I know that it's normal for bearded dragons to bulge their eyes out in a strange fashion for a little bit before returning them to normal, and my five year old bearded dragon has done this regularly throughout his whole life. However, over the past few days, he's been doing this for very extended periods of time and it has become worrisome. It seems as though he is like this for the majority of the day, either with his eyes bulged out or with his lacrimal caruncle bulging out a bit and his eyes looking droopy and abnormal. Any advice regarding what may be the cause of this? If this a health problem, what I can do to help resolve it? He's not doing it at the moment, but when he does it again I'll try to post a picture. (side note: the skin around the top of his neck has recently gone gray, indicating that he is about to start shedding on his head... so not sure if this could possibly be related)
I appreciate the reply werewolf. Unfortunately, i did not find that article to be helpful. It was very vague regarding the actual reason/reasoning as to what disorder excessive eye bulging is indicative of. It mentioned that it could potentially be due to high blood pressure relating to a change in diet. However, my beardie's diet has remained consistent.
Any other advice regarding this issue would be appreciated.
Does you use a vitamin supplement? I believe a Vitamin A deficiency can also cause eye swelling/bulging. But since most veggies (especially orange colored ones) contain beta carotene which is the pre-cursor to Vitamin A, I've heard the deficiency is pretty rare. But it's a thought
Human and beardie fingers & toes are crossed that it's just shedding and nothing serious!
yes, i do use a vitamin supplement (herptivite). i just took a couple pics of him and his eyes still look bulged even though his light's been off for 2 1/2 hours and he's sleeping. Here's some links to a few of the pics:
That is not normal, no.
I would get a blood test done on him to see his liver & kidney values to determine the function of them.
The swelling of the eyes can indicate renal or heart issues.
How often do you give calcium & does it include D3 or no?
Which UVB light are you using now?
The herptivite is fine, it has beta carotene in it instead of synthetic vitamin A. How often do you give the herptivite?
I give him calcium with D3 about 4-5 times a week and i give him herptivite about once a week. The UVB light I use is a 36" Reptisun 10.0. A few more pics.....
Poor dear looks like an adorable little grumpy goldfish
I'm not experienced but it does look like fluid retention to me; blood tests like Tracie suggested would probably be a good idea (she's our resident beardie expert! She's also been known to catch things on test results that the vet missed, so I'm betting she wouldn't mind taking a look at any results you may have if you do get bloodwork done ).
Good luck! <3 <3
Poor little dude ! I agree, blood tests may help determine what the problem is . For now, you might cut the calcium down to once a week and keep him well - hydrated.
He appears to be doing better at the moment. I just gave him a bath and when I put him back in his tank he ate a lot of food (which I was glad to see, because he hasn't been eating much of anything lately). Now he's basking with his head up and his eyes look normal. I may take him to a vet anyway, just to be on the safe side. Any idea what a vet visit with bloodwork might cost me?
The vets around me charge anywhere from 45-70 USD for just an exam (depends on the vet). I know that a CBC (Complete Blood Count) test is usually about $110, but I don't think the CBC tests renal/liver function. So a different, probably also expensive, test may be needed to determine those. :?
If you're like me and you aren't made of money, some vet's offices are willing to work out a payment plan! Usually the vet's receptionist will know about payment plans and exam/test prices, so you can just call the main office and get pricing info.