I know this is a lot of info but we are here to help. Do you have any questions?

Thank you thank you! Is the 150w too much for the 50 Gal (36"x18") he's moving to in the next day or so? I knew strips thermos weren't great but grabbed today thinking better than nothing? I love this little guy and want him happy!

Glad I could help and that I saw your posts. It's hard to say for sure if the 150 watt will be too much for the 50 gallon, I tend to think it will be though. It depends on the room temp, the distance of the bulb to the basking spot, the material the basking spot is made out of (wood, stone, etc). How old is your beardie? That makes a difference too as babies need it hotter than adults. If you really wanted to use the 150 watt, you could pick up a lamp stand that has adjustments for the height of the actual bulb since you hang it on a hook over the tank.

What did you end up doing for now about the bulb? If you haven't given him a bath or offered oral fluids, I would highly recommend that you do that now.

Yes, beardies can grow on you very quickly, that's why we're all here. I have had beardies for over 9 yrs and raised them all from very little babies.

Thanks so much! Tried giving him some water drops but he's just hanging out on my chest now, falling asleep...The 150 is his only bulb right now but we'll be getting a complete uvb/uva light source tomorrow...The breeder we got him from at Harrisburg Reptile show Saturday says he's 4 months old ... It's almost time for his bed now. We've turned light off (sleeping on my chest now) and I'll put regular house bulb in for tomorrow am until I can get to pet shop in am. BTW - it was an Exo-Terra Intense 150w for desert dweller bulb...Please tell me he'll be ok?

Even though he seems tired, I would recommend that you give him a warm bath now to make sure he isn't dehydrated. Would you be able to do that?

Going to do it now...tried water drops on his nose, didn't take them. did rub him down with warm water on my fingers along his back and his belly...filling little tub now for him...

That's good, I think that will make him, you and me feel better. :wink: