odd behavior and bloated

[arturomangoh]

hi so my bearded dragon newt is puffier than normal, hes been doing this sort of dry heaving thing that makes his beard flare up. hes sluggish and was hesitant to eat, and when he pooped it was watery... im not sure what wrong with him but something is definitely off.. any advice or idea what it is? i have a vet appointment in a bit as well but i like multiple opinions

 

[Terry15]

They do like to puff up the beard. It helps when they are shedding.

 

[Terry15]

Mystic will drink water from the eye dropper, so his poops have a fair amount water also.

 

[arturomangoh]

i took him to the vet and they said he has some sort of lump in an odd spot in his stomach that could be causing it.. they said i should go to a specialist asap

 

[CooperDragon]

Was the lump along his right side? That's where the digestive tract runs. Did they take an x-ray or ultrasound to investigate further? If the lump was along the right side he may just be a bit backed up. Try offering drops of water on his nose as mentioned. You can also offer some small amounts of olive oil or some baby food applesauce and see if that helps clear things. If the lump is in a different spot it's probably worth checking into further.

 

[arturomangoh]

They said it was in an odd spot for impaction ans couldnt see it attached to anything as far as they could tell, theyre doing bloodwork and should get back to me today... im worried about him. He did seem to perk up a bit but its still concerning

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Can you think of anything that could have impacted him?
Have you heard anything from the vet about the blood tests yet?
Has he black bearded at all? I hope he is feeling better today. Let us know how he is doing.
Try to keep him a little warmer overnight in his tank, around 80 or so, since he isn't feelng
100% right now. It will help boost his immune system.

Tracie

 

[arturomangoh]

I havnt heard about the blood tests yet and i dont think he ate anything that could have impacted him, i did leave the tanks temp up a bit overnight. Im gonna call the vet again today because they havnt reached out

 

[arturomangoh]

the blood tests came back within the normal limets, but they did mention that the white blood cell count was a bit higher than usual, im gonna try switching up his diet a little more. also, what can i do about his teath blackening? im not sure whats up with them but they are blackening a bit and im not sure why. i read somewhere to try crunchy foods, he eats them but they dont seem to do to much. he hasnt had all that many bugs this past year, (my parents were watching him while i was in between housing situations) but i plan to start giveing him more, could that be part of it? thanks for all the advice as well, i really appreciate it

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

So they think he may have a low grade infection possibly, or not?
How is he doing today?
They do tend to get some build up or staining on their teeth. You can try to encourage him
to eat more greens/veggies which can help. Also, Maxiguard or Nolvadent are two dental
products that can help with the teeth staining some. You can purchase them online.
They are oral cleansing gels & are safe to use daily for awhile.
Some crunchy pellets may be helpful too, if he likes them enough to eat some several times
per week. Too bad there aren't any beardie dog biscuits yet! LOL
Let us know how he is doing.
Have you double checked his basking temperatures & is his UVB light up to date also?

Tracie

 

[arturomangoh]

Im not sure what exactly they think he has. The vet was reluctant to give me solid answers(probably just really busy) but he mentiond it could be a sign of inflamation, could having the same diet for a long time cause that possibly or maybe a mild impaction? Im gonna start giving him a much wider variety of foods. Can you reccomend any brand of the pellets you mentioned? Or types of harder crunchy food? He does seem to have perked up a bit more.
Thanks do much for the advice and answering my questions. I want to be the best owner possible, though i question who id actually the pet sometimes haha.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

There are several brands of pellets & beardie bites. I don't recommend them right now
because they have genetically modified ingredients in them that I feel aren't good for them.
In looking, I found a site that has an organic bird pellet that you could consider. Or you could
even consider an organic barley or alfalfa pellet supplement that you could give a couple of
times per week. I can give you the link for the organic bird pellets if you would like? I decided
to post it here for you so you can take a look:
http://animalloverspetshop.com/bird_totallyorganics_pellets.htm

Giving a variety of diet may help him out. I hope he is feeling better soon. I don't think that
having the same type of diet for awhile would cause impaction though.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie