Breathing heavily???

[WolfMama]

I in panic mode, again…

He’s grown a lot over the past few weeks, and has had 2 growth spurts. So, everything seemed to be going well. The only issue we had was he would get stress lines if we weren’t holding him. He loves to be held. We’re more then happy to accommodate.

Here’s what’s happening…

Night before last, we noticed that he was breathing heavily. His chest was heavily heaving in and out. It reminded me of when he eats. Does your beardies do that? Whenever he eats, his sides go rapid. It looks like the crickets are moving around in there. LOL. I know they're dead all ready, otherwise it would freak me out. LOL. So, we figured this is his digestive system working.

So, we thought, maybe he'd eaten more crickets (we've gotten into the habit, now that he's a bit bigger, and since you gave me that suggestion, of leaving what he doesn't eat in with him. He then snacks later on. Well, this was night time, and so we watched him eat for 10 minutes to make sure he was eating, and left the others in there. We got back later then usual. Anywho, I prefer to take them in after his last feeding after 20 minutes (but hubby usually does the evening one and got a bit lazy - we have to stop that!).

So, we thought MAYBE he ate some and was still digesting, so we left the light on a bit longer. I was exhausted and fell asleep, so hubby took care of him and said he calmed down and went to sleep (hubby has come to enjoy rocking him to sleep at night I was doing it, but he really gets a kick out of how he digs a little, then nuzzles in his hand, and goes right out ).

His eyes didn't look as sparkly and so I thought MAYBE he needed hydration, because I'd read they can look that way when not hydrated enough (but his BMs are fine, and urates are there, and just a little water with that, so, that seems good. He defecates once to twice a day. His feces is actually double the size it was a few weeks ago).

Oddly, he also stopped having his BMs in his regular spot. Same end of the viv, but other side (back instead of front).

I looked but couldn't find any correlation between the 2, but hubby said he saw someone say heavy breathing could be hydrations. Well, it was very late and I didn't want to keep him up another 2 hours (as I didn't think it would be safe for him).

So, when I fed him his crickets the next day, I had some water in the bowl with the pelltets (oh, we started givin him Rep-Cal Juvenile Bearded Dragon Food... http://www.repcal.com/BDragon.htm - the reptile shop by us had told us they feed it to theirs and it's great... but they say it helps them to grow better. I was worried, because he really wasn't growing. He is now! But, um, I don't notice him eating the pellets, yet. LOL. But, we have started feeding our crickets "Fluker's High Calcium Cricket Diet" as I wanted to be sure they stayed gutt loaded, and I wasn't confident that just a carrot did the trick. So, maybe that's helped? IDK. ) Oh, what I do for the pellets, is I soak them in a little water for a few minutes in the dish, then I leave the extra water in there, and put the bowl in the viv, and then dump the crickets in the bowl. I was hoping he'd learn to associate what is inthe bowl as food, and then start to eat the pellets. Any suggestions on how to encourage him further to eat the pellets, let me know Still not getting him to eat greens, yet. Funny thing, though... the crickets LOVE the pellets! LOL.

I feel kinda bad, though. They'll stay there and eat the pellets, while he eats them. Not all of them, but several will do that.

Anywho, he's definitely getting a little extra water that way, because the crickets have a little on them when i do this, and I'm hoping he laps a little just by it being there.

I also bathed him yesterday (with everything that's been going on, it was ALMOST a week since his last bath. Not a whole week, but almost. As usual, he just went right to sleep in my hand. LOL. He just goes limp in the water. It's about 95 degrees (I use a tank thermometer to be sure).

Last night, he was DARK!!! REALLY REALLY DARK! We picked him up, and as I held him, he immediately lightened and was fine. He was SO dark, he scared me. Now when he was laying there in the viv, his breathing was fine. After I picked him up, I could see his sides moving. Maybe that's normal? IDK. It worries me.

I'm not sure if our temp gun is accurate. But, the digital will show 90 degrees, and when I check the basking spots, they range from 90 to 101 degrees (depending one the spot).

I lowered his lamp yesterday, thinking maybe he wanted it warmer, because none of the basking spots seemed to be reaching quite 100 degrees. I saw him under the lamp gaping. Why doesn't he just move? It's the first time I've seen him gaping in a long time (since I stopped misting him).

I don't know why he's stressing so And I now I'm concerned about the breathing.

One other thing... he seems to like to stare up at the fluorescent light.... I was really worried when I googled that, and came across "stargazing." I absolutely panicked, and asked hubby to check, because some of the sites seemed to indicate that true stargazing was when they seem to almost go verticle twisting their head up. He's on his log staring up at it. He doesn't do it all the time, or all day, but he does stare at it for some reason.

He's a very sensative beardie. He loves to be held a lot. I feel badly, as I've not held him as much as I was because I have had to do a lot of things around here lately. Don't get me wrong, he's still held a couple of hours a day. But, I started to have him out for 4 hours minimum cause he never seemed to want to be in the viv. I'd have him out all the time with me, except I have to keep cleaning my hands and all of that. I'm not sure how fanatical I really have to be with this. I still need to go to the forums and ask more questions on it. Digressing, sorry… Oh, he gets rocked to sleep at night

I've posted a video I just took to show. Please read the description before watching it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlGAshT7a0k

Specs:

• 90 degrees at warm end with humidity in the teens. That’s the digital probe. The temp gun has the basking spot that he likes to be in at 95 degrees. I raised it, and he moved (you’ll see in the video). He seems to not like it at 100 degrees and seems to chose spots at 95 degrees.
  
• The cooler end of the viv is at 75 degrees and humidity between 40 and 45 (note, we had problems with humidity at that end. It only went higher at the basking end when Hurricane Sandy began, and went up into the 30s. It’s back to the teens and 20s,. now. We have a cordless humidifier in there at the cool end. Prior the humidity kept hovering between 50 and 60). I have posts here where I asked about that.
  We adopted him end of September and he was a hatchling, and only 4.25” long (that included his tail, which was nipped before we adopted him). He is now 3” from nose to base of tail (and 6 1/4” including his tail).
  
• Lighting and Heating: 10.0 UVB tube, Heat light, CHE at night (maintaing 78 degrees).
  Supplements: We were using calcium powder and have switched to Calcium with D3, and multivitamin (2 days a week we use the multi rather then the Cal with D3).
  
• Eating crickets 2x/day (approx. 15 to 18 each time) (we're working on the greens)
  Bedded on reptile carpet.
  
• We wait 2 hours after lights are on for first feeding, and do not shut them off until 2 hours after last feeding.
  We bathe him to hydrate him. He had a bath just yesterday.

Thanks!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How are things?
It sounds like he is getting to be a spoiled little one.
Sometimes they can breathe pretty deeply after they have eaten. Is he still breathing deep like that this evening?
Do you feed him in his tank or in a feeding bin? Are the crickets appropriately sized for him?
As far as him eating the pellets, that will be ok, they are nutritious if he will eat them. Are the crickets staying in the bowl with the pellets?
It takes them some time to learn to eat greens & other foods. If the crickets eat the pellets & he eats the crickets then he will get all of the nutrition from the pellets. Yeah it's hard watching the poor crickets get eaten like that.
The basking temperatures sound good in a range of 95-110 & a cooler end of around 78-82 or so. They don't always move when basking but will just gape. If he does get too hot he will eventually move away.
It is normal to see the sides move in & out with their breathing.
It sounds like he is finding some creative ways to get your attention by turning dark, just to get his way & get more attention.

I don't think it sounds like a respiratory infection though, at this point.
Be sure the humidity is below 40% in his tank for less issues of respiratory incidences.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[WolfMama]

Thank you SO much Tracie, for replying!

How are things?
It sounds like he is getting to be a spoiled little one.

LOL!!! (on the spoiled little one) I’ve been told that. LOL. Awwww, ya can’t spoil wi’h wuv (that was my favorite line when my son was growing up – ). Okay, I admit it, our little baby beardie has me wrapped around his little toe. LOL! But it’s such a cute little toe

Sometimes they can breathe pretty deeply after they have eaten. Is he still breathing deep like that this evening?

For the first few weeks, before his growth spurt, I figured it was just his digestion because he only did that after a meal. But, night before last, it seemed to be heavy 2 hours after eating in the evening, the time when he watches videos with the family (LOL – Yes, he LOVES videos – and he’s selective, too!) So, we thought that, maybe he ate a couple of rogue crickets (we always clear out the whole viv before he goes to sleep to be sure), so we put him back in to bask for a couple of more hours to make sure. He still seemed to breathe heavy. And then yesterday, the same.

Hubby rocked him to sleep tonight and said the breathing calmed, but he could still see his chest moving. I looked in on him this morning (His wakeup time is 9 AM. A little late, but this way every gets to have time with him in the evening I looked in on him and his eyes are open (but he hasn't slept for 10 hours yet, or I'd take the blanket off.) He's just laying there groggy (normal), but he's dark underneath, and I can see his chest breathing. It's not as heavy. I’ll video him when I take the curtain off. I’d try now, but I don’t think it’ll show up.

Tracie, how did the breathing look in the video? A couple of other people thought he seemed labored, but weren’t sure.

I forgot to mention we have a CHE light and his night temps are kept at 75 degrees. I'm raising it to 80 as it had been recommended to boost his immune system (just in case) and I did see it on here as well, but it wouldn't go higher in the viv last night for some reason. We're trying to fix it to find out why (someone told me to put the lamp directly on the screen, but when we tried that, it smelled, so I have it raised above the screen. I’m figuring that may be why it’s not getting warmer, so I’m trying to work with it now (during the hours that I’m wide awake. I’m afraid to mess with it at night.) Trying to figure out just how close we can get it without any problems. We have to be careful with the CHE, also, because we have kitty cats, and one in particular loves to watch him.

Do you feed him in his tank or in a feeding bin? Are the crickets appropriately sized for him?

We feed him in his tank. I was going to feed him in a bin, because rogue crickets scare me (we’re going to try to breed dubia roaches soon). What I did do in the beginning was take everything out of his viv, but he doesn’t like that. I make sure the crickets are no larger then the space between his eyes. Some come close to that, but not bigger. He tends to go for the larger ones over the smaller ones.

My main problem is that they get under the reptile carpet. I need to find a way to secure that down. Otherwise, I have to keep trying to get them back out.

As far as him eating the pellets, that will be ok, they are nutritious if he will eat them. Are the crickets staying in the bowl with the pellets?

Oh good I hope he starts to eat them! Yes, that’s what I’ve done, to try to encourage him to eat the pellets. Hoping he’d associate the dish with food. I put the pellets (soaked in a little water) in the dish, then put the crickets in the dish. Some stay in, some do not. He does eat several in the dish. He has come to associate the dish with eating, though. I’m sorry I didn’t get a pic last night.

Hubby saw him, about ½ hour before his evening feeding, with his hands leaning on the dish and looking out waiting for crickets! SO cute! The pellets were in there, but he didn’t eat them. We got his crickets and fed him early. So, he’s definitely associating the dish with eating.

One thing we have done differently, recently, is to leave the extra crickets in during the day. He’s awake, and they don’t seem to bother him during the day. He’s on his logs, and the pellets are in there (OnlyMediocre had given me some good advice about leaving some greens in there for any rogue ones to munch on). With the pellets, since the crickets really like them, and he hadn’t eaten that many one morning, we left them in, but monitored what went on. Later on, he went and just ate when he got hungry.

Only problem with that, is that, if I don’t know he ate a couple of crickets, I might take him out of the viv to play and hang out while I do what I need to do. Can that have a negative impact? In the morning, he gets 2 hours basking before he eats, and 2 hours after. I’ll take him out. Sometimes he’ll stay out for hours with me (if I go to put him back in, he climbs back up my arm, so I take him back out if he does that).

At night, I don’t always wait 2 hours to bask before eating (I figured he’s awake and up and all of that. I assumed the morning 2 hours are to get their system going after sleeping all night). BUT, he always gets 2 full hours after eating his evening meal.

It takes them some time to learn to eat greens & other foods. If the crickets eat the pellets & he eats the crickets then he will get all of the nutrition from the pellets. Yeah it's hard watching the poor crickets get eaten like that.

TY, Tracie for understanding! I'm sure some would think I'm nuts. It’s SO nice to hear someone share my compassion on that Much appreciated

Okay. that's good to know, because we’d been told, but someone just told us yesterday (not from these forums) that we have to get him to eat his greens – even if that meant not feeding him till he ate them. I don’t see why we’d have to get that extreme, especially as he is so young. We’ll just keep offering them.

We did try putting the greens in with the Phoenix worms, but he’s not really taken much to the phoenix worms. He ate a few the first time, non the other times, and a couple of more one other time. He doesn’t seem to care for them (unless it’s the batch we got). It’s odd, because he did take several bites the first time I offered him the Collard Greens (he’d never had them before, as the pet shop doesn’t give them any greens). But, after that, he doesn’t take to it any more. At first, I gave him pieces. Someone suggested I offer him the hold leaf WHILE holding the leaf, and he’d bite off what he wanted. That worked really well, but he only did it once. Mustard Greens he try at all. We did offer a thin small piece of apple, and he didn’t touch that, either.

The basking temperatures sound good in a range of 95-110 & a cooler end of around 78-82 or so. They don't always move when basking but will just gape. If he does get too hot he will eventually move away.

Okay, that’s what I initially thought. Last night, someone (meant well, and not from these forums) said to lower the heat because it was too hot for him and that was why he was breathing heavily. I did lower it, but I know that’s not why he was breathing heavily. He was doing that before I’d raised the heat by lowering the fixture. But, all they seemed to focus on was that brief gaping. I thought he’d just move (which he did). Just trying to do what is best for him.

It is normal to see the sides move in & out with their breathing.

Tracie, does he look normal with his breathing in that video? I hope so! Maybe it’s just that he went through a growth spurt and it wasn’t as visible to us before. He was very tiny. We all JUST said the other day that he seemed to sprout up in a day. He did the same thing 1.5 weeks ago. He was so adorable tiny – but just as adorable now I’m glad he’s growing. We were getting concerned because there was NO growth from the time we first saw him to the time we adopted him, and for 3 weeks afterwards. So, we were concerned. He was so trampled on in that shop! The others grew, but he didn’t I’m boycotting that shop as much as I can :/

It sounds like he is finding some creative ways to get your attention by turning dark, just to get his way & get more attention.

So who said they have tiny brains and aren’t so smart, then? That’s pretty clever Brains may be small, but they sure seem to use them That’s REALLY good then! I was getting worried, because it was happening more, and he was getting even darker. I keep going over the viv again and again trying to figure out what’s wrong.

Well, it’s nice to know he likes being with us as much as we do him He does lighten up as soon as we hold him. If he were sick, would he still do that?

I don't think it sounds like a respiratory infection though, at this point. Be sure the humidity is below 40% in his tank for less issues of respiratory incidences.

Oh good! THANK YOU! I was extremely worried! Our guinea pigs only had an URI when we first adopted them (they came with the URIs – again, pet shop. We adopted rescues after that). Pet shop said to “just return them. How much money do you really want to spend on a $15 animal anyway?” They said that to another woman in the shop, and similarly to me prior. The woman, thankfully, looked stunned at him. I opened my mouth. My son was just 7 years old at the time. I said, “You see this face? (meaning my son) It would break his heart to see anything happen to that little furry guinea pig! They are NOT ‘$15 animals’ - they are loved and part of our family.” Tables turned… he was stunned. Woman smiled in agreement. At any rate, an URI is extremely serious in guinea pigs and a single day can result in death. I suppose an URI can be serious in anyone. One of our rescue kitties was severely ill when she found us, and the vets tried to prepare us that she may not make it as a result of an URI. So, I really panicked.

The humidity has been between 40% and 50% at the cool end. Where he basks, it only went up to 30% once (just before Sandy hit – and it did go up to 60% on the cool end that one day), and normally stays lower then 30% (usually in the teens during the day, and 20s during the night).

We were having problems with humidity a few weeks ago. It was raining a lot here. We do not have water in the viv. There is no water around the viv. We did put a dehumidifier in with him to try to lower the percentage. I just made a quick video to show you how he was breathing this morning (much better and calmer), but have to download off of camera and upload. I’ll post it when it’s uploaded. In the video, you can see the humidifier that is in the viv. It seems to have helped lower the humidity a bit, as before it would go over 50% on a regular basis at the cooler end.

I don’t know what else to do to lower the humidity. We may try getting a larger dehumidifier.

Let us know how he is doing.

When he first woke up, he was a little dark. Not very dark, though. I turned on his lights, and I reached in to pet him, and he sat up and came over to me by the front of the viv. I didn’t pick him up, because I know he needs to bask. He tried licking at the carpet (I think it was his way of asking for food. LOL. I didn’t feed him I know he can’t eat for 2 hours). I pet him for a bit, and he lightened up. Then he went over to his basking spot and laid down. His breathing seemed a bit heavier prior to the lights on, but, then he seemed okay. You’ll see in the video I took (after lights were on).

I’ll keep you posted on how he’s doing. Thanks so much for caring!

I’m sorry this is so long. I do tend to “type talk,” but I’m trying to give all the information I can.

Thank you so very much for replying!

P.S., Oh, forgot to ask... is it normal for them to look up at the light? He likes to look up at the flourescent for some reason. I think I described how he does it in the first post. He doesn't do it all the time. And he doesn't go "verticle" as I've seen in pictures when they are "star gazing."

 

[WolfMama]

Error - this was a repeat post. Sorry.

 

[WolfMama]

We took this video tonight. This is our beardie at REST. His breathing is concerning us, as this looks labored. He was not at all stressed. He loves to be held. At night, before he goes to sleep, he likes to curl up in our hand, and just before he falls asleep, he'll give a little dig and wiggle in our hands to get comfortable (it's not a twitch).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AxeOpRvKKk&feature=youtu.be

Is this normal breathing? Before, when he was relaxed in our hands, we scarcely noticed his breathing. This is how he has looked for 2 days now.

I mention in the description that he'd eaten 2.5 hours prior, and had basked for a little over 2 hours. We took him out and let him walk around a bit, then we held him until he fell asleep.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How are things coming along this evening?
I assume he is still spoiled? LOL They sure can wrap you around their fingers that is for sure!
The breathing in the video looked normal but maybe he was just either nervous or excited. They can breathe a little heavier when they get nervous or exercise. In the video this evening he was breathing pretty deeply. Was he completely asleep?
How are the temperatures now, were you able to get them adjusted? Are you using a light stand?
Have you tried feeding him a bin yet? A lot of them tend to eat the bigger ones as long as they are smaller than the space between the eyes.
Good luck with breeding your roaches!
I breed crickets so I feel bad about them getting eaten. LOL He will eventually associate the bowl with food hopefully! At least the crickets are enjoying the pellets. He will eventually eat his greens, just give him time. There is no reason to withhold crickets or other feeders to get him to eat greens at his age.
You are leaving the crickets in the tank with him during the day? Just be sure to make sure there are no strays so they don't bite him.
They do love to hang out with you out of the tank. They can be very social & loving.
I am glad to hear he does have 2 hours before bedtime to digest his food.
I doubt he is too hot based on your range of temperatures. Where does he tend to sit mostly, at what temperature? Everyone likes a little bit of variances in heat/basking temperatures.
If he is growing rapidly, it may put more stress on his body & take his body a bit to get used to more weight. That would probably only affect him during exercise though if he gained a lot of weight.
I think he just wants attention if he lightens up as soon as you pick him up. Respiratory infections can be serious & turn into pneumonia if not treated. Just try to keep the humidity to under 40% or so. It sounds like the levels are fine. You can't control the weather though. The dehumidifier's work great! Make sure the overnight temperatures are around 80 in case the humidity could be bothering him too.
Yes, they do tend to look up at the light on occasion. As long as you are using a bright white basking light the UVB tube wont hurt his eyes.
Are you using the Reptisun 10 tube?
The only true way diagnose is to get an x-ray to see if there is fluid on, around or in the lungs.
I hope he is doing well.

Tracie

 

[Onlymediocre]

Hey Wolfmama! I emailed u.. but wanted to comment on here in case u check this 1st in the morning... It looks like his nose is in shed...Did his heavy breathing start around the same time?? It could be nose plugs from him shedding making him breathe heavier. Just a thought.. I wrote a lot more in the email, lol... But check out the links I sent u and let me know what u think

 

[WolfMama]

Thank you, both, OnlyMerdiocre and Tracie!!!

Hey Wolfmama! I emailed u.. but wanted to comment on here in case u check this 1st in the morning... It looks like his nose is in shed...Did his heavy breathing start around the same time?? It could be nose plugs from him shedding making him breathe heavier. Just a thought.. I wrote a lot more in the email, lol... But check out the links I sent u and let me know what u think

Onlymediocre, you may have nailed it!!!!!!! After I saw your email, I looked at his nose, and sure enough, it looks as if there is a slight film over his right nostril! The left one looks okay. It’s so thin, and he’s so small. I'd looked for discharge and hadn't see any (there isn’t any), but never thought to look close like that for the film! I had no idea that their noses could become plugged from shedding!

Can I try to brush that away with a moistened q-tip? What would be the best way to remove that? There is no large piece hanging in or out of his nostril, as far as I can see.

He initially gaped when I lowered the lamp, and I raised it again. But last night and this morning I noticed he was doing it again, and he wasn’t directly under the basking lamp, and he was in the area where it’s only 95 degrees (he seems to prefer that). So, he seems to be doing exactly what the threads you forwarded to me had experienced.

Hoping that’s all it is. Please let me know the best way to remove it. I tried to brush my finger past it, but it didn’t seem to do anything, and he did not like that. LOL. I want to make sure I do it correctly, and try to not upset him at the same time.

Hello, How are things coming along this evening? I assume he is still spoiled? LOL They sure can wrap you around their fingers that is for sure!

LOL. My hubby told me to tell ya, “He has his slaves well trained.” LOL!

The breathing in the video looked normal but maybe he was just either nervous or excited. They can breathe a little heavier when they get nervous or exercise. In the video this evening he was breathing pretty deeply. Was he completely asleep?

He wasn’t completely asleep, but when he did go to sleep, he was still breathing pretty heavily. He was already laying in my hubby’s hand for ½ hour at that point, and he was very content. Not nervous or anything. Light in under color, and just looking about real cute (he loves to watch videos. LOL!)

He only began breathing like this (well, now 2 nights, ago). So, it really concerned me.

How are the temperatures now, were you able to get them adjusted? Are you using a light stand?

Yup. My mistake was in lowering the lamp the other day. I raised it a couple of hours later, and it’s back to where it was. Yes, we have it on a stand. We didn’t when we first got it (hate those kits!). He seems to prefer being at 95 degrees, and rarely at 100 degrees. He has a range of 108 degrees, to 95 degrees in the basking area, and it decreases to 79 degrees at the cooling area (which he never goes to). Midway is approximately 85 degrees.

Have you tried feeding him a bin yet? A lot of them tend to eat the bigger ones as long as they are smaller than the space between the eyes.

I honestly haven’t tried that, as I didn’t think he would like it. The few times I fed him out of the viv, he didn’t want to eat.

Good luck with breeding your roaches! I breed crickets so I feel bad about them getting eaten. LOL

Oh, {hug} Tracie! That’s exactly how I feel! I’m thinking of trying to breed the crickets until we get the roach colony started. But, I have a feeling I’ll feel badly about the roaches, too. I already feel bad for the crickets, and I don’t breed them. So, yeah, I’d feel even worse. But, after the shortage the stores had after Hurricane Sandy, I think we should try to breed what he will eat. Winter is coming, and it’s expected to be a tough one. But, that’s exactly what I’m going to be facing (feeling badly). SO nice to know others feel that way, too Plus, it would help financially (if we can do it correctly).

He will eventually associate the bowl with food hopefully! At least the crickets are enjoying the pellets. He will eventually eat his greens, just give him time. There is no reason to withhold crickets or other feeders to get him to eat greens at his age.

Oh good! I’m glad to hear that! (on both counts, bowl = food, and especially on the greens!) I couldn’t do that, unless it was absolutely necessary. And even then, I’d feel badly.

You are leaving the crickets in the tank with him during the day? Just be sure to make sure there are no strays so they don't bite him.

I was very worried about them biting him, but during the day, they don’t seem to climb up on the logs much (maybe they don’t like the light). They do when they first go in the viv, but then seem to not after that. With the pellets out, they seem to go for those, and before that, I’d leave greens in there (which I still do), so they seem to go munch and hide during the day.

I only started doing that about 2 weeks ago, because a couple of rogue ones were in there, and I saw him jump down to eat them in the afternoon. So, I thought it would be good for him to have a snack (I really hope to get that roach colony going, soon!).

At night, we scour the viv to make sure every last one is out of the viv! I’m very paranoid about the crickets biting him. And since they sleep so soundly, they wouldn’t even know

They do love to hang out with you out of the tank. They can be very social & loving.

So nice to hear others talk this way I find him to be a very social and loving beardie. Some may say they don’t have emotions, but I can clearly see that our beardie does. Ah, they used to say the same of dogs and cats :/

Is there any time limit? Can he stay out with us as long as he likes? I’ve kept him out for up to 5 hours at times. As long as he gets his 2 hours waking, 2 hours after eating breakfast and dinner, that’s okay, correct? If he seems to get chilly, we’ll put him back in to bask. Sometimes he will run back up our arm, so I figure he doesn’t want to go back and we’ll keep him out with us if he does that

I am glad to hear he does have 2 hours before bedtime to digest his food.

I have to give the credit to you all here! I did not know this, until others here told me that! No one at the petshop told us this, and in fact, they feed them at night and shut the lights off less then an hour afterwards! His first night with us, we had shut off the light (and at that time, we used the red night basking light. I felt AWEFUL when I found out the next day, on here, that he needed to have 2 hours basking after eating! I’d read up on how to care for them, yet there was still so much I missed.

I doubt he is too hot based on your range of temperatures. Where does he tend to sit mostly, at what temperature? Everyone likes a little bit of variances in heat/basking temperatures.

Most definitely, it makes sense to me that they would like variation. I’m glad that his temps are correct. Thank you for letting me know. He seems to prefer to be in the 95 degree range (that’s what the temp gun shows). Directly under the light is about 108 degrees. He rarely goes there.

If he is growing rapidly, it may put more stress on his body & take his body a bit to get used to more weight. That would probably only affect him during exercise though if he gained a lot of weight.

He went through 2 major growth spurts over the past 2 weeks. He seemed to grow almost 2 inches in that time. One inch one week, and another inch the following week – and as well.

It was a relief, really. While he is adorable small, we know he’s not supposed to stay that way, and he hadn’t grown at all in the pet shop (for the almost 2 weeks he was there) and ¼ inch for 2 weeks after we adopted him.

I think he just wants attention if he lightens up as soon as you pick him up.

Awwww! It’s nice and sad at the same time. It’s so sweet he loves us and wants to be with us. I’m so happy about that. At the same time, it’s sad that he is not happy in his viv. Is there something to make it more enjoyable for them? I imagine he gets bored We placed his viv on top of the TV cabinet, where he could overlook the entire apartment. When our one kitty goes up to his viv, he seems to enjoy that. They are like TV for each other. LOL.

That’s why we were going to get 2 beardies, but his entire clutch was gone, and a new clutch was dumped on top of him. Even with his own clutch, he was trampled on, except for one beardie (whom we found out the VET adopted because another beardie bit off his tail. I’m coming to despise PetSmart and the other chain pet stores. I already don’t like PetLand.).

Respiratory infections can be serious & turn into pneumonia if not treated. Just try to keep the humidity to under 40% or so. It sounds like the levels are fine. You can't control the weather though. The dehumidifier's work great! Make sure the overnight temperatures are around 80 in case the humidity could be bothering him too.

Good to know. Thanks Tracie. I was trying to find out what the safest humidity temps were. Some said under 60, some under 50. Some said a certain amount of humidity was necessary, but never said how much. Will do our best to keep it low. Any suggestions on what humidifiers you’ve found to be the best? So far, the Eva Dry 333 seems to be doing a good job, but I imagine we’ll need the larger one when we get a larger viv.

I had just raised his temp to 80 degrees at night when we thought there may have been an URI. We had a difficult time getting it above 75 degrees, though. We had to get the lamp at the right height. We were told the CHE light could go right on top of the screen, but when we first tried that, it made a smell, that that worried me, so we quickly lifted it (within a couple of minutes). But, we had it too high, apparently, to get it over 75 degrees. It’s been at 79.5, now. I can try lowering it to get it a tad higher. What is the best range?

Initially, I was told as long as it didn’t go under 70 degrees they were fine. But, I’m finding that, since we raised it to 79.5 (attempting the 80), he wakes up happier and become mobile more quickly.

Yes, they do tend to look up at the light on occasion. As long as you are using a bright white basking light the UVB tube wont hurt his eyes. Are you using the Reptisun 10 tube?

Oh, good! I’m glad it’s normal for them to do that!

Yes, it’s the Reptisun 10 tube. I have to thank OnlyMediocre for that, too. On one of my posts, she had told me about that. Thank God for this forum, or so much would have been wrong! The “kit” that PetSmart PUSHES and sells had the wrong substrate, light, food, and supplement, and a pamphlet full of misinformation. About the only thing useful from the whole thing was the viv –and even that we would have opted to get larger, but they told us not to ($$$. I should have known better. But, they just LOST a lot of business doing that. We won’t be patronizing them any longer, unless we absolutely must.

The only true way diagnose is to get an x-ray to see if there is fluid on, around or in the lungs. I hope he is doing well. Tracie

Hopefully, it won’t come to his needing it (meaning that hopefully everything is okay). Sounds like it very well might be the shedding. I’ll keep you posted and let you all know.

Thank you BOTH, SO MUCH!!!

 

[WolfMama]

I'm concerned about the breathing, still. Is this type of breathing normal?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGAXrErY ... e=youtu.be

Even after he is sound asleep laying on us (and he loves to snuggle with us when he goes to sleep), he breathes the same way.

Also, he began doing something new. Yesterday while out of his viv, he opened his mouth twice. I saw him do the same thing in his viv yesterday - and he was not under the heat lamps.

There is no discharge. He's eating, pooping and energetic when we take him out of his viv.

I'm worried about this. I hope this is normal.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The video wont come up for some reason.
How many breaths does he take in one minute, are they rhythmic, rapid or labored?
Sometimes they open their mouths when running around, but not unless they feel threatened or are too hot or trying to thermoregulate. Was something possibly stressing him?


Tracie

 

[WolfMama]

Hi, Tracie! Thank you SO much for replying!!!

Nothing I can think of that was stressing. One of the times he'd ventured into a room he hadn't before. Perhaps that was it. He even did it in his viv at one point - but we'd just turned his log around (I hated doing it, but he'd just started to stretch between the log and the branch before as he'd outgrown the original position of the log.). Maybe it was some stress? He didn't do it yesterday, that I saw.

The link didn't completely come through on the thread.

Here are the 2 videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGAXrErYkjo - Hanging out in his viv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMjtZJ6Ne9c - Sleeping with us last night (and he LOVES to snuggle when he goes to sleep )

I just counted his breaths. I took it three times:

12, 19, 23

With the 12, he was at an angle, so I'm not sure on that. I'll take it, again, when I hold him later.

His breathing isn't always rhythmic to me. Sometimes, it is. But, it reminds me of someone with sleep apnea the way he will breath deeply for a few, then stop. It sometimes appears labored, but most of the times just deep. You'll see in the video what I mean (and in the descriptions I have some notes).

Thanks, Tracie!

Hello,

The video wont come up for some reason.
How many breaths does he take in one minute, are they rhythmic, rapid or labored?
Sometimes they open their mouths when running around, but not unless they feel threatened or are too hot or trying to thermoregulate. Was something possibly stressing him?


Tracie