Beardie gaping and has white palate with specks on it?

[Seven2Zero]

So a wile ago I noticed my buddy Lizzy swallowing a lot when he would eat, then it turned into him blowing out air after he ate anything. I figured he was just taking a breath. Then I noticed saliva was forming at the corners of his mouth so I thought he was dehydrated and would give him a bath. This didn't go away after the bath. I also noticed he was gaping a lot so I took him to the vet and unfortunately for my area there aren't many people that deal with reptiles. My doctor deals with about 8 beardies and I have 4 of them. Needless to say after she pried open his mouth we saw that the left side of his palate was white and speckled. She hasn't had any instances with this and asked a friend who deals specifically with reptiles and she said it could be a respiratory infection and put him on an antibiotic (he is on ceftazidime now). Well after doing 3 injections (one every 3 days) he is still gaping. I just got a good pic and am now scared that he has mouth rot! I have never seen it and my guys have never had it and I'm probably freaking out for no reason and it could be remnants of the one Dubia he actually ate today. I'm wondering does it look like mouth rot? And has anyone seen this in the back of a beardies throat?

 

[DaisyDragon123]

I can't really tell from the pictures if that is a roach remnant. My vet told me that she treated an iguana once who had a leafy vegetable stuck in the back of her mouth/throat causing breathing problems and had to manually remove it. Might want to have a reptile vet look at her even if it means a good drive.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It doesn't really look like mouth rot, especially there. It could just be built up saliva. Had he just eaten? IF he has a lot of saliva or mucous in his mouth then respiratory infections can cause this type of symptom as was suggested. He is already on Ceftz right now? How long has he been on it?
Can you review your tank setup for us, such as the heating, lighting & supplementation just so we can be sure everything is all good with that.
Does he have a good appetite?

Tracie

 

[Seven2Zero]

He has been getting the shots since the 14th and he gets them every 3 days. He does appear to be getting somewhat better, he's actually starting to eat a bit the past couple of days. Originally I got him from Petsmart and he looked very sick and weak but he is the one that my son wanted so I figured we would try to save him. Since then we have had some issues along the way and I had to force feed him for a wile but he finally got better and he's been doing good for the past couple of years. I do believe that its not mouth rot and the brown stuff was just left over roach from the one that he actually ate that day. Heres a picture of his setup for right now. I put the postit on the cage for my son, to remind him that Lizzy is sick. Although there is room for 3 lights I only have the one for him to bask and had to move the CHI over to the other side because it was making the temp soar on the one side and the other side was too cool. Its 110 on the basking side and 85 on the other side. The UV light was just changed 2 months ago. He was sleeping and not eating a lot lately which really scared me but Im wondering if he might have just been brumating on top of being sick because he has been up and about this morning. He is still gaping a bit and huffing and puffing after he eats but its not as bad as it was before but he is still doing it a lot and his throat isn't getting better.

As for what he's been eating he's been hit and miss he had one roach this morning, I still offer him greens at night regardless because he hasn't been eating much. Last night he had some collards and a bit of sweet potato sprinkled with bee pollen. He really likes the taste of the bee pollen which is the only reason I think he actually ate as much as he did. I normally offer greens every day and protein every other day. I just started my own roach colony about a month or so ago and everyone seems to like them. Occasionally I will get horn worms and supers, but they won't really touch the crickets at all now that they are adults. (I have 4 guys total)

 

[Ashekeilla]

brumation is a possibility, with the decreased eating & being lethargic... as for gaping often, he might be too hot. 110 might be too high, low 100s might make him happier. some beardies like it a little cooler, maybe he's like that. my boy Apophis huffs & puffs all the time, but that's just him being a silly boy & trying to be big & tough & scary. he also sleeps with his tongue tip sticking out of his mouth, he's done this since he was a baby, so he gets some crusty drool in the corners of his mouth too. he's the only beardie i have that does it, but the vet says he's healthy!

to get him to eat better, you might want to try Dragon Bites by Nature Zone, i know that Petco carries it, or it can be found online. it's a moist beardie diet, & my 4 dragons love it! maybe he's just being picky & something different will do it for him? mine go thru phases of hating greens & the dry pelleted food, but they always love their Dragon Bites! you could also try offering some calcium worms (black soldier fly larva). they are very squirmy & really good for them; some stores carry them but i usually order them online.

your guy is really cute, i hope he's OK