Beardies Belly

[Carriesharing]

Hello All,
Brand new to Bearded Dragons and to this site....
I have so many questions I am guessing I may be a pain in the keister. My very first and most pressing on my mind is about a bearded belly. My daughter named him Balthazar though I am looking for a different one less common because he is anything but common.

Balthazar's belly is soft, squishy and when I soak him in warm water and gently stroke his under belly he doesn't seem to be in any pain. I cann feel a small bump under his skin that could fecal matter though he poops every day to 2 days on a regular basis,or some type of organ .
My biggest question is what does a a juvenile dragon's belly feel like?

The Basics
He has water all the time except once before I was taking care of him. I immediately soaked him and he drank water that must have been at least 3 months ago now.

He has been growing well He is not black under his chin or belly, and is getting uvb/uva 12 hours a day but 3 days ago I noticed his uva/uvb light had burnt out. Not sure how long maybe up to a week as the heat bulb is very bright. He is also taken outside nearly everyday to set in the sun 20 minutes to 2 hours depending on the day.

He had a great appetite that has slowed the last two days so I may be 'jumping the gun' as far as worrying about his his belly being bloaty as I have no idea what a 4 1/2 month old bearded dragon's belly should look or feel like but I know animals, all animals will bloat with certain parasites in their body. He doesn't have the bug with the really stinky poo parasite Giardia infection because I don't wretch when he has pooped. It is possible that it could be one of the other common parasites from the family coccidia, but he a healthy boy and I read generally the if a dragon is healthy, happy and not stressed a bacteria of this kind should not take over his body.

I forgot to mention he may have slightly labored breathing. I noticed in the last two days maybe because I can't take my eyes off of him for too long as I am keeping an eye on his tummy. There is no crud or crust around his nose and face . No snot bubbles or coughs.
NEW COMER SUGGESTION
***I would love to see video clips of illness comparisons on beardy** breathing normally, one with a **respiratory issue and one that has been **exercised or is excited. Video clips on body types chronologically ** average beardy at 1 moth, 2 months etc , a ** larger than normal beardy at 1 month, 2 months etc backs, BELLIESs, heads as a comparison.


We feed fresh garden herbs and romaine lettuce. Parsley, oregano, peach, tomato (doesn't eat the tomato that I can see) Very little fresh basil (calcium issue) I have tried grated carrot, bell pepper, strawberry and banana.... He is much happier with wax worms and meal worms (not feeding these much since I read they can chew their way out if not digested and can cause colic or intestinal blockage due to their small size and ex skeleton. He certainly loves them and the large super worms as well. NO NO NO roaches ever. Please don't suggest them as the idea makes me want to vomit.

I am giving him powered Herpavite once or twice a week along with my sweet little box turtle and a liquid calcium twice in his water 2 times a month. He hates the herpavite powder and so does the boxy.

I think he needs more exercise and I am going to biuild or buy a large outdoor screened run with stuff to climb over and on. He is very sweet most of the time and will sleep on my lap until he decides he wants to dart across the room. He eats out of my hand and will hold on to walk around the yard with myself and my youngest daughter who purchased him. to overfeed him but he only gets to eat on average once a day as my time is stretched to a fine thread.

So can anyone show me a video on breathing and picture of perfect beardy bellies and not so perfect beardy bellies?
I will add pictures of him tomorrow when he is awake.

Thank you!!!

 

[AHBD]

Hi Carrie.... sounds like Balthazar is a much loved beardie, you will definitely have to post some pics of him + his dragon home. I'll comment on a few things....can't remember everything but I'll try ! First off, you really can't tell if there are digestive problems by feeling their belly...beardie bellies are naturally somewhat lumpy. And to determine if he's breathing heavy, post a brief video...he's probably fine though. You can Google youtube videos of beardie's with R.I's....you'll see some there. They may do a bit of a cough, have a wheezing noise and sometimes breathe with their mouth open. They may also have a lot of mucous visible, but not always. Mealworms are O.K as part of the diet, and put your mind at ease they can not eat through the dragon's stomach. Tomatoes are not a good veg. for them, greens like turnip, mustard, collard, escarole, endive, clover leaf [ I get mine from my yard ] and a variety of squash. Beardies do tend to have chubby bellies, so that's not anything unusual. But please post pics of him, his belly + his set up. Here's how:

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then hit XIMG

 

[MichaelO]

Hi, romaine lettuce or any type of lettuce is no good for beardies. They are just full of water. If you can get a hold of Pak Choi, Bok Choi or Chinese cabage (these are all the same thing just different names.) This is high in calcium and can be fed daily. My Finn loves it. At 4 1/2 months are you sure your dragon is a boy. Has he ever had a black beard maybe first thing in the morning? My female has never had a black beard but she does flex her beard at me in the morning (I think she is saying what time do you call this waking me up lol).

 

[kyleena29]

So a young beardie like yours should be getting calcium 5x week and I don't think you can be sure they are even getting enough intake putting it in his water. If that is the case he could be getting early signs of MBD. Depending on they type of uvb you are using, most of them need to be changed every 6 months regardless if they are still putting out light and be sure there is no glass/plastic covering the bulb. Wax worms should only be given rarely as a treat, they have high fat content which is not good for the liver. Mealworms are not good for them ever since their shells are not easily digested and could build up in their system. I'll bet he would love black soldier fly larvae though. They are very good for him as a staple and they kind of look like wax worms but different color. The cheapest I've found is from Kritters for Christ, 1000 for $20. Hope this helps.