gaping and a weird bumpy feeling

[mojo505]

I am trying not to over-react but I am new to BDs. I try to hold my little guy everyday and today I noticed something I don't think was there yesterday... on his ventral side upper left quadrant a small mass. If a BD's anatomy is similar to ours, I would guess it's either his stomache but could be his liver... I am probably over reacting. Maybe it's his food digesting.

The other thing I noticed was he has started gaping again. He hasn't done this in weeks.

Any good sites with BD anatomy diagrams or pics? Any thoughts as to what that bumpy/mass like feeling could be?

Oh, he has pooped twice today and everything looks normal... He's like clockwork

 

[Judah'sHuman]

COuld you please tell us about what types of substrate you are using, what you are feeding and the size of food (needs to be no larger than the space between the eyes), lighting uva uvb (coil, floresent, merc bulb etc.) Your temps and how you messure them (digital probe, stick up other) Gaping is pretty normal it is how they keep from over heating and I also believe it is how they distrubute heat through out the body, but to make sure it is all goo we will need to know your temps and how you take them.

Stac

 

[cxerphax]

If hes gaping in his basking spot its probably because he feels hot but is too lazy to move. Not sure what the mass your talking about is.

 

[Gail]

Here is a good picture of lizard anatomy.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/waldo_20012001/anatomy.jpg

 

[Kaida520]

is the mass firm or "squishy" ? and does he have labored breathing?

 

[mojo505]

thanks for the feedback so far... here's all the things i can think of to tell about him and the last 48 hours

he's got papertowel, uvb 8hrs/day & heatbulb 24 hours/day, medium crickets smaller than between his eyes, zucchini & dark leafy greens for salad, 5 months old, finished shed 24 hours ago, gets a bath daily, digital thermometer 100 degrees

 

[Kaida520]

it may be possible you are just palpating his heart.may its a little big for his body size?(im a registered vet tech and have seen this before in reptiles) sometimes it cause problems,sometimes it dosent. The heart thing is just a guess though,but keep an eye open for labored breathing. As far as the gaping goes,maybe you could play with the temps in his house and see if that helps. Do you have a vet that see herps in your area?

 

[mojo505]

update... Mojo had an extra big poop this morning and the bumpy thing is gone. in the future, i will exam beardie before he eats. thanks for all the input. i always learn something new and that's a good thing because there's always something to learn when you are a well trained Beardie Slave!