can somebody help me identify RI

[jjatdvs]

my dragon is now almost 4 months old. he has ALWAYS opened his mouth to breath. its not open all the time. mostly its when hes under heat. which i read is what they do when they are hot. so that makes sense to me. when he drinks a lot of water or has hornworms things with a lot of water, he will stop eating to sort of catch his breathe. he will suck his stomach all the way in and push it back out. but when he was very young he would do this over regular food as well. was just him eating fast. he puffs out his beard a lot. mostly when he wakes up, or wants food, or after food. so i never really thought of any of these things as RI. he has NEVER had any foam or discharge around his mouth. he has NEVER had sunken eyes, swollen body parts or anything like that. recently he has developed a lot of hanging skin under his mouth. but i read all dragons get that as they get older. this is how they can puff out their bearded larger. am i right?! the passed few days when he is crawling around my head while on the couch i think i heard him make like a pop noise with his mouth. i never saw any bubbles or any discharge. when i take him and move his face to my ear, i never hear it again. but when i leave him alone i believe i am hearing it... does anybody have any experience with that?!

as far as food goes, he is only worms. every time i give him any fruits or veggies they are ignored. unless i can chop them up very small and put a small amount in with worms. he will mistakenly eat them. but he will never touch them. i have tried almost every single item from the approved bearded dragon food lists. as far as drinking water, he will only drink water if i put hornworms in a bowl of water. he will eat them and drink some of the water. or i give him water with an eye dropper. i give him multivitamins and calcium. is there a certain amount of multivitamins and calcium he should be eating? i have read very different sources on this. his main food is phoenix worms. so i dont touch them with anything. but i feed him a small amount of baby crickets everyday and i dust those with either calcium or a multivitamin. or a combo of both. i dont wanna add to any health issues or create any...

he doesnt look sick or carry himself in any way that will show me he is. hes active and alert. he does love to spread out on a warm rock and sleep or relax. but that seems pretty normal to me...

 

[CooperDragon]

The popping noise may just be some moisture in his mouth or throat. A RI (from what I've seen) will cause regular coughing (deep inhale and exhale and open mouth) and a lot of thick mucous in the mouth and sometimes the nose or eyes. If he's acting healthy otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about the popping. As for the vitamins, I'd just follow the instructions on the packaging or maybe offer vitamin dusted crickets once a week or so.

 

[jjatdvs]

thanks! yeah there has never been any wheezing at least never in front of me. and never any mucus. the open mouth is all the time. but it isnt followed by really heavy breathing.

The popping noise may just be some moisture in his mouth or throat. A RI (from what I've seen) will cause regular coughing (deep inhale and exhale and open mouth) and a lot of thick mucous in the mouth and sometimes the nose or eyes. If he's acting healthy otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about the popping. As for the vitamins, I'd just follow the instructions on the packaging or maybe offer vitamin dusted crickets once a week or so.