Coughing/wheezing?

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Deabrua

Juvie Member
Beardie name(s)
Dezzy is 5yo 18" F, Percy is 8yo 19" M
15 month old female bearded dragon seems like she is coughing or wheezing. Its random, some times itll happen a few times consecutively and sometimes she'll be fine for a few minutes. She'll jolt up/lurch forward a little, beard/sides expand suddenly then she goes back to normal. Its not her usual stretching out and it does seem like she's having breathing issues. She ate normally prior to this happening. No discharge around nose or mouth. No loose substrate, basking temp around 95-105F depending on the day. Not lethargic. Been happening for about 3 hours now. Family member who was previously a reptile vet thinks respiratory infection and is ok to wait till sunday/monday when an vet is open. Another known vet says she needs to be seen asap because of lizards' delicacy and how quickly it can go south.

Thoughts?

Note: Ive never heard a noise from her since owning, there is an audible wheeze when this occurs and it is *quite* a jolt in her abdomen considering how well I noticed it with her just sitting on my lap while looking elsewhere.
 

Deabrua

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Dezzy is 5yo 18" F, Percy is 8yo 19" M
Like I said, no discharge around nose or mouth. I can post pictures here in 30-40 minutes. Out picking up food & a carrier for her since i lost the old one and dont have anyone who can hold her for the drive to the vet whether I go tomorrow, sunday, or monday. Everything's closed by the time it started today.

Appearance wise, she looks her usual self.

One of the vets suggested food, warm bath, and keeping her warm but I want to he careful of humidity or anything of that sort given it seems like the start respiratory infection to me and one of the two vets but Im not experienced enough to make that call and the one I spoke with hasnt actually taken care of them in ... years. I dont know how long.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok yes I would hold off on bathing- hopefully someone will respond Tonite about what to do w/ her-- Tracie drache613 is our vet moderator she can help along w/ some others
Karrie
 

Deabrua

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Dezzy is 5yo 18" F, Percy is 8yo 19" M
Stool is normal, she didnt eat as much as usual today. All greens but lost interest in crickets at just 10 half inch ones.

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Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi there,

Do you ever give her baths?
Is it possible she may have aspirated some liquid?

Lung and breathing issues aren't always going to be an RI. The name in and of itself means that there has to be an infection present. A lot of times they can get water or mucous in their lungs without an infection setting in, especially if it's just a little bit of aspirated bath water.

Keeping the tank warmer overnight would be a start. If you can keep it around 80 that helps keep the immune system active, and keeps the body warmer to help the lungs clear themselves.

Besides not eating as much yesterday, has her appetite been fairly decent? How is she today?

-Brandon
 

Tfulton30

Member
This sounds like what my 5 year old has been doing but she is also breathing heavily on and off And she has been making wheezing and coughing sounds. She has no signs of illness otherwise. No black beard however she hasn’t been eating as much but this could be cuz the vet has me injecting her with an antibiotic and an anti inflammatory. All of this started back in April but back then her beard was black. I took her to the vet and they gave me baytril to give her orally. It didn’t do anything so the vet gave us baytril to inject and it still didn’t do anything except make her like a vegetable. That’s when we took her to the ER and she was treated by a bird/reptile specialist. They thought she had a kidney/liver issue but did say she could be gravid. She was ill for awhile but then ended up laying a ton of eggs over a span of about a month and then she was totally normal after that Up until a week ago. Now here I am again with the breathing issue again. The vets don’t seem to be able to pin point exactly what is going on. Took her to the same one. I get a lot of ideas as to what could be wrong but nothing definitive. Point being, it is not necessarily an RI even though that’s what it seems like. I really hope your Girl is ok. Make sure your humidity is low and your basking spot high. keep us posted.
 

Tfulton30

Member
I also forgot to mention that they did a ct scan and saw some sort of growth and she also had some fluid in her belly. They don’t know exactly what the growth or fluid is but I’m assuming a tumor and don’t really know what the fluid could be. Just wanted to let you know since yours seems to be having similar issues as mine.
 

Deabrua

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Dezzy is 5yo 18" F, Percy is 8yo 19" M
Mine didnt show anything out of the ordinary minus the coughing and lowered albeit not gone appetite. Went from eating 30 crix per day to 10 & still eating all greens. No black beard, not lethargic, no discharge around nose or mouth, she just coughs. She also hasn't been as interested in basking, but I havent figured that one out yet.

EDIT: Im actually at vet ATM, he cant find anything wrong with her other than she's a tiny bit dehydrated but Im guessing that's because she's neglected eating so far today

EDIT 2: post vet papers, one of the two injections is daily for 1-2 weeks, the other is every 3 days. I dont remember which is which, she'll be getting them at the vet each day.
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