My beardie whisteled?

[Erica582]

Hello! I asked this question on yahoo answers because I didn't think it was serious. But apparently it is so I'll get some real opinions.
My bearded dragon has twice within the last probably 3 months, opened her mouth slightly and let out a whistle.
Thoughts?
People said it may be an upper respiratory infection. She was shedding this time she did it I dont remember about the first. My boyfriend is around her all day and has only heard it those 2 times.

 

[Erica582]

Hello! I posted this question in health and no one answered, so I'll try here. I really need to know!
My bearded dragon has twice within the last probably 3 months, opened her mouth slightly and let out a whistle.
People on Yahoo Answers said it may be an upper respiratory infection. She was shedding this time she did it I dont remember about the first. My boyfriend is around her all day and has only heard it those 2 times.
Thoughts?

 

[Ethelia]

Hello there,
Popping and crackling are definate signs of a respiratory infection. I think whistling may fall into that category.
Either way its time to get her looked at by a vet.

How is the humidity in your viv?
Do you have a bowl of water in there at all?

Holly

 

[Erica582]

I do have a bowl of water but she doesnt drink out of it. It could be humidty related because I can easily spray the tank down frequently? I havent heard any popping or crackling just the two whistles.
Thanks for answering!

 

[Pleaides]

hello
if she doesnt drink from her water bowls, then id suggest instead of misting her or her vivarium try bathing her in lukewarm water up to her armpits, as long as her vent is in the water she will absorb it through her vent.
ive never heard of the whistling either but i do know they can wheeze a bit when shedding, my boy does it everytime hes shedding in or around his nose or mouth area inparticular, it always alarms me but his humidity is low, temps are perfect and he never does it when hes not shedding. so it ends up being ok. so maybe it could be due to shedding, but i think that depends on what part he is shedding, i think id say a vet visit to be safe.

 

[scalesandtales]

Yes, that does sound like an uper respiratory infection. It can turn in pnemonia. What is your set up like? What are your temps? What type of UVB and how close can he get to it?

 

[Erica582]

Shes got a 40 gal tank, bulb with uva/uvb, it is probably temperature I think they are too cool, about 30 celcius or 82 F. We have bought jsut about every bulb at the pet stores we can and cannot get the temperature up. She's about 8 inches from the bulb. I have had her for 5 months and shes almost 14" long.
We feed and bathe her every day, and she poops every day or more than that.

 

[Haroldyray]

I just wanted to mention that my dragons dont drink out of there bowl either (at least when im there lol) and im sure there getting there water from the squash I feed them that could be why your dragon doesnt drink out of it.
Hope that made sense lol

 

[Pleaides]

Shes got a 40 gal tank, bulb with uva/uvb, it is probably temperature I think they are too cool, about 30 celcius or 82 F. We have bought jsut about every bulb at the pet stores we can and cannot get the temperature up. She's about 8 inches from the bulb. I have had her for 5 months and shes almost 14" long.
We feed and bathe her every day, and she poops every day or more than that.

82f? yes thats way too low for a beardie
the cool end should be around 80-85f, warm end around 90-95f and their basking spots should be about 100-110f. along woth your uv tube, you have to have a white bulb i conjunction with it, a normal household bulb will be fine, also to keep temps up you could then also get ceramic heat emitter, it gives off heat only no light, which is great also for the use at night time if your temps are dropping below 65f. for my boy i use the arcadia tube, 60watt household bulb and a heat emitter emitter bulb. and his temps are fine.

 

[Erica582]

Can you show me specifically which will work? We have tried so many bulbs I do not want to waste anymore money

 

[Pleaides]

hello
now i live in the uk so these sites wont be much help but it will show you what you would be looking for
the wattage of the bulbs depend of how big your vivarium is, my female does not have a heat emitter as they are quite big bulbs and her vivarium is not high enough for it. my boys vivarium is 2 foot high and is perfect for it with plenty of room.
this is the heat emitter - http://www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=67&products_id=760
this is the ceramic bulb holder - http://www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=84&products_id=133
unfortunately you need to buy all these separately, you will also need hear resistant cable which you can get in any DIY store.

the white bulb can just be a normal household bulb, preferably not the energy saving ones as they dont give off as much heat and again depends on the size of vivarium to what wattage you will need, in my boys vivarium its 5x2x2 foot, 60x24x24 inches and he has a 60watt bulb and thats plenty.

this is how i have all 3 lights is Mischief vivarium

i have the ceramic bulb then whte bulb then obviously across the whole viv the uvb.

hope this helps you
good luck

edit: with just the white bulb in mischiefs viv it doesnt get it up to heat, maybe if i used a 150 watt bulb it may but because ive got the heat emitter i dont needa hotter bulb, the only thing on a thermostat is the heat emitter and thats on all day so it obviously wouldnt be hot enough without it.

 

[Erica582]

I have a tank, with glass on 4 sides and a wire mesh thing on the top. I cover part of the top with a towel to try and get the heat in. She also gets sun through the window most of the day, would the same bulbs still be appropriate for this kind of enclosure?
I found this for cheaper through a used website (because I am a full time student I really cant afford much more) is this what I need? exo-terra 10.0 uvb tube with holder, does that work?

 

[Pleaides]

I have a tank, with glass on 4 sides and a wire mesh thing on the top. I cover part of the top with a towel to try and get the heat in. She also gets sun through the window most of the day, would the same bulbs still be appropriate for this kind of enclosure?
I found this for cheaper through a used website (because I am a full time student I really cant afford much more) is this what I need? exo-terra 10.0 uvb tube with holder, does that work?

oh ok i was assuming you had a wooden vivarium, lol, obviously its easier to nail up lights and tube fittings with those, not sure how you would be able to connect the ceramic heat emitter with a mesh top, glass doesnt keep heat well in at all, perhaps you could try to stick some polystyrene on the sides because that holds heat well and she will still have the front and back to see out, so whats the hottest bulb you have tried to use?
i dont think the housebulb will do you then, so have you tried the 150watt or 250watt reptile basking bulbs, they look like this http://www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=68&products_id=127, i believe other brands do them as well but cannot find them at the mo.
also your tube alarms me a bit, the only exo terra 10.0 tube i coud find is the reptiglo? is this what it is? it should state the brand on one end of the bulb, could you let me know please?
also they cannot get uv through glass, if im wrong about this someone please feel free to correct me but i always was led to believe they cannot get it through glass. so that wont help at all.
how is she doing today?
any more whistling, wheezing, coughing and sneezing like sounds at all?
if so how often?
have you been bathing her? does she still have a water bowl in there?
how is her appetite and activity levels?

 

[Erica582]

I dont have a tube, I was wondering if I should be buying her a tube. I just found that on a website and I had no idea what it meant but I assumed peple with more beardie experience might. Since I have extra bulbs, I am just going to try and use 2 at once. Bulbs similar to the one you have. The one Im using now is a...exoterra 150 watt daylight, and I am going to put in an exoterra 100 watt spotlight
I have only ever heard her do the whistle thing twice and not since then a couple days ago when I posted this.
She eats tons, poops at least twice a day and gets a daily bath which she loves.
She is very active constantly. Also, I moved her into this tank about...9 or 10 days ago , and spends her time stressing herself out and attacking her reflection. I've covered 3 of 4 sides but I still want her to be able to see out.
Could stress have anything to do with it?

 

[Pleaides]

hello
ok the main thing here is the fact you do not have a uvb fluorescent tube, this is crucial to their development along with the correct calcium and vitamin supplements your beardie will then thrive.
so you need a reptiSUN 10.0 flourescent tube, please do not mix up the reptisun to the reptiGLO tube, nor get any kind of compact or coil, they are all bad for your beardie. reptisun only.
along with the uvb tube, you will only need one white basking bulb, as long as you have a white bulb in conjunction with the tube then your beardie will benefit. having said that if your not getting up to temperature then perhaps 2 bulbs next door to each other as to act as one, you only need one basking spot you do not want to overheat her with many.
so you have had her 5 months and shes 14" long, is that from the tip of the nose to the tip of tail? how old is she?
a baby or juvie should get calcium powder or liquid 5x a week and multi vitamins 2-3x a week, an adult has to have calcium 3x a week and multi vitamis 2x a week, get me so far? along with this and the correct uvb they should be fine. oh and obviously high enough temps and some nice bathing to prevent dehydration.
great she eats and poops fine and is active.
hm yeah seeing her reflection and shes acting towards it could stress her out, you could even get some nice background paper, with rocks or desert pictures on and put it around the back and 2 sides so she can still see out the front, some people say the backing paper actually calms them, not sure how true that is though. i have backing paper for my 2 but have never gotten round to putting it up as it means a lot of moving with the tube, bulb fittings and wires. and like i said before i doubt she would have been getting the correct amount of uva/uvb through the glass so all of this could also put a damper on her health. i know its a lot of info and it can get a tad costly but in the long run its worth it and once you have everything your little one needs you dont really need to spend anymore money only food.
hope im helping.