My beardie seems to have trouble breathing?

Hello, this is my first time posting on here but i'm seeking urgent help and thought I'd try a forum.
I am a first time beardie owner and therefore not really an expert. I think i'll struggle to try and describe what he's doing but i'll have a go.

For the past two days now it's appeared that he's been struggling to breathe. As he's breathing his beard is puffing in and out and you can see his belly dramatically coming in and out. The first day he did it I noticed that when he breathed out the right side of his mouth would slightly open occasionally? But he's not done it since. At first I thought it could be a respiratory infection but I've read that these are always accompanied by either runny eyes or a runny nose, and he has neither. I'm just a little concerned and am wondering if anyone could advise me?

He's 15 weeks old and is living in a 4ft vivarium.
The basking spot is at 110F and the cool end is at 76-80F.
At night the temp of the basking spot is about 97-100F.
I am using a Repti Glo 10.0 UVB.
He's been given a helping of small crickets twice a day. (With occasional meal worms)
And one serving is coated in calcium.
There is a selection of finely cut fruit and vegetables always available to him.

I think I have given the appropriate information there, if anymore is needed please let me know.
And advice would be truly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Leigh.

Hello,

Your setup looks good initially.
What are you measuring your temps with, a stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun? If you are using a stick on thermometer, your temps could be off.
What kind of substrate are you using, sand, carpet, tiles? If you are using sand, what type of sand?
The Reptiglo 10 flourescent tube bulb is not a great light. It has been causing alot of problems such as eye problems & other health problems as well. What distance is it from your dragon? IF you are going to be using it, please keep it at 10 inches from your dragon. What type of basking light are you using, is it a bright white light or a colored light?
When he breathes, is his mouth open alot? Is there any mucous in his nose or mouth? The saliva will appear thick, stringy or off colored. There is also clicking & popping type of noises, you know kind of like he is congested as if he has a cold. Those are symptoms of a respiratory infection.

Tracie

Thank you for your reply!
I'm using calcium sand for him.
He can get quite close to his UV light, I didn't know this could be bad for them.

He can get this close and spends a lot of time here:


As you can probably see by the picture I'm also using a bright white light for his basking spot.
And i've also currently been using a stick thermometre, but this has only been temporary untill my new
digital thermometre comes, which should arrive on Saturday. So could It be the temperature he's in causing it then? Or possibly the fact he's too close to his UV light? I've just had a listen to him and there's no clicking or popping noises coming from him nor any mucas.

I really appreciate your help!

Can anyone else offer me any help please?
Thank youu :]

I just looked at the picture you posted. It looks like he is practically touching the Repti-Glo bulb, that is not good at all as it is dangerous. As Tracie mentioned, that bulb has caused eye & other health problems. I suggest you move that bulb so that it is 10" away from where he lays. Have you noticed any problems with his eyes? He looks quite small for a 15 wk old beardie, how long is he?

Could you fill us in on the basking bulb wattage you're using in the 4 ft tank? What are the dimensions exactly? A stick on thermometer can be off as much as 20 degrees so I'm thinking the basking temp is too hot & that's why he's not laying under that bulb but the UVB instead. It's also possible that he is dehydrated if the temps are too high & that could affect his breathing. Are you bathing him, misting him or offering drinks on his nose for him to lick off? If you mist him, make sure you don't mist inside the tank as that can raise the humidity too high causing an upper respiratory infection.

Calci-sand contains calcium which encourages them to lick it and is an impaction risk. It builds up over time and hardens in their bellies like cement. How often does he poo? A solid substrate is suggested for a baby as it is much safer & we suggest paper towels, reptile carpet, non-adhesive shelf liner or slate tiles. They are also much easier to clean so less of a worry with bacteria growing.

How is his appetite & how many crickets is he eating a day? What greens do you offer him? If you can fill us in on the unanswered questions, we can help further.

Oh dear, I didn't know the UVb light could be dangerous I'll be sure to move it tomorrow morning.
I recieved my digital thermometer today, but his light bulb broke this morning and has had to have the ceramic bulb on most the day. The shop we normally get them from didn't have any in, but we are sure to get one tomorrow. Today the temperature has been too high, but i've been turning the light on and off to try and keep the temperature stable. I'll be sure to tell you what temperature the tank really is tomorrow. We've been using a 100w bulb.

I've been giving him drops of water on his nose every 2-3days and he takes them quite well.
I also bathe him once a week. I just measured him and he's 29.5cm Long, is this small?
He eats about 20 crickets a day and his recent selection of salad has been Cabbage, Grapes, Pumpkin, Carrots, Tomatos and plums. I try to vary the selection whenever possible. He poos about twice a day, although today he just did one giant one?

Thank you so much for your help and advise so far.
I feel quite guilty for doing things wrong, but i'll be sure to correct these as soon as possible.


Sorry, forgot to mention the vivarium is 4' x 1',6'' x 1',6''

Hello,

Try looking at http://www.beautifuldragons.com & click on the nutrition link to help with a good variety of foods to feed. The tomatoes & cabbage I would totally avoid as they contain oxalates & will bind the calcium absorption.
If you have a regular household lightbulb you can use that for a basking light until you can get to the store to get a halogen light. Definitely move that Reptiglo 10 to where it is 10 inches away. That is most likely what is causing most if not all of his problems. It is not really a good light anyway, I wish that they would quit selling it until they get it straightened out. Since you are in England, you can probably find the Arcadia D3 12% flourescent tube bulb which is a great light.
He is about 11 or so inches then, & is 15 weeks old? That is not too bad for a 15 week old, but could use a little size.
Great you have a digital probe now, just let us know what the temps are tomorrow.
Right now, I would give oral fluids to him on a daily basis to help him out. You can even use a water & pedialyte mixture so he can replace some electrolytes too.
Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

Leighhmoss":0bcad said:

I feel quite guilty for doing things wrong, but i'll be sure to correct these as soon as possible.

Click to expand...

We are here to help & unfortunately most of us have rec'd some bad info too and most of the time from petstores. That's great that you will be making some changes.
So, you got your digital thermometer today, does it have a probe on the end? Just want to make sure that you are getting an accurate reading. Lay the probe end so it is resting right on the basking surface, wait about 45 min for the temp to stop rising, then you will have the final basking temp. Then you lay the probe end right on the bottom of the tank on the cool side and wait again about 45 for the final reading. If you have a digital with an "in" and "out" reading, then you can get both temps at once with the probe on the basking surface & the thermometer part sitting on the cool side of the tank. The "out" reading would be for the basking & the "in" reading for the cool side.

In 3 of our tanks, I use regular household lightbulbs for the basking bulb, they work fine & are much cheaper than an expensive reptile bulb. Your tank measurements are a little larger than a 65 gallon tank so you could try a standard 100 watt bulb first but you may need a halogen type or a 100 watt with a lower wattage alongside it. Make sure you only use white bulbs as they don't do well under colored bulbs.

You mentioned "At night the temp of the basking spot is about 97-100F" so I suspect that you are using the ceramic heat emitter at night. Any idea of what the wattage is of that? Those temps are really a little high for night sleeping & they do better when allowed to be cooler at night. You don't need any heat at night unless the room temp drops below 65.

Would be a good idea to bathe him 3 to 4 times a wk especially since his temps have been too high & he is/was on calci-sand. The baths will help with possible dehydration & also with an impaction, just in case. Oral fluids for now would be a good idea like Tracie suggested. And most of us follow the beautifuldragons website that Tracie posted too.

Let us know how he's doing & if you need any other help with temps, etc. :wink:

Hello, sorry I didn't reply back yesterday.
I've got the temperatures now. The basking spot is 112 F and the cool end is 94 F.
Do you think the basking spot is too high?
I borrowed the digital termometre on Saturday night to measure what temperature the room gets at night, and found out it actually reaches 40F, so i'll have to keep the ceramic bulb on. But I came up with a solution last night of putting it on a thermostat. I've set it to 80F, should I set it lower?

I was also looking at moving the UVB bulb yesterday but discovered there was no way i could move it so it was 10 inches away from where he lies (the wire wouldn't be able to reach on the fitting). So i've had to rob his favourite spot and have to build his background up so he can't lie there anymore.

I was playing with him yesterday and noticed that his left nostril seems to be covered with skin or
something? But I rang up the vets yesterday and I'll be taking him in someday this week.
Once again, Thank you all so much! :]

Hi, actually the basking spot is just a little too high & the cool side is quite a bit too high. The basking temp should be no higher than 110 and the cool side should be closer to 80 degrees. Is it possible to lower the basking surface a little and slide the basking bulb all the way to the opposite end of the tank to try to get the cool side cooler? Or you could try a 75 watt bulb & that should help get both temps better.

Wow, the room he is in actually reaches 40 degrees at night? Is it an unheated room then? A night temp of 75 to 80 should be fine.

As far as the UVB light goes, are you able to use a lead cord so that you don't have to "rob his favourite spot?"

It's possible that his breathing problem is from unshedded skin blocking his nostrils or that he has an upper respiratory infection. So, a vet visit is probably a good idea if you think it might not be skin that will be lifting off.

Hello! Just got back from the vets, turns out he just had huge pieces of skin in his nostrils.
The vet managed to get the one out of his left nostril but couldn't get the one in the right nostril
(His nose started to bleed). But she's told me that that should come out during his next shed.
He didn't like having his nose picked too much (understandably) and he showed his black beard for the first time. His breathing has improved so much since we've got back, but I've been told that if the skin doesn't come out during his next shed. We can take him back and she'll look more into it. I'm just glad it's not a respiratory infection.

Once again, thank you all so much for your help and advice. I've taken everything you've all said into account and will be changing bulbs and moving things around in the next few days.
Thank you!

That's good that you took him to the vet & found out that he had skin blocking his nostrils. Hopefully the other one will loosen up soon too. We're glad it wasn't an upper respiratory infection too.

Let us know if we can help with any changes. It's important that you have a basking temp of about 100 to 110 but no higher & a cool side about 80. Please keep us updated on him.

I wanna thank you for posting your question on here cause last night reading this gave me the answer to why rock was breathing weird turns out his one nostril was covered with skin the skin now has be removed today and he is breathing good.... so thank you for posting your question on here and replying back cause with out your question and answers i would of been at a lost once again thank you.......Dawn and baby Rock