black and swollen neck

well i went on vacation for about 4 days and when i left i put a some live food and dry food in. crickets and super worms. and then 2 bowls of dried mealworms and crasshoppers. when i came back i noticed his neck swollen and black and figured maybe it will go away in a few days, well its been a week and still no change. he seemed fine when i got back now hes not eating as much and isnt as active, just laying there not moving too much. and the nearest reptile vet is almost and hr away and want 70$ just to look at him, not counting what meds might cost, not trying to sound mean but i cant afford that anyways here are some pics and no matter how much i search online i cant seem to get an answer.

Was he left alone or did someone care for him while you were gone? Is his beard soft or hard? If the swelling is soft, he's probably just really PO'd at you for leaving him for 4 days (which could also explain the blackness). If it's hard, try to open up his mouth to see if there's something lodged there.

Other than that, I really don't know what else to tell you.

Hello,

His beard does look swollen. How big were the bowls of dried insects?
Is he impacted possibly from eating too much of the dried insects?
Try bathing him to see if some extra fluids help him out. He may have gotten dehydrated too. How large of a tank is he in?
Has he gone to the bathroom recently?


Tracie

its kinda soft but can feel something kinda hard in his neck. and he was left alone, my grandma wont go near the thing. she hates reptiles. ( more scared then anything ) and how would you open his mouth. i dont want to hurt him.

Drache613":3639r39n said:

Hello,

His beard does look swollen. How big were the bowls of dried insects?
Is he impacted possibly from eating too much of the dried insects?
Try bathing him to see if some extra fluids help him out. He may have gotten dehydrated too. How large of a tank is he in?
Has he gone to the bathroom recently?


Tracie

Click to expand...

he didnt touch the dried insects the whole time i was gone, and i think its been almost 2 days sense he pooped and it wasnt that big if i remember correctly. he was a lil dehydrated i think, but he was drinking water from his dish today and he ate some waxworms an a couple meal worms.

Hello,

How many supers & crickets did he have while you were gone?
Has he had any calcium recently & are you using UVB lighting also?
Try bathing him to see if that may help out for him. If he hasn't had much moisture he could just be a little backed up possibly.
Get some sugar free applesauce along with some canned pumpkin to give to him, for some softer foods to see if that helps also, in case he may be a little impacted.
Are you keeping his basking around 95-100 or so also?

Tracie

Drache613":2jb9zgwd said:

Hello,

How many supers & crickets did he have while you were gone?
Has he had any calcium recently & are you using UVB lighting also?
Try bathing him to see if that may help out for him. If he hasn't had much moisture he could just be a little backed up possibly.
Get some sugar free applesauce along with some canned pumpkin to give to him, for some softer foods to see if that helps also, in case he may be a little impacted.
Are you keeping his basking around 95-100 or so also?

Tracie

Click to expand...

i left about 5-7 crickets abd about 5 super worms in the tank when i left along with 2 bowls of fluckers dried meal worms and 2 dishes of water. i gave him a warm bath yesterday and will give him 1 tomorrow. while i was gone i left his uvb bulb on on 1 side and a night heat lamp on the other. i didnt feel comfortable leaving his basking light on for the whole time i was gone. and yea i keep the temp close to 100.

Hello,

Maybe he was not warm enough to digest his food for part of the time, perhaps.
That doesn't sound like an unreasonable amount of food then.
Hopefully he will start doing better for you.
Let us know how he is doing. Is his beard still dark in color?


Tracie

just posting an update, i went to petco and bought the long uvb bulb that stretches across the whole tank, the old 1 i had was just a normal looking uvb bulb that went in the circular lamps. i bought him some multi vitamin medicine and gave it to him thru syringe. and gave him a bath.

when he tried to poop in the bath it was just a little white blob. here are some updated pics i just took
bath pic

eyes closed after force feeding

beard still black

his tank

the med/vitamins i bought him

quick update, his last couple bowl movements have looked like this and normally it doesnt look like this

and heres what he looked like after i force fed him some repta boost and water

and poor guy looks like he went to eat then passed out


other then his beard looking the way it is, he looks fine.
being alot more lazy then when i first got him. he used to bounce off the walls. now he mainly lays where i put him. may take a few steps here n there.. do you guys think it could be hes going thru brumation? and this is also the first beardy ive owned so everything is new to me

The white stuff is only urate, which equates to pee. There was no visible signs of actual poop.

Did you say that he was eating normally? If so, then he may be somewhat impacted if there's no poop.
Have you tried the baby applesauce as a laxative??

Hello,

You are using a circular UVB lamp, correct?
If so, I highly recommend getting either the Reptisun 10 tube bulb or the Arcadia D3 12% as the circular ones are not very good.
How is he doing this evening?

Tracie

Drache613":5ozlqjp5 said:

Hello,

You are using a circular UVB lamp, correct?
If so, I highly recommend getting either the Reptisun 10 tube bulb or the Arcadia D3 12% as the circular ones are not very good.
How is he doing this evening?

Tracie

Click to expand...

hes doing alright, and i purchased a reptisun tube bulb sunday. and hes been just sleeping alot, so i think he might be brumating. i found a closer vet about 20 mins away and gave them a call and explained my problem and they said it sounds somewhat normal but i should bring him in just in case. the earliest i can get in is this wednesday at 9am. i appreciate all the help you guys are offering, this is my first beardy and im playing everything by ear since its all new to me. truely learning alot. been doing alot of reading up on dragons. this incident is bringing my relationship with my beardy closer. its awesome, yet a lil stressful at the same time.

he hasnt really been eating much at all, but ive been giving him baths once a day and giving him a dose of repta boost once a day as well. he looks like hes in good health besides the whole beard part. doesnt really seem to have lost really much weight. ( dont have a scale to tell) ill keep you guys updated on what the vet has to say when i take him wednesday morn.

Quick update, as I mentioned, I have a vet app wed at 9am. But today I noticed my beardy is breathing heavy, taking really deep breaths. An he just started to cough and has a small weeze every once in a while. Almost like hes having trouble breathing. I also noticed he doesnt vent when hes basking, had temps at 110 degrees. And he wont bask for long 20 mins tops and he spends most of his day in the cool side of tbe tank.

Sorry for any typos im posting from my phone.

Found this video on YouTube, its not mine but my beardy did basically this, just not as much as in the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vIBVeV_554&feature=youtube_gdata_player