Ok, I have a post on here about my baby being ill. I have been force feeding him with a syringe for about 2 weeks. He has been doing fairly well with it, although is getting more and more stubborn. Something happened today though and I am not sure if I should be scared or not..... His tummy has been really bloated today, like puffed up like a balloon. It almost feels like there is a bunch of air in there. It's not from over feeding because I have only gotten about 3 ccs into him today, plus his daily doses of calcium. He has also been pooping fine. He just came of antibiotics two days ago and I have been supplementing with acidophillus and have been feeding him carnivore care mixed with squash baby food. Do beardies get gas? or do they bloat out their tummys? Also when I was feeding him tonight, it seemed like he would swallow become a little limp then open his mouth wide like he was gasping for a breath. Different than when he is showing me he is mad or hissing. I was scared for a while that he had aspirated some of the food into his lungs. I soaked him in some warm water and he just laid there totally limp but when I put him back in his cage he perked up and has been running around like nothing happened. He would do this after I fed him a few days ago, but he was really ill then and I think it wore him out. Could he be just playing stubborn?
My beardies sometime gulp air when they want to be defensive or get nervous. Sometimes when you put them in water for a bath they do this and it allows mine to float and swim. I don't know of any reason they couldn't get gas especially if your are assist feeding them. I know they can't vomit and I don't think they can burp so it apparently has to work its way out the only way possible. I wonder if anyone else has any experience with this.
Thanks Tatty, I have just been beside myself. I am so overprotective right now because poor Perry has been so ill and I am very nervous about him rebounding.
Just to make sure, they do sometimes bloat their tummys when they are mad? Does it feel like a balloon? If they do, I am positive that is what it is then. PHEW!! Thanks!
All of mine have done this. For them, it is a defensive/nervous behavior. They swell up like a balloon. Then they finally exhale and relax. At first it scared me, but I learned that this is a part of normal behavior for mine. This seems to be a natural reaction to a bath.