Lethargic, bad mouth, lack of eating.

[Youth]

Hi, I've had my Bearded Dragon for 4-5 years. I got her when she was a baby. Recently I've noticed she's behaving very different, she barely moves anymore. It seems like she's almost dragging her back legs about when she moves, and when I touch them, the muscle feels very soft. She has also been very lethargic and seems to be in the same place all the time, even when I get her out she just slowly goes to a hiding spot in my room and lies under it.

I've also noticed she has been opening her mouth a lot recently, at first I thought she was ventilating as she's been a very bright colour recently, which I thought was due to her being hot. But she's opening her mouth and then closing it straight away, and when she closes, she makes a 'gagging' type motion, almost as if she needs to be sick? I've also noticed a little fluid coming out of the left side of her mouth, sometimes sand sticks to it, but I've only noticed this fluid twice. She rarely eats anymore when I offer her her favourite foods, and even when she does eat, she eats very little. She has been passing, but it's generally only liquid with no solids.

Any help would be much appreciated as I'm getting worried that she's suffering.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Sorry she's not well. It sounds like she might have a RI. I'd take her to the vet. Can you give a rundown of her set up?

 

[Youth]

Thanks for the reply, sorry but what's RI? Her setup has been the same for the whole 4-5 years I've had her, it's a 3x3x4 viv with a 100W one side which averages 110 degrees on the hot side. There is a heat mat under the sand at the hot end as it gets cold sometimes at night. Her lights went off 4 hours ago and I've just noticed she's sat upright with her head against the side doing the "gagging" motion again, she looks like she's suffering a lot and I feel helpless.. :/

 

[destiny1998]

They can just get an RI. If she got go cold somehow or inhaled water or liquid. Some times its bacterial. She needs a vet and meds in order to get better.

 

[wmwelch]

RI stands for respiratory infection.

Wendy

 

[Tonja]

It sounds like the start of a respiratory infection and possible impaction from the sand since the sand sticks to her saliva she is drooling a bit. I would remove the sand and use paper towels for now. Also you don't need the heat mat as they don't feel heat from underneath and if it malfunctions it can burn her tummy. Most of the heat they get is from their head and the parietal eye on top of the head. I would get a reputable reptile vet and let them have a look at her. For the time being you can up the temp on her basking spot to 105 degrees to boost her immune system. If she is sand impacted, give her a drop or two of olive oil in some unsweetened applesauce, drip on her nose to see if she will lick it off. Also you can give her baby food prunes or some sweet potato with the olive in it. Actually I would remove the sand and not put it back in, just a little ingested can cause impaction as it hardens in the system like concrete. I would also remove any water that is in her tank if there is any so the humidity levels will drop. Give her water via syringe or dropper to keep her hydrated or a good soak once or twice a week but no more than that as you don't want her aspirating any water into her lungs. Also if you are not using a good UVB such as the reptisun 10.0 tube or the arcadia 10% d3 tube mounted in her tank, and are instead using a coil or compact UVB that can cause health problems as well. Her temps for her basking spot should be taken with a temp gun or thermometer with a probe on it placed directly on her basking spot. To low a temp can cause digestion problems and lethargy as you are describing. A good vet can tell you what is going on with her and I recommend you taking her in for a checkup and a fecal since parasites can also cause a lack of appetite, lethargy, blood loss, runny smell poohs and other issues. Hope this helps some.