not eating and not breathing good

[Samanthaa1433]

Im having an issue with my bearded dragon. She is not eatting and shes not breathing to well. She hasn't ate anything in almost two weeks. Im not sure if it has to do with her eatting superworms and crickets because that is what she mainly eats.

Please let me know if you've had these type of issues with your bearded dragon and what I should do. Thanks.

 

[GoFast]

There can be a TON of issues that these things could be symptoms of, but if I had to take a guess I would put my money on sort of impaction.

How old is the dragon, how long, what is your substrate, and what is the normal diet?

Have you fed anything unusual lately?

Also, what is the temperature of the basking spot and how are you measuring that?

When was the last time he pooped?

Do you bath the dragon?

 

[Samanthaa1433]

I stopped using substrate because of impaction because I heard walnut shells were horrible for them and that was months ago.

The dragon is about 4 and she usually would eat carrots and lettuce all the time. I also feed her superworms and crickets about once or twice a week.

I haven't fed her anything unusual a lot of superworms though.

I think the basking spot is 80.

She actually pooped yesterday but much smaller then usual.

She usually lies in her water bowl and i spray her a few times a day. Also with vitamin spray.

 

[GoFast]

Well good job on removing the substrate

The diet doesn't sound too bad. I would avoid lettuce though as it contains some harmful things to a dragon as well as an overall poor nutritional content.

For a list of nutrition content visit http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Do you dust the feeders or veggies? If so, how much and with what?

This is sounding like a possible virus or possible respiratory issue. I am not a big fan of misting dragons so I would stick to baths.

I would also recommend getting her to a vet for a fecal sample and an overall check up.

 

[Nasubi77]

Can you tell us more about her and your setup?

How old is she and how long have you had her?
How big/long is she?
What type of enclosure and how big?
What are your temps and how do you measure them?
What kind of UVB do you use (specific brand and type)?
What type of basking light do you use?
What kind of substrate do you use?
What exactly do you feed her? How much and how often?
Do you use supplements?
Is she housed with another dragon?


These answers will help us narrow down a problem. Thanks!

 

[Nasubi77]

I answered your other thread.

Your basking spot is way too low. It needs to be closer to 100. How do you measure the temps?

The combination of lots of supers plus low temps can certainly lead to impaction.

For now, give her a warm bath at least or preferably twice a day. See if you can get her to eat some babyfood out of a syringe. You can add a drop or two of olive oil to the food to help get her system moving. But you absolutely need to know what your temps are.

What kind of basking light do you use? How big is her tank? What type of UVB do you use?

 

[fez09]

Answer the questions above so we can help but you also mentioned that she's not breathing well, do you hear any crackling or popping sounds when she breathes? Is there any nasal discharge?

 

[Samanthaa1433]

Shes about 4 years old. The enclosure is very big could have 2 dragons in it. The light is 80 degrees idk the brand of the UV. I don't use any substrate. She was eatting lettuce and carrots all the time and crickets once a week and superworms 2 or 3 times a week. I use vitamin spray & calcium powder. She was housed with another dragon but the other dragon had the same symptoms as her and recently died.

 

[Samanthaa1433]

She had two episodes where it looks like she can't breath at all and once she spit up a lot of saliva. She's always had nasal discharge and i don't think there is any popping or crackling sounds.

 

[Nasubi77]

Definitely sounds like a URI, and the only fix to that is a vet visit for antibiotics.

But the low temps could have caused this problem, so you need to get that basking spot up to about 100, measured with a digital thermometer.

As someone already mentioned, lettuce and carrots are not good veggies to feed, so visit that link to get an idea of which greens are more suitable.

The brand of the UVB is very important, too. I'm going to bet that it is an old bulb, so the UVB has been depleted. That's something else you need to fix, but for now, just concentrate on getting her better and the only way to do that is with a vet visit asap.

Keep us updated!

 

[fez09]

Poor thing...A vet visit is the only chance she has of staying alive. It definateky sounds like a chronic Upper Respiratory Infection that needs antibiotics immediately. As stated, the temps need to be higher, 100-103 degrees on the basking area and do not let her get below 80 degrees, even at night. Are you able to get her to the vet today?

 

[Samanthaa1433]

Well I used to use a much higher bulb but I thought it was getting to hot in the tank and might be causing dehydration idk if thats possible though. Yes i just looked up impaction and read to buy prunes baby food so im going to try that today.

 

[Nasubi77]

Well I used to use a much higher bulb but I thought it was getting to hot in the tank and might be causing dehydration idk if thats possible though. Yes i just looked up impaction and read to buy prunes baby food so im going to try that today.

You have to measure those temps so you know exactly what they are. You can't go by what you think. It is possible for a beardie to dehydrate, but that would not be a concern if your temps are in the appropriate range of 95-105.

If she hasn't eaten in a couple weeks, it's no wonder she hasn't pooped, so I wouldn't worry about impaction at this point. And scratch what I said earlier about a bath. In fact, if she has a water bowl, remove it. Don't bathe her or mist her at all until you get this straightened out.

Don't worry about the baby food...just get her to a vet asap.

 

[Goonie]

[Merged thread from General forum]

 

[Samanthaa1433]

Have you taken your bearded to the vet before? do you know how much they usually charge?