My bearded dragon is over a year old and since august he has had really dry skin on his face. I had some trouble back in the fall getting him to eat and that coupled with the dry skin prompted me to take him to the vet.
From the entire analysis by the vet, he seems fine. Xrays showed nothing off, he had no swelling in the mouth, no signs of mouth rot, he was a healthy weight; nothing seemed off.
The vet did notice that his saliva was thick and his throat was mildly inflamed. She had noted this as well in my earlier examination of him in June that his saliva was thick. I assume its because he doesn't drink water. I've refilled his dish every day since I got him but he has never drank from it. The vet advised me to bath him regularly and spray him with water occasionally to compensate which I have done. In the winter it gets really dry in my room so I also run a humidifier.
The vet suggested that the swollen throat was caused by the lack of drinking and had in turn caused him to eat less. I gave him prescribed anti inflammatory and at first he still didn't want to eat (I made a panicky post on here towards the end of December about this fact) and I was worried as I had to leave town for the month (mid dec to mid jan) but I convinced my family who was taking care of him to try some different vegetables on him and when I got back home I found him very active and eating regularly.
Nothing seems visibly wrong with him yet his face skin is still really really dry and when left alone in his tank he will sit with his mouth open very very slightly (just a crack) until I disturb him where he'll usually close it and give me a look.
I still think the dryness is most likely dehydration but In spite of his better appetite, hes a really picky eater when it comes to vegetables and I'm getting to be at a loss in terms of how to get water into him beyond baths and spraying him with it.
I've sifted through most of the internet and have turned up nothing that looks like what I've described. Attached is a photo, if anyone has seen anything like this or has any tips for keeping him hydrated please let me know
(weird pose is because he was napping, uploading the photo to the site has drastically reduced its quality but you can see its all white between the scales on his head and around his lips)
From the entire analysis by the vet, he seems fine. Xrays showed nothing off, he had no swelling in the mouth, no signs of mouth rot, he was a healthy weight; nothing seemed off.
The vet did notice that his saliva was thick and his throat was mildly inflamed. She had noted this as well in my earlier examination of him in June that his saliva was thick. I assume its because he doesn't drink water. I've refilled his dish every day since I got him but he has never drank from it. The vet advised me to bath him regularly and spray him with water occasionally to compensate which I have done. In the winter it gets really dry in my room so I also run a humidifier.
The vet suggested that the swollen throat was caused by the lack of drinking and had in turn caused him to eat less. I gave him prescribed anti inflammatory and at first he still didn't want to eat (I made a panicky post on here towards the end of December about this fact) and I was worried as I had to leave town for the month (mid dec to mid jan) but I convinced my family who was taking care of him to try some different vegetables on him and when I got back home I found him very active and eating regularly.
Nothing seems visibly wrong with him yet his face skin is still really really dry and when left alone in his tank he will sit with his mouth open very very slightly (just a crack) until I disturb him where he'll usually close it and give me a look.
I still think the dryness is most likely dehydration but In spite of his better appetite, hes a really picky eater when it comes to vegetables and I'm getting to be at a loss in terms of how to get water into him beyond baths and spraying him with it.
I've sifted through most of the internet and have turned up nothing that looks like what I've described. Attached is a photo, if anyone has seen anything like this or has any tips for keeping him hydrated please let me know