Bearded dragon mouth slightly cracked open

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing?
That is a good sign not hearing any wheezing or other noises while he was breathing.
Perhaps he has a sore snout then from hitting his mouth on the side of the tank? You
could opt to try & feed him outside of his tank, in a plastic bin to alleviate some of that.
Did you double check the temperatures also to be sure he isn't getting too hot?

Tracie

 

[Poodlin]

Yesterday he was real dark with a lot of stress marks on his belly. So I took him out of his cage and held him for about a half hour and he went back to his normal color with no stress marks. About 10-15 minutes after I put him back in his cage he went dark again with lots of stress marks again. So I held him and back to normal color again til I put him back. So I figure there has to be something wrong with his cage. Found out the temperature was staying between 85-95, I have no idea why it is staying cooler than usual in there. So I put a ceramic heat emitter on the cage to warm it up and he stayed his normal color. As for his mouth, it will go come closed every so often. Me and my nephew was looking at it earlier and he saw what appears to be either a little cut or a little crack in the bottom part near the lip area. He seems a little sluggish but If I throw a superworm in for him it perks him up cause he will run after it. I also found out he does not like banded crickets. He will eat them but he just doesn’t seem as interested in them as the original brown crickets.

 

[KarrieRee]

If hes got a cut on his mouth you can use some raw unpasteurized honey on it like Manuka is good - do not leave any crickets in the tank they will go straight for the lip -- I would get some BSFL from here if they are shipping not sure now w / the holidays www.symptonbsf.com and I would also get him some dubia roaches as well - you can get both from here they are also called phoenix worms calci worms and nutri grubs-- he might like the roaches better than the crickets all together -- www.dubiaroaches.com what size crickets are you feeding him -- nothing to big for him to eat please - size should be no bigger than the space between his eyes length wise -- are you feeding small super worms? If you are feed only 1-2 and I would use them to lure him to his salad bowl -- along w/ the BSFL -- they are great salad toppers and feed as many as you want do not dust them --- the roaches you will need to dust w/ the calcium D3 and the vitamins as well
Karrie

 

[Poodlin]

She still doesn’t allow me to get the dubia roaches. Bad experience when she was little I guess and when she sees them in a petstore she screams and leaves as soon as possible. The BSFL I have bought that before but he only seemed interested in it when they turned into the actual flies. The super worms are maybe an inch in length. He loves them and he will eat salsa with no problem. He especially loves the collard greens and mustard greens. As long as it is green he will eat it. I also just bought him some fresh green beans. What is the best way to give these to him? Just peel them or just cut them up? I also bought his some broccoli. Is this good for him to eat?

 

[KarrieRee]

The green beans cut up for him -- broccoli not so much - its great hes eating greens - ok so order some silk worms -- www.reptilianarts.com -- or www.coastalsilkworms.com they have two shipping places east and west coast -- order small -- they usually come w/ food and I would only order like 20 of them - stay w/ your crickets then -- the dubias are so much easier to keep - they are less hassle and dont stink like crickets do -- I swore I would never do roaches either but after the vet recommended them and trying them I will never go back to crickets again --- if you keep them in a 10 gallon aquarium and feed them dubia food and carrots for hydration or squash it will be alot easier ---crickets are escape artist and dubias dont escape -- just info for you --
here is a website for nutrition
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a great staple feeder
Karrie

 

[Poodlin]

The local petstore sells silkworms, waxworms, superworms and mealworms basically any kinds of worms. I have never had a problem with keeping crickets as long as they are the original brown crickets and not the banded crickets. I hate those banded crickets and so does my bearded dragon. He does not seem interested in them but the original brown crickets he loves them. The crickets I keep have never smelled bad or anything. They were healthy the whole time I had them. Thanks for the info about broccoli I just bought him some and was going to give it to him but I won’t. I’ll just give him some collard greens and green beans til tomorrow, then I will see what I can find him at the store.

 

[SavingChica]

Hi! Wondering what the outcome was. I'm having the same issue with my beardie who I just "saved" from a neglected home. Eating and pooping fine, mouth is hanging slightly open almost all the time.

 

[Poodlin]

His mouth is staying completely closed now. It appears I wasn’t keeping his cage the right temperature, once I got that figured out he/she got the mouth closed. Now he eats and sleeps normally. No crack in the mouth and appears healthy, just sheds a lot.

 

[SavingChica]

Thank you for the update. I think I need a better thermometer too. Glad you're scaly baby is perfect ?

 

[Poodlin]

What kind of thermometer do you have? I have a digital one that is part of his cage. Also,I switched UV lights and got a different heat bulb seems to have made a world of difference. Don’t forget they like gaping to regulate temps. I don’t know if you know a lot about them or not.

 

[SavingChica]

I appreciate the info! I do know quite a bit from my boyfriend's dragon, he's had a few years. I have one digital and two coil types (bc I'm paranoid) spread throughout the tank. But I've learned reading this forum that I need something better! My uvb is brand new bc previous owner had a crappy one, mine is an 18"tube from PetSmart.

I also started a fresh thread for my Chica with all the key details, diet, light, heat etc. And making an appt for a check up to be on the safe side.

Thanks again!

 

[SavingChica]

(your post caught my eye bc I know what gaping looks like and I feel like this is not really it. ) Just like you said. And I hadn't found anything else written about it.

 

[SavingChica]

(your post caught my eye bc I know what gaping looks like and I feel like this is not really it. ) Just like you said. And I hadn't found anything else written about it.