Is this a respiratory infection?

[RioReptiles]

While feeding my oldest, largest female, I thought I noticed something come out of her nostril a little bit. The crickets were dusted so I wasn't sure if it was the powder or something from her nose. I tried to make it happen again and watched very closely but nothing. Then my husband aked me if they got colds while he was handling her and said she had a runny nose. It is not obvious, it's actually very hard to detect. She is my husband's pride and joy but we have been letting her out of her cage during the day and she like to go to our room where it's cooler (78º). I told him she needs to keep her temps up, especially now if she's sick. She has not been less active and her appetite is consistent.

Does this mean she has or is getting a respiratory infection? What is the best thing to do at this point? Should I keep her temps up and see how it goes for a week or two? Or should I not mess around and go straight to the vet on something like this?

Thanks for any input, CHeryl

 

[beardie parents]

I've never experienced this. There may be nothing wrong. I'm trying to remember what I've read about respiratory infection. I do know that, if your beardie does have it, it can kill her. I am not sure about the symptoms. I think you need to look for stringy things in their mouth. I would pm Diamc or drache613. They can help you further.

Just to be sure of other potential problems, what are your basking, cool side temps? What do you take the temps with? What type of UVB do you have.

Speedy likes to run around our bedroom a lot. It's like she thinks our bedroom is her's excusively.

 

[Kazul]

If it doesn't seem to be bothering her, she could just be shedding the lining of her nostrils. Is she gasping for breath otherwise?

 

[Denise Bushnell (RIP)]

As the above poster mentioned, she could simply be getting ready to shed the inside of her nostrils. Once the skin loosens up in there, it can be extremely annoying to them, until it hangs out of their nostrils far enough for them to scratch it out of there.

However, it could also be the start of an Upper Respiratory Infection as well. I would keep a very close eye on her for a few days. If it is a URI, other symptoms that you may notice would be very stringy thick looking mucous inside of her mouth, or noticing that she may be making popping sounds when she breathes ( you will probably only be able to hear these sounds if you have her up on your shoulder, close to your ear).

Also, one of the first symptoms that you usually see, is for them to spend a lot of time, sitting up very straight, with the ends of their noses pointing up toward their lights for long periods of time. This symptom is called "stargazing", and spending a lot of time in that position usually indicates that they have a lot of mucous inside, which makes it much more difficult for them to breathe normally. You may also find them frequently sleeping up on their hind legs, and resting their bodies in an upright position against the glass in their tanks. Some of them will also sleep flat, as they normally do, but will prop their heads up on something in their tanks, in order to clear their sinuses. Holding their heads up toward their lights generally allows their sinuses to drain, so that it makes it easier for them to breathe in that position.

If you've noticed any of these other symptoms that I've mentioned above, then I would have her checked out by a vet just as soon as you possibly can, as she will need an antibiotic to recover from an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection.
Unlike us, a cold doesn't simply get better on its own, without some type of medication. Also, beardies tend to hide a lot of their symptoms, so you may not realize just how sick a beardie really is, unless you're aware of what to look for.

Beardies tend to progress into pneumonia very easily when they have an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, so if you have any concerns at all, that that may be what's going on, I would definitely have her checked out by your vet as soon as possible.....better to be safe than sorry!

Please keep us posted on how she's doing!

 

[RioReptiles]

Thank you for the info and Denise for your detailed information, very thorough. Her temps are perfect, check with a temp gun. The ambient temp has gone up in the house since live in FL so they could be a bit warm. She has a ramp and can go in and out of her enclosure. If she gets hot she usually goes under her cage in the shade. I'm going to write it off as shed due to the fact that she had just finished shedding a couple days before and maybe the inner nostrils were left. She was not been exhibiting any other symptoms mentioned and hasn't since then. The weird thing, is I think there is still shed in her nostrils, they look very shallow compared to my other beardies nostrils. What do you think? She is the one on the left and the one on the right is a normal one. Almost looks like a flap is in there.

 

[herpfreak]

It could be. I'm sure she will be able to work it out.

I agree with you; it is probably not an RI. To be sure, you can try to gently pry her mouth open and look for any mucous in her gums. Keep a close eye on her though; RIs can get dangerously out of hand if not treated.