Dunner bearded dragons behaviors

Hi everyone!

I have a dunner beardie named Rango, he is absolutely gorgeous and so amazing! He is almost 5 months old. He does a few weird things that has me researching if there are any behaviors or things that are unique to the dunner.

I read online they can hold food in the back of their throat for extended periods of time and are known to do that? He def does ALOT of throat flexing and other weird throat behaviors and I wonder if that could be part of this! They say it doesnt cause problems usually. He also has alot of saliva but no other symptoms (so im not worried this is an URI but i do have his first vet wellness appt coming up and plan to ask)

I also read dunners are recommended only for experienced owners, which is weird to me (Just saw that on one post, but i would love more info on this and why, i wouldnt call myself an experienced owner but ive had beardies before and im sure his husbandry is on point) but id love to know if there are things to look out for.

Id love to know any other specific behaviors of the dunner, or anything else that sets them apart from other beardies. Specifically if I need to keep an eye out for anything or if theres anything I can do to take the best possible care of him.

Thank you all!

Hi there,

I have almost exclusively dunners, and can say that throat thing is a myth for sure. In fact, the one dragon I have who isn't a dunner is the one who holds food in her throat. All the others dont.

Holding food in the throat has nothing to do with morph from what I've seen, more so the individual dragon, or as a cause of something in the environment. Moro, the dragon of mine I'm speaking of, didn't start holding her food in her throat until she aspirated water one time in the bath and nearly drowned herself because of it. Ever since then, she stored food in her throat.

If your dragon is making weird throat movements, it could simply be getting ready to shed. They often puff out their beards and jaw area to help loosen the skin. But, if there is also discharge from the mouth, it can be indicative of an RI.

And lastly, there is no reason a dunner needs to be reserved to more advanced keepers. Their care is the same.

-Brandon

Claudiusx":13nhwtxf said:

Hi there,

I have almost exclusively dunners, and can say that throat thing is a myth for sure. In fact, the one dragon I have who isn't a dunner is the one who holds food in her throat. All the others dont.

Holding food in the throat has nothing to do with morph from what I've seen, more so the individual dragon, or as a cause of something in the environment. Moro, the dragon of mine I'm speaking of, didn't start holding her food in her throat until she aspirated water one time in the bath and nearly drowned herself because of it. Ever since then, she stored food in her throat.

If your dragon is making weird throat movements, it could simply be getting ready to shed. They often puff out their beards and jaw area to help loosen the skin. But, if there is also discharge from the mouth, it can be indicative of an RI.

And lastly, there is no reason a dunner needs to be reserved to more advanced keepers. Their care is the same.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

You are the best Brandon I can always depend on you to come through with a response!!

Okay im glad its a myth wasnt sure if there was anything I needed to worry or watch over there.

The throat stuff is literally so weird. I have had him for almost 3 weeks, the day after I got him I actually took him to the emergency vet because I was nervous about him breathing into his throat and puffing his throat. They observed him for an hour and looked at tons of videos I sent them and they said he was perfectly fine no sign of a URI. They thought maybe indigestion...

He did just do a full body shed, not his throat though so maybe that is coming, but he is def shedding and growing like crazy.

Now (since last friday) ive noticed excess saliva, like sometimes he will open his mouth after eating and theres a saliva bubble. I wondered if it was just juicy wax worms that did it to him, or if he was able to salivate like humans when he likes his food. I called the vet on Saturday and told them and they said they werent worried since he is acting totally normal otherwise but to keep an eye on it.

Now I have an appointment coming second week of June. But its super strange. Lots of breathing into his throat and puffing the throat alot (not aggressively though)

Thank you for your response!

I recorded the weird breathing and uploaded to imgur
https://imgur.com/a/U2KVJKJ

Claudiusx":2skewuqk said:

Hi there,

I have almost exclusively dunners, and can say that throat thing is a myth for sure. In fact, the one dragon I have who isn't a dunner is the one who holds food in her throat. All the others dont.

Holding food in the throat has nothing to do with morph from what I've seen, more so the individual dragon, or as a cause of something in the environment. Moro, the dragon of mine I'm speaking of, didn't start holding her food in her throat until she aspirated water one time in the bath and nearly drowned herself because of it. Ever since then, she stored food in her throat.

If your dragon is making weird throat movements, it could simply be getting ready to shed. They often puff out their beards and jaw area to help loosen the skin. But, if there is also discharge from the mouth, it can be indicative of an RI.

And lastly, there is no reason a dunner needs to be reserved to more advanced keepers. Their care is the same.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

Did his head/face shed during this full body shed?

It actually looks like his nostril is blocked, full of shed. Sounds odd, but they do shed the inside of their nostrils too lol. That could be him either just breathing through his mouth because of the plugged nose, or him trying to put pressure through his nose to pop it out. It doesn't look like behavior of an RI to me, but more so a mix of blocked nostril, and face shed coming up.

-Brandon

He looks a lot like Tombo did when he was a baby, did you buy Rango from Kidsanddragons?

-Brandon

Claudiusx":1ys3gws3 said:

He looks a lot like Tombo did when he was a baby, did you buy Rango from Kidsanddragons?

-Brandon

Click to expand...

YES I DID!!!! I saw pics of his dad too, it didnt say his dads name but his Grandfathers name was Wrangler what does Tombo look like now!?

Ah, so Tombo is Rango's uncle HAHA

Wrangler was Tombos dad.

Here is Tombo as a baby:
A little older:
Little older still:
And him pretty much now:

He switches between being really "blue" and his blue bars being really dark, almost black like this:

His blue bars are definitely not as good as wranglers were, but I also haven't tried really very well to capture it like he did with Wrangler in a picture

-Brandon

Claudiusx":2yafp0ns said:

Did his head/face shed during this full body shed?

It actually looks like his nostril is blocked, full of shed. Sounds odd, but they do shed the inside of their nostrils too lol. That could be him either just breathing through his mouth because of the plugged nose, or him trying to put pressure through his nose to pop it out. It doesn't look like behavior of an RI to me, but more so a mix of blocked nostril, and face shed coming up.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

I was wondering this!!! Okay so maybe it was less full body haha but it was his torso, and def parts of his face (the top of his head, and his eyes) but I didnt really see the tip of his nose shed or anything, one side of it I remember seeing what I thought was a nose plug coming out but I never saw him remove it. He DOES rub himself/his head on his hammock alot (still even after the shed) I thought he was just scratching but maybe trying to dislodge some shed.....

Im glad it doesnt look like a RI!

Is there anything I can do to help him? I did read too excess saliva could be from his nose being blocked and him having to mouth breath more frequently

Heres a few pics of him during his shed and a pic of his patterns, maybe him and tombo are related!
https://imgur.com/a/T9V9VIE

OMG HAHAHAHA AWWWW HI UNCLE TOMBO!!!!!!!!!!

Wow he is SO HANDSOME!

Claudiusx":3tbndeyu said:

Ah, so Tombo is Rango's uncle HAHA

Wrangler was Tombos dad.

Here is Tombo as a baby:

A little older:

Little older still:

And him pretty much now:

He switches between being really "blue" and his blue bars being really dark, almost black like this:

His blue bars are definitely not as good as wranglers were, but I also haven't tried really very well to capture it like he did with Wrangler in a picture

-Brandon

Click to expand...

Look at that, family reunited haha.

Yeah, poor boy definitely had a rough shed. If he is rubbing his face, he definitely is either trying to clear his nose, or he still has more shedding to do on his face. Hopefully the rest of his face shed will pull out the nose plugs. There isn't much you can do when the plug is still deep in the nose like that. When it starts to stick out you can gently pull it, it's the only time I ever suggest helping a dragon shed and that's only if the blockage is obviously bothering him.

But for now, not much you can do. They evolved to be able to handle the shedding process so he should be fine. However if you actually start seeing a discharge from his mouth, you might need to look into the possibility of an RI more closely. But at this point, it all looks shed related to me.

Rango definitely has some good quality blue bar to him, will be cool to see how he grows! Tombo didn't have as much blue bar, but his blue bar was really really blue in person and still is on occasion. I'll have to try to get a picture of him today to show what he looks like essentially full grown.

-Brandon

That is so funny that absolutely made my day! Tombo is gorgeous!!!

This is the pic that he sent me of Rangos dad (just not sure his name, ill have to ask him) https://imgur.com/a/55bmx24

Yes that must be it!!! Awww poor baby, I hope it comes out soon!

Im so thankful for your help on this, I was so worried! But he seems so healthy otherwise, and eats like crazy! Hes a happy little boy

I cant wait to see how he looks when he grows up! And yes please send more Tombo pics!

Claudiusx":1kab67gl said:

Look at that, family reunited haha.

Yeah, poor boy definitely had a rough shed. If he is rubbing his face, he definitely is either trying to clear his nose, or he still has more shedding to do on his face. Hopefully the rest of his face shed will pull out the nose plugs. There isn't much you can do when the plug is still deep in the nose like that. When it starts to stick out you can gently pull it, it's the only time I ever suggest helping a dragon shed and that's only if the blockage is obviously bothering him.

But for now, not much you can do. They evolved to be able to handle the shedding process so he should be fine. However if you actually start seeing a discharge from his mouth, you might need to look into the possibility of an RI more closely. But at this point, it all looks shed related to me.

Rango definitely has some good quality blue bar to him, will be cool to see how he grows! Tombo didn't have as much blue bar, but his blue bar was really really blue in person and still is on occasion. I'll have to try to get a picture of him today to show what he looks like essentially full grown.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

Wow rangos dad is quite the looker too. I was hoping Tombo would end up looking like that, but looks like he held back the cream of the crop for himself! haha.

-Brandon

Hahaha I guess he did! Tombo is still absolutely stunning! Thank you for all your help today and im so happy Tombo got to meet his nephew haha!

Claudiusx":1g0g3g85 said:

Wow rangos dad is quite the looker too. I was hoping Tombo would end up looking like that, but looks like he held back the cream of the crop for himself! haha.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

Tanyalove666":1gtbcb7k said:

I recorded the weird breathing and uploaded to imgur
https://imgur.com/a/U2KVJKJ

Claudiusx":1gtbcb7k said:

Hi there,

I have almost exclusively dunners, and can say that throat thing is a myth for sure. In fact, the one dragon I have who isn't a dunner is the one who holds food in her throat. All the others dont.

Holding food in the throat has nothing to do with morph from what I've seen, more so the individual dragon, or as a cause of something in the environment. Moro, the dragon of mine I'm speaking of, didn't start holding her food in her throat until she aspirated water one time in the bath and nearly drowned herself because of it. Ever since then, she stored food in her throat.

If your dragon is making weird throat movements, it could simply be getting ready to shed. They often puff out their beards and jaw area to help loosen the skin. But, if there is also discharge from the mouth, it can be indicative of an RI.

And lastly, there is no reason a dunner needs to be reserved to more advanced keepers. Their care is the same.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Mine does that if I give her canned grasshoppers, so I don’t give her canned grasshoppers anymore. (My sister’s hedgehog now has like 9 cans of grasshoppers. I bought them to hold Mari over when amazon live bug shipments are slow, lol. I can’t find the silkworms anywhere, unfortunately - canned silkworms are her favorite emergency food.)