New petsmart baby has me worried about respiratory infection

[mitchjohnson52]

I just brought a baby home last night from petsmart and I am worried he has a respiratory infection. He seems to have trouble breathing every once in awhile. It looks like he holds his breath for like 5 seconds then exhales very deeply with his beard puffed out and opens his mouth while exhaling. He does it once or twice a minute. He has just been laying in his basking spot all day (about 100f) and hasnt eaten any crickets I offer. The thing that makes me think he has a RI is because when he opens his mouth during the exhale, you can hear kind of a hollow pop noise. I know all beardies will open their mouth when basking to release heat, but he seems to be doing it for breathing purposes. So my question is, do all baby dragons make a pop sound when they open their mouths? Could this be just rehoming stress? He was waving last night for some reason.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I hope he doesn't have a respiratory infection! Does it look like there is any discharge or mucous in his mouth & or nose that you can see?
The popping noise you hear sometimes "can" be their glottis (air hole at the base of their tongue) opening & closing. If he sounds congested or is wheezing/coughing, then it is a possibility. Is he possibly getting ready to shed his head/face area & has his nostrils clogged with his nose plugs?
You could bump the temperatures up to a max of 110 during the day & keep him around 80 overnight to boost his immune system right now. Are you using a digital probe or temp gun?
They wave to communicate & or to show submission, etc. If he was waving to you, then he was communicating.
What type & brand of UVB are you using?

Tracie

 

[AHBD]

That is definitely the beginning of a R.infection . Keep him warm like Drache said and hopefully he can shake it off. Instead of bathing or soaking him, drip water on his snout for a drink, but mop up any excess afterwards.

 

[mitchjohnson52]

Ok thank you guys so much for the replies!

I have a 125w exo terra solar glo mercury vapor bulb for UV and heat. I am using a probe thermometer, have a temp gun coming in the mail. I have been watching for mucus and haven't noticed anything that looks out of the ordinary. This is my first beardy so take that with a grain of salt, but no drooling or anything like that. Doesn't seem to be wheezing or coughing. Nothing coming out of his nostrils, but he did seem to have some sand from petsmart (I have him on newspaper) or maybe shed skin clogging a nostril that I found last night and cleared up with a q-tip. He doesn't seem to be doing his heavy huffing and puffing with the pop sound/open mouth thing quite as often but still every couple minutes it seems. I will monitor his breathing today and see if he does better.

He seems to be doing the waving thing to his reflection, which is adorable but I am worried his reflection stresses him out. Will he get used to his reflection or should I cover the glass up with something?

Right now his temps drop to about 70 at night, I will buy a CHE today to keep them around 80 tonight. I am hoping he can beat this without the help of antibiotics because it sounds like it is in the early stages if he has one, but at what point should he see a vet?

Thanks again guys!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The Solar Glo MVB should be perfectly fine for him. Definitely bump up the overnight temperatures right now with a ceramic heat emitter to help his immune system. Hopefully his symptoms will subside with a little bit of help.
Maybe he had a little bit of shed blocking a nostril, but just monitor his breathing. Hopefully he will stop the huffing/puffing as much, too! That's good he doesn't have any mucous or discharge then, right now either.
He will eventually get used to his reflection. If you wanted to put up brown paper or white paper on a couple of sides, that may help out for awhile, too.
I would give it a week or so & if the symptoms don't completely go away, then it's probably a good idea to get a vet visit. Respiratory infections, if left untreated can sometimes go into pneumonia.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Just checking in to see how your baby was doing, is he improving for you?


Tracie

 

[mitchjohnson52]

Thank you for checking in guys. I ended up returning him to petsmart and buying a healthy dragon off craigslist. Thanks again!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh, that is too bad you returned him, I hope that they can get him healthy.
How is your new one doing now?

Tracie