floating sideways suddenly during swim..

[marlimarbles]

Hey all, my beardie marbles loves her baths. However today while she was swimming she started floating sideways.... when i picked her up she was very limp, and her breathing was quick. Since being back in her tank she is completely fine.. im still worried though!

Just wondering what this may be about and if i should be on the phone making a vet appt right this minute..

 

[Goonie]

Unfortunately, as scary as it was to watch, beardies tend to do that. They'd blow up like a balloon and close their eyes, then ever-so-slightly tilt to one side.
As long as she didn't immerse her head or took in alot of water, she should be ok. The heavy breathing was probably just the fact that you picked her up when she wasn't aware.

 

[marlimarbles]

oh good! Thanks for the reply

One question, you said their heads shouldn't go under water? mine puts her whole head under! i've tried making it very shallow, unfortunately with her size i cant make it shallow enough for her to not be able to put her head under without it being a pretty useless bath..

she seems to like putting her head under, she swims from one end to the other of my bath tub like this! i will stop immediately if its not appropriate..

(sorry for my "new"ness to all of this.)

 

[Goonie]

In normal circumstances, it's ok if she puts her head under water while she swims, but when she starts to float like you had described, she may not have her nostrils closed and could take in water into her lungs.

And never apologize for asking questions. That's what we're all here for -- to ask and to answer.

 

[marlimarbles]

okay thanks! Is closing her nostrils off an instinctual thing that she'll do or does it take time/practice?

 

[Goonie]

It should be instinctual, but there'd been some who "forgotten" to close their nostrils and ended up inhaling water. It does happen, which is why you should always watch very closely whenever she's in the bath.