Why do.bearred dragons swallow.air?

[RelentlessChaos]

And get all puffed up / bloated like a puffer fish (mouth closed). Ive seen my juvenile do this a few times since I became his gaurdian on the 5th. A few things I would think of that would cause it is his shedding, reflection etc. Sometimes I catch him gulping air and holding it in.

 

[doe222]

lol ok hes not really swallowing air and honestly you saying this is making me a little nervous as to if you have a good setup for your beardie or not. anyways. when you shows his beard it can mean a number of things. he could just be stretching it normally in the mornings mine will do this. or when they are upset or stressed. its also a way to help dispurse heat soemtimes you will see a beard display with the mouth open. its his way of controlling his body temp. to interperit the beard you really need to study your dragon. i can tell what each beard display means with ceasar. if hes constantly displaying his beard somthing is seriously wrong and you need to do somthing. heres a few questions to see what you got goin on.

Do you have a UVB bulb if so what kind?
What size tank do you have?
What do you use for a substrate?
What are the temperatures for your basking and cool side of tank?
What is his diet like?

 

[Kajolic]

I would say it is rather normal for a Bearded Dragon to puff up. As I did research awhile back on the very thing, I detirmined as long as it's not excessive, then it is mearly a good morning stretch, or preperation to shedding or to remove shed.

I didn't see anything to the regard of the Bearded Dragon displaying his beard, unless the OP edited. If that were the case, you'd want to find out what was the issue, most commonly it's a reflection. Never seen a Bearded Dragon puff up, the way I understand yours is, in a manner of defense. Usually a defensive puff up is a flattening of the torso to appear larger, and a tilt towards the offending object to show the back and to hide the fact that the torso is flattened.

 

[doe222]

i do apologize i was under the impression he was talking about the display of a beard. i now realize he was talking about the inflation of thier body. i have been told by people on here that it does help them with shedding and also is to make them appear bigger twords threats. mine likes to puff up when he just gets done eating while basking. so maybe it helps them retain more heat as well.

 

[RelentlessChaos]

lol ok hes not really swallowing air and honestly you saying this is making me a little nervous as to if you have a good setup for your beardie or not. anyways. when you shows his beard it can mean a number of things. he could just be stretching it normally in the mornings mine will do this. or when they are upset or stressed. its also a way to help dispurse heat soemtimes you will see a beard display with the mouth open. its his way of controlling his body temp. to interperit the beard you really need to study your dragon. i can tell what each beard display means with ceasar. if hes constantly displaying his beard somthing is seriously wrong and you need to do somthing. heres a few questions to see what you got goin on.

Do you have a UVB bulb if so what kind?
What size tank do you have?
What do you use for a substrate?
What are the temperatures for your basking and cool side of tank?
What is his diet like?

Calm down protective services agent, if you must know, I am using non adhesive shelf linear as substrate, Repti10 UVB, 75watt bulb, 100-105, 80-85, (Zoo med digital w/ probe for readings) crickets w/ non D3 calcium, daily misted veggies & lately.. the past few days I've given him one or two mealworms since he is picky w/ the crickets do to a recent shedding process he was going through. I have pheonix worms on the way & I'm debating on Dubai Roaches. I just think it's what he does, possibly the reflection of him or maybe he is trying to crack his old skin (cause of the shedding). He only does it like once or twice a week.

Although his diet has been a little off since the shedding started a week ago. It seems that he's getting back on track & that the shedding is over but so far he is only interested in the worms.

(EDIT): Just saw your re-reply.. to late.

 

[snazzyglasses]

My big guy puffs out his beard every morning, for no apparent reason (nothing around that could've annoyed him, etc). At first I thought it was because his beard was shedding, but the chin/throat/chest shed is over and he still does it. I call them his morning beard stretches!

 

[Bobbijo2u]

Puffing is Orval. Sometimes I think mine will deflate if he was poked.