Help! Bearded dragon is sick and need advice

Hello, my 1yo beardie is having problems again. She is sort of coughing/gagging and her beard turns black. this has happened before and the vet (who i dont really trust) said it was a res infection and sent me out the door with meds. This seemed to help the problem but today i come home and find her doing it again and worse this time. She is breathing heavy and her whole body kinda coils up like someone who is gagging or about throw up. then she makes this coughing noise and sounds horrible. I took a video but im not sure i can upload it here.

any help is appreciated. She is in a 4x2x2 enclosure and her temps and humidity are right. she gets veggies and insects and has a 10.0 uvb. im thinking it might be parasites but hopefully someone has had this problem before so i can get this clear before its too late for her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEfW78XiONo
here is a link to the video i took of her

She is in distress - has she eaten something in the tank -- like plastic plants -- maybe a insect that was too big-- its almost like shes trying to throw something up? I am at a loss - lets see who weighs in on this --- you need Tracie or AHBD to look at this post
Karrie

I gave her a big horn worm today, maybe they’re too big?

No I would not think so horn worms are pretty soft --- did she have this problem before the horn worm?
Karrie

Hi there, when she was dosed with meds. the first time did she stop the coughing quickly ? Was the coughing constant or just now + then ? Do you keep her out of the tank after she eats ? They need lots of heat after eating + should stay in the tank, just in case you were taking her out soon after.

Right now it looks like she may not have chewed the hornworm too well and it may be still moving just a bit, making her cough like that. How long ago did she eat it ?

i found the horm worm in her tank half eaten. she must have threw it up. but she seems to do this a lot. gonna try giving her smaller feeder and see if she still has this problem. she doesnt come out after she eats and when i take her out i make sure she doesnt get too cold.

she had the meds maybe a few months ago. he said it was a RI and she took her meds reluctantly and seemed to get better. but now its starting up again. Along with the RI meds he gave me meds for parasites. thats why i was wondering if this behavior was linked to parasites being in her throat or something? have you ever seen behavior like this?

I highly doubt there are parasites in her throat. As for the hornworm, beardies can usually eat the huge ones, my guys always have but there's always the chance that it didn't go down right for some reason. I have seen breathing like this after a heavy meal once or twice but it stopped after a short while. There's still a possibility that it's an R.I.
Is she still gasping ?

Hello,

Which medications did the vet give, do you know the names of them?
Was she coughing/gagging that severely before she started the medication?
She is definitely in some type of distress. Are you able to try & see if there might be an
object of some type in her throat? You mentioned she had thrown up some of the hornworm
earlier?
Can you review her tank setup for us, such as her type/brand of UVB, (a Reptisun 10 tube or
an Arcadia 10% tube) the temperatures, the substrate, & supplementation used?
It could definitely be a respiratory issue, but it could also some type of toxic reaction to something
but not sure.

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie

i will upload a video in the post after this. she is still doing it today. Her tank is a 4x2x2 and her hot spot is about 100 and the cool side gets to anywhere between 72-80. she has a reptisun 10.0 uvb bulb overhead. also she gets calcium some meals.

The 10.0 bulb is a coil? If it is is it a 26 watt or 13? If it's the 13 you need to get rid of it ASAP-- you can switch over to a 26 but it needs to be in a reflective done and approx 6-8 inches from basking--- decor-- I personally would switch to a tube - Reptisun 10.0 either the T 5 or T 8
Karrie

it is a tube . 18'' to be exact. and its new i just bought another one because i feared the old one was getting to its 6 month life

Ok sorry saw all the domes but not the fixture-- it should be inside tank approx 8-10 inches from basking decor w/ NO cover in the fixture-- bulb should be expose
Karrie