Bearded drgon breathing through mouth, eyes sunk in

Athena, my beardie, keeps breathing heavy through her mouth, this has been ongoing, but today her eyes are sunken in. Not much, but enough to be concerning. She seems otherwise fine, thoughts?

Background:
Athena is a rescue beardie with neurogenic atrophy who had MBD. She's almost 3 now.

Tank:
75 gal
Tile
105 degree basking spot
90 degree hot end
70 degree cool end

Diet:
Mustard greens
Dubia roaches
Calciworms
Superworms
Butterworms
Waxworms
Hornworms

Schedule:
Lights on 14 hours, off 10.
Greens daily, protein twice a week.
Multivitamin and calcium(D3 3 times a week, normal 5) daily (she's deficient)

Other:
Weighs roughly 400 grams
Eats well
Is not immune suppressed, visited the vet a month ago

The sunken eyes can be a residual effect of the MBD, but mouth breathing may be a symptom of respiratory infection. Just to be sure though — does the mouth breathing only occur when she is basking, or do the nostrils appear blocked (shedding)?

HylianHealeys":37nk4voe said:

The sunken eyes can be a residual effect of the MBD, but mouth breathing may be a symptom of respiratory infection. Just to be sure though — does the mouth breathing only occur when she is basking, or do the nostrils appear blocked (shedding)?

Click to expand...

The mouth breathing is random and her nostrils don’t look blocked. Her eyes look a bit watery too.
How do I treat the RI?

You would have to take your beardie to the vet for official diagnosis and antibiotics.

Your husbandry/diet looks very good...can you possibly post a photo of her?

How long have you had her? MBD can cause a host of physical/health issues, it's amazing how MBD effects their bodies, but if these are symptoms that have just started suddenly, then something may very well be going on, anything from dehydration to a URI.

Is she coughing, wheezing, making any crackling sounds when she breaths, or does she have any excess mucous in her mouth, like any thick strings of mucous at the corners of her mouth when she opens it up? These are all signs of a URI, and the reason I ask is that simply "breathing through her mouth" or "mouth gaping", if that's what she's doing, isn't necessarily a sign of a URI. They do often open their mouths and breath through them to self-regulate their temps, but you say this is new behavior, so it's a worry...

The eyes being sunken in suddenly is often a symptom of dehydration, and even if it is a URI or other illness, it's a good idea to offer her water and/or unflavored Pedialyte on her snout by dripping it on the snout and letting her lick it off, if she'll do it. The extra hydration is good for her either way in this situation.

If it is a URI, only a Reptile Vet can diagnose it, they should do it by taking a culture of her throat/nostrils and possibly a plain-film x-ray to see if she has any fluid in her lungs. The culture will confirm what type of bacteria and/or fungi is causing the infection (if there is an infection), as well as tell the vet what medication will treat it. Usually the treatment is an antibiotic, anifungal, or both, but honestly I suggest using nebulizer treatments over plain oral antibiotics. The nebulizer treatments are very effective as they get the medication right to the source of the infection, and they are also much less harsh on their stomachs and don't cause the loss of appetite that oral meds do. But having her see a vet to get the cultures done is step #1 in that process.

How long has she been opening her mouth/breathing through it? And how long have her eyes been sunken in?

Hello,

If the eyes are a little sunken in, usually that is dehydration most of the times.
Has her beard been darkened at all, lately or is she losing weight?
The diet variety looks great, lucky girl she is!
Which UVB are you using currently? A 75 gallon tank is a good sized tank for her.
Posting pictures of her & the tank setup would be great if you can.
If she doesn't have any symptoms of a respiratory infection such as the mucous in
the mouth & nose area, coughing/wheezing, then it could be too hot in her tank,
or her nostrils are plugged up possibly. Is her head going to shed?

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie