Is his neck swollen?

[MyMojoJojo]

Hello fellow beardie lovers. I am concerned about my boy’s beard. I think it looks swollen. Maybe someone here can tell me if it looks abnormal.

Azul is about 7 years old. He eats dubia roaches and occasional hornworms for treats. Like other beardies, getting him to eat his greens is near impossible. I am going to try some bee pollen. His dubia are gut loaded with greens that I buy for Azul so I often tell him he’s eating salad beetles when I give him his dubia. hee hee.

In mid November, he went into his hide and brumated for the first time since I’ve had him. I woke him about 3 times to give him a drink, a bath, and something to eat. He ate maybe 3 dubia each time. He did have normal bowel movements in the bath. He would return to his hide within a day or two.

He lives in a 4x2x2
Arcadia Pro T5 12%
Reptisun Basking Lamp 100w
Temps are 93-96 basking spot; ~85 cool side
Humidity runs a bit too low but no matter what I do, I can’t get it to 30%. Right now it’s at 18%.

Also of note, our furnace quit and we’ve had unseasonably cold weather here in Southern California. I bought a ceramic heat emitter but it said not to mount it inside the tank, so I returned it. I had to keep his basking lamp on because the temps in our house got as low as 60 degrees. He was under his log so I did my best to block out as much light as possible. We are finally getting our new furnace tomorrow. He came out yesterday. I gave him a drink and a bath but nothing to eat because I wanted to see if he was going to remain out of hiding. This morning he ate a couple dubia, just doesn’t seem interested.

i apologize for such a lengthy post, but I wanted to provide as much info as possible.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello fellow beardie lovers. I am concerned about my boy’s beard. I think it looks swollen. Maybe someone here can tell me if it looks abnormal.

Azul is about 7 years old. He eats dubia roaches and occasional hornworms for treats. Like other beardies, getting him to eat his greens is near impossible. I am going to try some bee pollen. His dubia are gut loaded with greens that I buy for Azul so I often tell him he’s eating salad beetles when I give him his dubia. hee hee.

In mid November, he went into his hide and brumated for the first time since I’ve had him. I woke him about 3 times to give him a drink, a bath, and something to eat. He ate maybe 3 dubia each time. He did have normal bowel movements in the bath. He would return to his hide within a day or two.

He lives in a 4x2x2
Arcadia Pro T5 12%
Reptisun Basking Lamp 100w
Temps are 93-96 basking spot; ~85 cool side
Humidity runs a bit too low but no matter what I do, I can’t get it to 30%. Right now it’s at 18%.

Also of note, our furnace quit and we’ve had unseasonably cold weather here in Southern California. I bought a ceramic heat emitter but it said not to mount it inside the tank, so I returned it. I had to keep his basking lamp on because the temps in our house got as low as 60 degrees. He was under his log so I did my best to block out as much light as possible. We are finally getting our new furnace tomorrow. He came out yesterday. I gave him a drink and a bath but nothing to eat because I wanted to see if he was going to remain out of hiding. This morning he ate a couple dubia, just doesn’t seem interested.

i apologize for such a lengthy post, but I wanted to provide as much info as possible.

Its swollen -- I am going to have someone else look at him and see what they think
@AHBD
If your tank is below 65 at night you will need the CHE please go back and get it -- it can sit on top of your screen middle of the tank -- as far as humidity have you tried running a humidifier next to the tank ?

 

[MyMojoJojo]

Its swollen -- I am going to have someone else look at him and see what they think
@AHBD
If your tank is below 65 at night you will need the CHE please go back and get it -- it can sit on top of your screen middle of the tank -- as far as humidity have you tried running a humidifier next to the tank ?

Unfortunately, there is no screen, it is all one solid unit.

 

[KarrieRee]

Unfortunately, there is no screen, it is all one solid unit.

So its a wood top? How tall is the tank?

 

[MyMojoJojo]

So its a wood top? How tall is the tank?

Yes, it is 4x2x2

 

[MyMojoJojo]

The basking lamp kept the temp in mid 80’s overnight.

 

[KarrieRee]

Yes, it is 4x2x2

Ok so you can still use the CHE in the tank -- you can try a lower wattage of bulb for that - I use a 100 watt on mine but mine is screen and it sits on top so its going to be trial and error w/ that just like your basking bulbs -- start w/ a 60 watt

 

[KarrieRee]

The basking lamp kept the temp in mid 80’s overnight.

Its keeping your dragon up all night -- they need it off for at least 12 hrs and 80 is too hot - temps need to be 65-75

 

[MyMojoJojo]

Ok so you can still use the CHE in the tank -- you can try a lower wattage of bulb for that - I use a 100 watt on mine but mine is screen and it sits on top so its going to be trial and error w/ that just like your basking bulbs -- start w/ a 60 watt

Ok. The one I purchased was 100w. I will find a lower wattage. Thank you Karrie. Hopefully once our new unit is installed tomorrow, we can go back to normal.

 

[AHBD]

It might be edema or possibly the beginning of an R.I. Sometimes it just goes down on it's own after a while.

 

[MyMojoJojo]

It might be edema or possibly the beginning of an R.I. Sometimes it just goes down on it's own after a while.

Thank you. He did drink a lot yesterday. He ate more this afternoon and was active for a bit. I will call vet to make appointment tomorrow. Thank you for your input.

 

[AHBD]

Did the beard swell up after eating + drinking ? Because he may have been slow to swallow after being sleepy.

 

[MyMojoJojo]

Did the beard swell up after eating + drinking ? Because he may have been slow to swallow after being sleepy.

I believe so, but I can’t confirm. I’m upset with myself because I let the brumation happen. I was unwell and had surgery in January. I let the days slip by. I know many dragons do but mine never has in all the time I’ve had him.

 

[AHBD]

It's O.K, brumation is natural. He should be fine.

 

[xp29]

You should not try to stop brumation, its natural for them.
You can get mini heat emitters that fit the namo domes, they are only 50 watt, but they are small so should be safe to mount inside. I covered the one i use with a piece of screen. I cut it big enough to fit over and up the sides a bit, and wrapped it with picture wire to secure it.
At the sake of sounding silly, if you get window screen at lowes, home depot, ect, make sure it's actual wire and not plastic. They do sometimes have the plastic stocked and it's right with the wire type.