mrspoodie
Member
Hi everyone. Its been a while since I posted. Beans is still around. He doesn't do much, but then, he never really has (we adopted him three years ago; I'm guessing he's at least 6 by now but possibly older). Which is why I'm not much of a poster here, he is very consistently healthy and easy. And adorable. He's always been a bit of a poophead but we love him dearly (we are his third family so we tolerate the personality problems he got early in life before we were able to smother him with love :lol: ). When we got him the first thing I did was completely redo his setup following the instructions I learned on this forum to the letter. His setup/substrate, temps, diet, everything is spot on.
So here's the problem. I'm long winded so bear with me. My husband and I were gone over the weekend which means Beans was left in the care of our boys and their uncle. I'm not sure if Beans was fed his salads regularly (my questions were answered vaguely), and I know for a fact he didn't get any bugs for the 3.5 days we were gone. Ugh.
My son was queasy about it and the uncle refused. :roll: When we got home last night Beans was in the middle of eating a dish of mustard greens my son had given him. I just noticed in passing that he was eating and didn't inspect the greens but from what I saw they looked fine. Later that night I realized nearly all the greens I'd left in the fridge for Beans had gotten slimy and disgusting. I asked my son if he fed Beans slimy greens and he said no. I believe him; if the greens were all yucky he wouldn't have even touched them. I'm sure you know how bad slimy mustard greens smell.
Later that night after our son had been in bed a while, he got up to tell us Beans was "coughing." I went in there to check and Beans' lights had just gone off but he was still awake and on his basking spot. I stared at him for a loooong time and finally heard him do a funny cough, more like a hiccup (which I read beardies don't do). My son said he'd been doing it like clockwork for about ten minutes. Beans did not seem to be in any distress and he went to sleep shortly after, and my son & I didn't hear him make any more noises in his sleep, but granted we did not stay up all night to listen. My son said he didn't notice Beans coughing at all the whole weekend. But obviously that doesn't mean he wasn't doing it.
So today I've been checking in on him often and staring him down. I've seen & heard him do the little cough a few times, and my husband said he heard him make a squeaking noise a few times too. Beans looks totally normal; great color & appetite, and same energy level as always, maybe a bit more perky than usual but that could be because I've been in there half the day talking to him. He had a nice long bath and a good poo today. Enjoyed his bath like he usually does, and no coughing in the bath. I held him & snuggled for a long time after his bath and he didn't make any noises.
But one thing that was odd is he was blackbearding at his reflection in the corner of his tank after his bath, which he usually never does. He always acts like a spaz after his baths but he's only blackbearded a couple of times since we've had him. Today though it was after his bath; I'd cleaned and rearranged his tank before I put him back and thought maybe he might not have liked this unusual empty corner which normally has a few things in it.
We thought he was starting to brumate off & on the past few weeks but realized his tail was shedding, which he HATES. Also his temps had been a bit lower than usual, 95/96-ish in his basking spot instead of 100ish. One thing that just now dawned on me is, we turned our furnace on the other day; I actually made my husband do it after I saw Beans' temps had dropped a bit. That is literally the only thing in Beans' environment that has changed in the last week. We are in western Washington state; humidity is not an issue, we keep our house cool, around 68 degrees, and I don't keep water in Beans' tank.
I'm wondering if maybe my son fed Beans pieces of greens that were too large and he's got one lodged? He will not let me open his mouth to check, but he doesn't have any mucus or excess liquid in his mouth that I can see, and his nostrils look clear, not about to shed or anything. His eyes and ears look normal. He's very alert. He ate some superworms with gusto this afternoon and didn't have trouble. I didn't have time to go to the fancy grocery store for his greens so he didn't have any salad today, and I didn't want to give him something he doesn't normally eat, just in case something weird is going on with him.
He doesn't drink in the bath; never has. I drip water over his head and down his lips, avoiding his eyes, nostrils, & ears, but he's never made an effort to lick the water or anything, so I just let him soak for a while and refill the water as it cools.
Could he have an RI out of nowhere? If so, what would bring this on? Or could he be coughing because of something else? Burping/indigestion from potentially slimy greens? :? I have spent hours last night & today searching the forums here and there are many incidents of people with coughing/wheezing beardies that seemed fine otherwise but wound up having RIs. I guess I know what I should do and that's call the vet tomorrow. I just thought the possibility of Beans maybe eating a large piece of his greens and/or potentially slimy pieces could be the issue. Because he looks & acts great otherwise, other than the blackbearding incident. Also while I was gone over the weekend there had been some dried urate (no poop) on the paper towel by where he likes to hang out; maybe the dust from that could irritate him? He is basically bath-potty-trained so it was weird that he'd "peed" in his house. Beans lives in my son's room which is messy and dusty but I try to keep Beans' tank and the dresser its on clean even though I have sworn off the rest of the room. Could turning the furnace on in a gross boy room make him cough like this? He's across the room from the vent ....
The whole time I've been typing this I've been in earshot of Beans and haven't heard a peep.
My poor little Beansiepoo. He looks just fine but I hate seeing him do this weird cough. Any info you all can share would be much appreciated.
So here's the problem. I'm long winded so bear with me. My husband and I were gone over the weekend which means Beans was left in the care of our boys and their uncle. I'm not sure if Beans was fed his salads regularly (my questions were answered vaguely), and I know for a fact he didn't get any bugs for the 3.5 days we were gone. Ugh.
My son was queasy about it and the uncle refused. :roll: When we got home last night Beans was in the middle of eating a dish of mustard greens my son had given him. I just noticed in passing that he was eating and didn't inspect the greens but from what I saw they looked fine. Later that night I realized nearly all the greens I'd left in the fridge for Beans had gotten slimy and disgusting. I asked my son if he fed Beans slimy greens and he said no. I believe him; if the greens were all yucky he wouldn't have even touched them. I'm sure you know how bad slimy mustard greens smell.Later that night after our son had been in bed a while, he got up to tell us Beans was "coughing." I went in there to check and Beans' lights had just gone off but he was still awake and on his basking spot. I stared at him for a loooong time and finally heard him do a funny cough, more like a hiccup (which I read beardies don't do). My son said he'd been doing it like clockwork for about ten minutes. Beans did not seem to be in any distress and he went to sleep shortly after, and my son & I didn't hear him make any more noises in his sleep, but granted we did not stay up all night to listen. My son said he didn't notice Beans coughing at all the whole weekend. But obviously that doesn't mean he wasn't doing it.
So today I've been checking in on him often and staring him down. I've seen & heard him do the little cough a few times, and my husband said he heard him make a squeaking noise a few times too. Beans looks totally normal; great color & appetite, and same energy level as always, maybe a bit more perky than usual but that could be because I've been in there half the day talking to him. He had a nice long bath and a good poo today. Enjoyed his bath like he usually does, and no coughing in the bath. I held him & snuggled for a long time after his bath and he didn't make any noises.
But one thing that was odd is he was blackbearding at his reflection in the corner of his tank after his bath, which he usually never does. He always acts like a spaz after his baths but he's only blackbearded a couple of times since we've had him. Today though it was after his bath; I'd cleaned and rearranged his tank before I put him back and thought maybe he might not have liked this unusual empty corner which normally has a few things in it.
We thought he was starting to brumate off & on the past few weeks but realized his tail was shedding, which he HATES. Also his temps had been a bit lower than usual, 95/96-ish in his basking spot instead of 100ish. One thing that just now dawned on me is, we turned our furnace on the other day; I actually made my husband do it after I saw Beans' temps had dropped a bit. That is literally the only thing in Beans' environment that has changed in the last week. We are in western Washington state; humidity is not an issue, we keep our house cool, around 68 degrees, and I don't keep water in Beans' tank.
I'm wondering if maybe my son fed Beans pieces of greens that were too large and he's got one lodged? He will not let me open his mouth to check, but he doesn't have any mucus or excess liquid in his mouth that I can see, and his nostrils look clear, not about to shed or anything. His eyes and ears look normal. He's very alert. He ate some superworms with gusto this afternoon and didn't have trouble. I didn't have time to go to the fancy grocery store for his greens so he didn't have any salad today, and I didn't want to give him something he doesn't normally eat, just in case something weird is going on with him.
He doesn't drink in the bath; never has. I drip water over his head and down his lips, avoiding his eyes, nostrils, & ears, but he's never made an effort to lick the water or anything, so I just let him soak for a while and refill the water as it cools.
Could he have an RI out of nowhere? If so, what would bring this on? Or could he be coughing because of something else? Burping/indigestion from potentially slimy greens? :? I have spent hours last night & today searching the forums here and there are many incidents of people with coughing/wheezing beardies that seemed fine otherwise but wound up having RIs. I guess I know what I should do and that's call the vet tomorrow. I just thought the possibility of Beans maybe eating a large piece of his greens and/or potentially slimy pieces could be the issue. Because he looks & acts great otherwise, other than the blackbearding incident. Also while I was gone over the weekend there had been some dried urate (no poop) on the paper towel by where he likes to hang out; maybe the dust from that could irritate him? He is basically bath-potty-trained so it was weird that he'd "peed" in his house. Beans lives in my son's room which is messy and dusty but I try to keep Beans' tank and the dresser its on clean even though I have sworn off the rest of the room. Could turning the furnace on in a gross boy room make him cough like this? He's across the room from the vent ....
The whole time I've been typing this I've been in earshot of Beans and haven't heard a peep.
My poor little Beansiepoo. He looks just fine but I hate seeing him do this weird cough. Any info you all can share would be much appreciated.
I think that it's possible there may be a bit of something lodged in his throat, but honestly it's just a small chance. There's also the possibility that he aspirated a bit of water during a 
