POSSIBLE BREATHING TROUBLE - HELP!

I own one Bearded Dragon (Streak). He is male and a few months old (he will be fully grown in January 2019). He hadn't eaten any live food for about 4 days so I fed him a fairly large amount yesterday - about 15 mealworms and 8 large worms.

Today, when I got home, he didn't want any live food. I didn't think it was too odd after his feast the day before. I went out for about two hours and, when I got back, Streak had dug himself a ditch and was lying flat in it. When I picked him up, his beard was charcoal black and the sides of his stomach were dark grey. He had his mouth wide open and there was wet sand on his lips and tongue. I believe he may have eaten a large amount of sand by accident.

On top of his strange colour, his tail keeps twitching every now and then, he doesn't seem to be able to walk easily, will still not eat and, most worryingly, appears to be having difficulty breathing and swallowing. My dad gave him a few drops of water and this seems to have helped the breathing a little (he was talking tiny short gasps before and is now taking large deep breaths, albeit irregularly). He also keeps waving his arm in a submissive fashion regularly. I'm extremely worried.

I have read that any sand is dangerous, especially for young reptiles, and have been planning to replace it. If his situation isn't better by tomorrow morning, my dad is going to take him to the vet, but any input that can be provided would be highly appreciated. He is only young and I don't want him to die or and up needing surgery.

Two more things that I forgot to mention is that he seems very confused and disoriented and his limbs are shuddering.

This does not sound good at all. He is in distress and needs to see an experienced reptile vet as soon as you can. Until then there may be some changes you can make to his habitat that would be helpful. Can you provide details about the lighting and the temperatures around his tank? I would certainly remove the sand and clean the tank out and replace it with something solid like non adhesive shelf liner. If he is ingesting the sand then it can cause impaction and kill him among other risks.

Until he can get to the vet I would keep him warm. Hold him if he does well with handling and doesn't get stressed by it. Your warmth may help him feel more secure. Having him outside in natural sunlight might be helpful too if he can sit still and is OK with handling. I do think this is a critical situation at this point and a vet should tend to him as soon as possible.

Thank you for your reply.

The tank usually sits at around 70°F if I remember correctly. The substrate is repti-sand, he's got a branch to climb and a fake vine as well as three dishes (for water, veg and live food). The light is off right now as he needs to sleep. Tomorrow, I'll keep my windows and doors shut to keep the room as warm as possible and that should hopefully increase his tank's temperature. I'll clean out the sand and replace it with something else (I have read that newspaper is a safe substrate)

I did some reading and it looks to be gut impaction. I found a way to treat it at home and will try that tomorrow if the vet doesn't. Again, thank you for your help.

70f is quite low for a tank and lower than most room temps. The general ranges are 100-110f (38-43C) surface temps in the basking area with a gradient down to 75-85f (24-29C) on the cool side surfaces during the day and above 65f (18C) overnight with the lights off. Do you have a UVB light for him? That is a critical component as well.

Yes, newspaper should be just fine as a substrate for him and would be a good replacement for the sand.

What is the home remedy you read about? I wouldn't offer him too much at the moment aside from dripping water on his nose for him to lick up and keep him hydrated.

I'll try to find a hotter bulb for his tank. I do have a UVB bulb as well.

The home remedy was on the Pets4Home website (which is a large chain pet store here in the UK) in their page about impaction on dragons. It said to use a natural, animal-safe laxative like pureed prunes as syringe it onto the dragon's lips so he licks it. This was followed by saying to put him in a warm bath up to his shoulders, keeping the temperature constant, and that rubbing his flanks from his chest may help. Would that be safe, or are Pets4Home wrong on that? (A friend who used to own a leopard gecko said that the home remedy and trip to the vet should put him right)

Sorry to say this, but Steak has passed away. He seemed to have been getting better, the vet said he'd be okay, but sadly this wasn't the case. I was going to treat him with a hot bath when I got home, as had been recommended, but I didn't have the chance.

At least he isn't in pain any more. Rest in peace, Streak.

I'm sorry to hear that. Poor little guy. They often start to perk up a bit like that just before they go. It sounded like he was in pretty rough shape though so I'm glad he isn't suffering. I wish there was more that could have been done for him.