Know anything about a beer gut belly?

[reillyrebekahann]

Sorry guys, I've been reading crazy stuff online and got paranoid.

To be fair, on the first two he was only standing on his front legs because I just picked him up from laying down to get a better picture. I can take pictures of him when he is at his natural full stand if you think it will be beneficial.

Why does his gut look like this? It is very strange to me. It looks and feels exactly like a beer gut. It's soft, smooshy and huge. My other two beardies have big guts, but they are firmer and don't sag like his does (well then again they are different from him-one is female and the other a baby). Is this normal?
To be honest I am not completely convinced he is a he. At the place I bought him they said it was a boy, and he acts like a boy, but when I looked he has the female bump (one bump, not two). When I put my older girl and him on the floor of my house to run around, I went to the bathroom and when I came back she was on top of him trying to mate (which means I am no longer letting them be together in any way, shape or form) yet she was on top of him? It was a very strange sight.

More info:
He is active, eats A LOT and poops 1-2x daily. I have noticed his poop being a little watery.
Also, I give him daily calcium with his roaches. I have him on sand substrate but I am switching that over to carpet (he is in my just built cage in those pictures and does not actually live in there yet because it isn't completely finished).

Sorry guys, I am just really worried.

 

[Jess]

S/he looks perfectly normal, s/he just has a little pudge goin' on there! Trust me, that's nothing. :wink:

 

[BeardieGrandma]

trust me I can totally relate, these critters make you worry like no tomorrow. i'll read stuff and look at my beardie, and read some more, fiddle with her tank, take her out, stare at her, check her various body parts, look for mites, you name it...it's good to have a little chub on the beardie, especially in case they are fighting illness and parasites and go on hunger strikes, you want the extra 'tire' so they don't become emaciated...do confirm the sex -how old is your beardie? I've heard different things about being able to feel fertilized eggs vs unfertilized (you supposedly can't feel the unfertilized, but i'm not sure if that's true, maybe a breeder can clarify that).

you either have lesbian beardies, or maybe your girls are boys and vice versa...

 

[reillyrebekahann]

Hahahaah that's exactly what I do! I read that their belly could look swollen because they are full of worms and FLIPPED.

I don't really know how to confirm it though. I have googled it and know that the female has one bump and the male has two-correct?
My female: Gilbert (got her when she was a baby and was hoping she'd be a boy haha) I have always fluctuated on but last time I checked she definitely looked female. When I pulled her tail back and looked above her vent it actually seemed to indent in a little where the male bumps would be.
My male Lance (beer gut) when I looked at him his under-tail is thick near the vent but I see no bumps, there is not any indents where the male bumps would be like there is on my female, but there isn't any bulges. It's just thick right there.
Do all beardies have a bump in the middle before the vent?

I have taken Gilbert up to a store to get her checked and they told me Gilbert was a female. But I still question that. Especially since she kinda-dare I say-raped Lance.
And the details might be gross, but when that happened as I gently lifted her up (not hard or far so she wouldn't hurt Lance's neck since she was biting him) and saw a lot of pink around the vent, but I saw no........."unit"
He on the other hand, looked calm as chamomile tea while she was on him. Actually he is ALWAYS calm and collected. He's actually quite cocky.

 

[reillyrebekahann]

Oh and he is about 6-7 months I believe.

 

[BeardieGrandma]

well i think the mounting thing could just be a sign of dominance, and possible if you have two females. especially if 'she' has all hat and no cattle LOL.

i would suggest you lift the tail at a 90 degree angle and take a picture and post on this site. many folks will weigh in and confirm the sex. i guess you have the following options:

depending on age could be a girl that's gravid with eggs - need to confirm sex and has he/she been antsy digging around the cage lately?
could be a fat chub on a happy beardie - let's concentrate on that one shall we?
if his/her poops are runny and foul, when's the last time you did a fecal check? this may rule out the worms/parasite bloating thing you may be worrying about mostly...

i think that's the best way to figure out if you got something to worry about or not...

 

[reillyrebekahann]

I also have considered it as a dominance thing because if she sees him across the room she goes nuts and turns really light with a black beard. She had that coloring when I found them, which is what lead me that the strange "OMG she raped my poor precious boy" conclusion.

If they had parasites would the poop be consistently runny? Because they are only runny like every other poop and I was hoping it was because I give them a decent amount of greens.

Okie dokie, got pics, but I don't think that they will help much because it's so hard to tell!!
Gilbert("mounter", supposed female):
This is why I think she is a girl:

More:

Lance (beer gut,"mountee", supposed male):

It's freakin hard to tell dude. That's my # 1 pet peeve about them.
Gilbert is a 1 year old and Lance is a about 14 weeks (well that's what the growth chart says for an 11.5 incher)

And to be honest, I have never seen my beardies show strange behavior that lasts very long so I have never gotten a fecal done. ALSO, I am now stupidly realizing, I have never wormed them. But I definitely am looking into worming. I am thinking about using panacur because that's what I use on all of my other animals.
And no, there has been no abnormal digging.
I have noticed though that Gilbert only started glass dancing when I bought Lance. They are both very, very avid glass dancers hahaha.

 

[Jess]

They both look female to me.

Personally, I wouldn't use Panacur on beardies unless you know that they actually HAVE parasites. It pretty much wipes out their digestive tract, and they would probably need to be force fed and have probiotics until they get back to normal. When one of my beardies was on Panacur, he didn't eat on his own for weeks afterwards. So I wouldn't use it as a preventative. I know that some people use Parazap as a preventative, but I have heard that that can also be some pretty nasty stuff. Also keep in mind that beardies are always going to have some kind of parasites in their systems, it just gets dangerous when there are too many of them. Get them tested once or twice a year, and you are fine.

A watery poo here and there doesn't necessarily mean parasites either- It can just be that they have veggies/hornworms/whatever that is more watery than they are used to. If they have consistantly runny undigested poo that smells like death, unexplained weight loss, ect. then that is when you need to worry.

 

[reillyrebekahann]

They both look female to me too! But when I bought Lance people insisted that he is a he. Idk. It's so hard to tell plus I'm wondering if he is of age that it's even noticeable yet.
What do you do for yours? Vet visit every 6 but no wormer?

 

[thegreybush]

yup. no doubt in my mind. those dudes are not dudes. :mrgreen: I think that those dragons look fantastic. I like the slight gut appearance. :lol:

 

[Jess]

They both look female to me too! But when I bought Lance people insisted that he is a he. Idk. It's so hard to tell plus I'm wondering if he is of age that it's even noticeable yet.
What do you do for yours? Vet visit every 6 but no wormer?

No, I've never used wormers and I've never had parasites either (The beardie treated with Panacur ended up having something else). I just get mine tested for parasites once a year before brumation, since he has never had any symptoms of of actually having parasites. As long as you keep your viv clean (Non-particle substrate, clean up poop right away, no roaming feeders, ect.) and buy your inscects from decent sources, the chance of your beardies getting parasites is a LOT lower.

 

[reillyrebekahann]

Thank you greybush!!

And that sounds smart Jess.

Dang, I'm kinda disappointed. I bought Lance specifically because he "was" a boy }: I wanted to see the behavioral difference between a girl and a boy. And eventually breed far down the road from now.
Bummer.

 

[BeardieGrandma]

Dude looks like a lady...LOL

I agree with everything Jess said, especially medicating without confirming with a fecal check. I didn't take Joga for a fecal until just recently (she's 11 mos old) when her eating was off and she wouldn't bask...before then she was a piggy eating beardie with a good chub on her...i'm currently giving her meds for a high count of coccidia and pinworms, and yes, beardies carry parasites regularly, it's when the counts get too high when it can affect their appetite, behavior, etc.
My general plan is to have her checked yearly otherwise, probably mid-summer, to check for parasite counts before she potentially brumates in the fall/winter timeframe. You don't want them brumating with parasite infestation.

so your call...if they are eating well, active, etc, maybe you are ok for now...but if you've never done a fecal check, it may be worth looking into to ease your mind - and the vet will confirm the sex for you as a final...I'd say the board is equally as reliable to sex your beardie haha...

 

[MarleyMoe]

Had the same with my two last week.. poor Moe was a boy and had a case of dude looks like a lady as shes been identified as a girl by the kind folks on here. All male behaviour (or so i thought) but shes just a grumpy dominant female :lol:

 

[reillyrebekahann]

Hahahaaha "had a case of dude looks like a lady"!!
Hm, so these parasites, can the create a sex change? No? Just wondering hah.

Yes, I think that makes sense BeardieGrandma I will get them checked about mid summer too that sounds smart. Only problem I've been having is finding a vet that can check beardies around here-let alone a decent one.