New baby beardie coughing

[lilswane5]

Hey yall! Newbie here, just got my baby beardie about a week and a half ago. He is I think around 10-12 weeks old, not completely positive but the pet store I work at usually gets them in when they are 8-10 weeks old already, and i got him shortly after his arrival at my store. I also dont know his gender but named him as a boy (Fergus) but if he ends up being a she ill just do a quick change to Fergie and honor the dutchess and the black eyed peas LOL.

He's approx. 6-8inches long (Im not the best at guesstimating :lol: ) and his vivarium is a 40gallon tank with temperatures of 95-100 degrees f on the basking side and 80-85 degrees f on the cool side. The temps are measured with digital probes. His UVB bulb is a 15 watt 18 inch bulb by the thrive brand. I dont have a hygrometer in there so im not sure what the humidity percentage is. He has repti-carpet in as his substrate and his diet consists of mealworms and small crickets. He doesnt eat much, maybe 4 mealworms and about 10 small crickets a day.

He's perfectly active and there are no crusties present in his eyes or nose, but ive noticed the past 3-4 days that he very occasionally will make a little coughing/wheezing noise. Sometimes it will be a couple every 1-2 hours or a couple in a row and then nothing the rest of the day. I do give him baths every morning/afternoon and he also has a water dish in his viv.


I do have a husky, and he sheds a LOT. Im wondering if maybe the coughing could be from him ingesting a hair?

Thanks for your help in advance!
-Marissa

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi Marissa --- please change your UVB out to a Reptisun bulb --- they are way better bulbs and get it in the tank take the plastic cover off the fixture so the bulb is exposed and get it inside the tank approx 8-10 inches from his basking decor piece --- next no more meal worms they are too hard on babies stomachs --- crickets are a okay diet but I would switch him over to dubias -- better nutrition -- and please start him on salads pronto --- he needs to be started now --- I would quit w/ the baths - for hydration is the salads if hes eating greens washed or rinsed before you serve them he will get a lot of moisture from them --- stop w/ the daily bathing and see if the cough stops - if it gets worse you may haft to take him to the vet - here is a website for nutrition http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple - also if you need lures to the salad bowl you will need glass or ceramic use some small super worm unless he can eat medium -- butter worms and BSFL are really good to feed as a staple feeder as well --- if you need websites please ask I will post -- also his basking temps need to be 105-110 that too will help w/ the cough possibly --- try those things see if it goes away if not post back on here and we can go from there-- make sure your getting the basking temps w/ a digital probe NO stick ons they are inaccurate for basking temps and only give ambient --- try and keep his tank around 80 at nite and see if that helps as well --- you may need to get a Ceramic Heat Emitter --- no colored bulbs or heat mats etc............also you need to get a hygrometer in the tank
Karrie

 

[lilswane5]

Thank you so much for your reply and information! I will make these corrections and see if the coughing stops. I havent given him a bath today so ill lay off of those for a week and see if that helps. I do feed him salads too so ill continue to do that! I forgot to mention that haha. Thanks again!

 

[Beansdragons]

Can you get a video? I would love to compare it to what mine is doing.

THere seems to be a spate of them doing this right now - and my vet AND the veterinary radiologist have never seen the kind of cough mine has.

 

[lilswane5]

I can see if I can get a video of it! Im sorry to hear about your beardie. Hope he's okay!

 

[lilswane5]

Here's a couple videos of Fergus coughing; my last post has all of the information on whats been going on. Thanks!

https://youtu.be/-zjDW30WvrI
https://youtu.be/aNLmJ-zZ6VA
https://youtu.be/Hy9HHek_aLs

 

[Beansdragons]

I can see if I can get a video of it! Im sorry to hear about your beardie. Hope he's okay!

Sweet thanks. He's doing better I think.

 

[CooperDragon]

I merged the video links into the main thread to keep everything together.

 

[CooperDragon]

The coughs look like really intense burps. They do this after meals from time to time but I don't usually see them be so severe. I do suggest changing your light so it is shining down over the basking area rather than out. Basking surface temps sound OK but perhaps less intense UVB is playing a part in inadequate digestion. That's just a guess though. I would try some diet adjustments and see if that makes a difference. Maybe cut meal worms in favor of something soft like black soldier fly larvae or silk worms (or both) and see if that makes a difference.

 

[lilswane5]

Ah thank you so much! I’m new to the site so I didn’t know how to merge them ?. I just switched up his diet to Dubia roaches and I have Phoenix worms on the way. In the meantime I’ll cut the mealworms in half. I’ll see if I can adjust the UVB lighting so that it’s shining downward more. Thanks for your input! I really appreciate it.