Why is my beardie doing this now?

I've noticed in the last week and a half now haydes has been doing this. He blows up his body and I'm not sure why. Anyone know what this is?

They can puff up to loosen skin when they shed but they don't usually stay like that. Or might be chilly or swallowing a lot of air for some reason, he's not having trouble breathing is he ? Sometimes when they have an R.I.

Are you sure Haydes is a male ?

AHBD":1dlj9cuv said:

They can puff up to loosen skin when they shed but they don't usually stay like that. Or might be chilly or swallowing a lot of air for some reason, he's not having trouble breathing is he ? Sometimes when they have an R.I.

Are you sure Haydes is a male ?

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Doesn't stay like this. If I pick him up he goes back down. He's seemed really happy since I put him over into a 75 gal now. Which I just did Sunday. I thought maybe he was feeling crammed in the 40 gal so I went out and got new tank but still will sit there and do that.. as far as I can tell he is a he.. definitely looks like a he lol and he hasn't had any trouble breathing that I've seen. Real active too running back and forth in his cage like normal. Doing the waving thing. Been stubborn on eating too lately. Only wants greens and the occasional cricket.

What substrate do you have in the bottom of his tank?

And what are the temperatures inside the tank? What UVB light? Basking light color?

And what is his daily diet?

EllenD":1hurcbrs said:

What substrate do you have in the bottom of his tank?

And what are the temperatures inside the tank? What UVB light? Basking light color?

And what is his daily diet?

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Substrate is tile, diet is collard greens all day with twice feeding of super works or crickets( whichever he decides to eat is what he gets) he's picky on eating, ivb is the reptisun 5.o temp is between 85-100 depending on outside temp. At time of pic it was 93. Basking light is just your normal 100w zoomed basking bulb

How much does he weigh and how old is he ? Are you feeding him insects twice a day ? If so that's too much for an adult.

Well the UVB is inadequate as well, especially if it's a compact or coil bulb and not a long fluorescent tube version of the Reptisun UVB light, and Dragon's should have a minimum of a 10% UVB, or 10.0. The T8 strength (T8 is the weaker strength of UVB tubes, T5 is stronger); So an 18" long Reptisun 10.0 T8 UVB tube must be totally unobstructed and mounted underneath any mesh lid, and be within at least 6" or so of the dragon's basking spot to deliver effective UVB to the dragon. If you have an 18" Reptisun 5.0 T8 UVB tube it definitely must be unobstructed and underneath the mesh lid, and be within about 4" of the basking spot to deliver any effective UVB light to your dragon...if you have the 5.0 compact or coil version of the Reptisun UVB light then your dragon is not getting much, if any adequate UVB light, they are just way too weak. I don't know with 5% Reptisun UVB light you have, but it needs to be replaced ASAP...either way, I doubt that's what is causing the bloating, but it definitely will cause calcium deficiency issues sooner or later.

Usually when they bloat-up like this outside of water and stay that way it's due to a bowel/GI Tract issue. There was once a Dragon on here who looked just like your dragon, exactly, but he was on a substrate of Millet Seeds in shells (of all things), and the owner made the statement that "It's okay, he passes them whole in his poop all the time so he's getting nutrition from them", as some pet store doofus told him, he couldn't seem to understand that dragons cannot digest seed shells, which was why his dragon was passing them whole all the time, which meant he certainly was not getting any "nutrition" from them, lol, but also that they were most likely stuck all throughout his GI Tract and causing inflammation, pain, and bloating...But in the case of your dragon that isn't the cause.

Is he having any breathing problems? Your temperatures worry me, as you only listed a single temperature, and your dragon should have 3 distinct temperature zones inside his tank that you should be checking/measuring once every week or so...So if you only have a single stick-on thermometer inside his tank and that's what you're reading, and you're getting 93 degrees F, it's quite possible that his Basking Spot Surface Temperature is too low, and that's causing digestion issues (among other issues).

You cannot use a stick-on thermometer to measure his Basking Spot Temperature, it's a Surface Temperature of the Basking Spot/Platform that is located within the Hot Side of the tank, directly under both the UVB and the Basking Lights, where he lays to bask after eating. For an adult dragon this should be between 100-105 degrees F, and if it's much lower than that they cannot properly digest their food. But you need either a Temperature Gun or a Digital Probe Thermometer ($10 at any pet store) to measure his Basking Spot Temperature. If you just read a stick-on thermometer that is located within the Hot Side of the tank, then that's the Hot Side Ambient/Air Temperature, which should always be between 88-93 degrees, and then the same with the Cool Side Ambient/Air Temperature, which should always be between 75-80 degrees. So the way you described the "one temperature" fluctuating drastically depending on the outside temperature is troubling.

Just to add, too many Superworms certainly can cause Gi problems, but there is also a worry about Fatty Liver Disease or other Liver issues, as this bloating is also a common sign/symptom of liver issues. I suggest getting him to an experienced reptile vet for a routine blood panel and at least an x-ray to find out what's going on.

Good catch on the temp. Ellen, I breezed right over that.

The temperature I mentioned was the basking spot. Temps were almost zero here other day so his basking spot was low. It's a 75 gal tank and to the far side temp is always around 60-70. The uvb is just a 18" long bulb. The bloating is when he is under his basking light. When walking/running around he is normal.. he is about maybe year old now. Pretty sure he's done growing cause hasn't changed much in Last couple months. I give him insects twice a day just due to the fact he eats maybe two or 3 superworms in each setting. So 5-6 a day total. As far as a vet I do need to take him in just to do a normal check to get weight and stuff on him but also I wanna make sure my other two dragons I have are as healthy too and just keep up on their health.

What type of uvb is t, what brand + strength ? A few pics of his tank would be very helpful, esp. showing light placement.

Yes, please post some photos, as if you have an 18" long UVB tube, it is most likely the weaker T8 strength of UVB tube, and that can create serious issues if it is not mounted correctly. The T8 UVB tubes are at most 15 watts (typically), and as such cannot sit on top of a mesh tank lid, as they are too weak to deliver adequate UVB light on the other side of the mesh, as they block around 40% of the UVB light emitted. So most all T8 UVB tubes must be mounted INSIDE the tank, UNDERNEATH the mesh lid. You can do this very easily and quickly by using either the long, plastic zip/cable ties, wire, twine, etc. and threading it through the mesh holes, and then just strap the entire 18" tube fixture to the underside of the mesh lid. ****Be sure that you do this over the Hot Side of the tank, so that the UVB tube is RIGHT ALONGSIDE his bright-white colored Basking Bulb; You want both of these lights to be "sharing" the top of the Hot Side of the tank right alongside each other, then you must position his basking spot/platform directly underneath both lights within the Hot Side of the tank, so that he gets both lights while he's basking. This is replicating natural Sunlight for him while basking.

***In addition, any T8 strength UVB tube must be within at least 6" of your dragons basking spot/platform, as if it's any further away from the basking spot/platform it is not strong enough to still deliver adequate UVB light to your Dragon. ***Also, you must replace all T8 UVB tubes once every 6 months on the dot, as they have a very fast UVB decay-rate, and at 6 months of being on for at least 13 hours every day (the minimum time both his lights need to be on every day), it will no longer be emitting any UVB light, only UVA light.

***Also, please make sure that your 18" UVB tube fixture has no clear, plastic cover on it's bottom that is covering the UVB tube inside it; Most don't come with a cover on them, but some do, specifically the Zilla brand tubes, and no strength of UVB light can at all penetrate any type of glass or plastic, GLASS AND PLASTIC BLOCK 100% OF THE UVB LIGHT. So if your tube fixture happens to have a clear, plastic cover on it that is over the UVB tube inside the fixture, you must remove it immediately and keep it off.

*****************************I was thinking about this yesterday, but depending on what brand of T8 UVB tube you actually have, this may be the source of his issues. Now if you have either the Reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia brands, then the brand is NOT the cause, as they are the 2 highest-quality reptile light manufacturers available.

HOWEVER, we have long-known that there are SEVERAL COMPANIES who are now making all of their reptile and amphibian lights cheaply in both Chinese and German factories; they manufacture hundreds of thousands of UVB tubes and then brand them and ship them. And as a result of the cheap manufacturing process of these tubes, they often (seems like they ALWAYS do this any more) cause serious health issues as a byproduct of the cheap manufacturing process. Usually these health problems include eye damage, blindness, and neurological damage, AND YOUR DRAGON COULD VERY WELL BE PUFFING HIMSELF UP WHILE UNDER HIS LIGHTS BECAUSE THE UVB TUBE IS CAUSING HIM DISCOMFORT/PAIN/STRESS...This would explain why he's only doing this when he's on his basking spot/platform and only when he's under his UVB tube.

There are many, many brands on this list of bad UVB tubes, I think Knobbys has the complete list, but the most popular/common brands in the US that are on this list and recently have all been causing serious issues that have appeared on this forum are Zilla (now Petco's house-brand), All Living Things (Petsmart's house-brand), and ReptileOne as far as the Chinese manufactured brands go, and then Trixie, which is manufactured in Germany and more popular in the UK, but I found out that Trixie makes any and all types of pet products, from dog and cat stuff to birds, reptiles, rodents, you name it, they mass-produce EVERYTHING PET-RELATED, and the amount of reptile lights they mass-produce is astounding. I went onto their website recently to check them out, and they are shipping to the US and selling a ton of their reptile lights over here now. There are many other brands on the list, but these are the most popular and commonly sold in US pet shops, and specifically Zilla has been causing a ton of problems lately, or I should say "since" they signed-on as Petco's house-brand of Reptile products last year.

So if you could let us know what brand your 18" T8 UVB tube is, this may explain what's going on. Just as a lot of Dragons "Puff-Up" while in a bath, or under any type of stress, if your dragon is only doing this when he is under his lights and on his basking spot/platform, it could very well be that the UVB tube is causing him distress...

One more thing about your temperature zones, you didn't really answer the question about what type of thermometer you are using, and this is extremely important, because if you don't have either a Temperature Gun or a Digital Probe Thermometer then you have no way at all of measuring his Basking Spot Surface Temperature. Again, you cannot at all measure his Basking Spot Temp with any type of stick-on thermometer, as they can only measure Ambient/Air Temps...

If you are using either a Temperature Gun or a Digital Probe Thermometer to measure his Basking Spot Temp then I apologize, but his temperatures being too low or too high would also explain his issue, and it sounds like at least recently his temperature zones have not been within the correct temperature ranges:

BASKING SPOT SURFACE TEMPERATURE: Between 105-110 degrees F maximum for a dragon under a year or so old; between 100-105 for an adult dragon over a year old...***The maximum SURFACE TEMPERATURE that can be present anywhere inside a Dragon's tank is 110 degrees F, as measured with either a Temp Gun or a Digital Probe Thermometer...

HOT SIDE AMBIENT (air) TEMPERATURE (The air temperature of the Hot Side of the tank that surrounds the basking spot/platform surface; taken by either a stick-on thermometer located in the Hot Side of the tank, or by a Temp Gun or Digital Probe): Between 88-93 degrees F maximum...***The maximum AMBIENT/AIR TEMPERATURE that can be present anywhere inside a Dragon's tank is right around 93 degrees F; this is not as strict a rule as the 110 degree F maximum SURFACE TEMPERATURE rule is, but any Ambient/Air Temperature inside a dragon's tank that is over around 93 degrees F will cause dehydration and can cause Heat Exhaustion if continued for a long period of time, as this also indicated that the Surface temperatures within the tank are going to be higher then they should be.

COOL SIDE AMBIENT (air) TEMPERATURE (The air temperature of the Cool Side of the tank that is opposite the Hot Side of the tank; taken by either a stick-on thermometer, Temp Gun, or a Digital Probe Thermometer): Between 75-80 degrees F maximum...