Odd Cough

[crazyerick]

Hi all,

My boy (adult) gave three coughs about 3-4 weeks ago and I was concerned but I thought I will monitor. The other night he coughed twice again so I thought I will ask some advice. Anything I can check/do? It is our winter now here in South Africa so many people reporting theirs is brumating including mine. He has also just recently move into a new home, but he is showing allot of good colour. Humidity is 42% or less and temp are 110F on the hot side and 85F on the cool. I am still working on lower the cool side temps. Reptisun 10 is the UVB source. He has also gone off live food and eating salad when he feels like it. I think this might be because of brumation.

Any advice? Or can Beardies cough just cause they got a little "frog" in their throat?

Thanks,
Erick

 

[zebraflavencs]

Erick, I would not allow a dragon to go down for brumation if ANY health issues are at hand. Best to just make a vet appt, and get that checked out !

Janie.

 

[chadwick757]

First Guess is respiratory infection due to high humidity in the viv. What are your temps and humidity in the tank?
Also are you misting him?
What are you feeding and how often?
What is his setup like? any waterfalls?
What lighting do you use? Brands are labeled on the base of the bulb.
Is he housed alone?
What type of substrait are you using? sand tile ect.
Feel free to email or PM me on this one.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Respiratory.html this is something you will want to read. I can help with needed changes to the viv but a vet is the only one who can get you the antibiotics.

 

[crazyerick]

As per the original post:

Humidity is 42% or less and temp are 110F on the hot side and 85F on the cool. I am still working on lower the cool side temps. Reptisun 10 is the UVB source.

No waterfall, don't mist, he gets a bath at least once a week sometimes two. He does not appear sickly in fact he hasn't coughed since the last time, just lazy, so I just want to be safe. Runs around the flat and has good interaction with us. He is eating mainly greens at the moment with some hybiscus flower. He's gone off crickets and only eating the odd superworm.

He is on tiles and housed alone like he should be. The tank setup, other than the slightly warmer cool side, seems fine to me from what I have read over the past few months since I joined this forum. I am going to add two extra small vents to help with the heat. Would giving him some baby food with a vitamin mix help perhaps? Or not really worth it? Just thinking in terms of extra suppliments as the king is rather spoiled and is picky when it comes to food.

 

[beardie parents]

Erick, there could be nothing wrong, but then again there could be. Are you keeping track of his weight? If he's loosing a lot of weight, there is something wrong. If he isn't, everything is probably o.k. However, here it's suggest that you take him for a general checkup, including a fecal, to a good herp vet before letting them brumate. From the way you described his eating habits remind me of Redrock's first winter as older than one year. She cut out superworms totally and would eat the occasional greens/veggies and a couple of crickets. She would also sleep in until noon every day and want to go back to sleep early, such as 1:30pm or 2:00pm.

I hope this info helps you some.

Lori

 

[H31d1]

hi, just a few quick questions, have you checked that your bearded dragons mouth is clear? just encase there is trapped food in there. also, how old is your uvb light?

 

[crazyerick]

Well he is eating (when he does) and drinking fine. Bulb is 1 month old.

 

[crazyerick]

Hi all,

Just an update, he hasn't coughed again since the last time. It's our cooler months at the moment so everyone in SA is reporting their Beadies are taking it slow. We have been feeding him some baby food (butternut flavour) mixed with calcium. I also bought some T-Rex bone aid as an extra supplement as Mr don't like dusted food. He is very active when we put him outside in the sun, so we will continue this this he shows improvement.

Thanks for the advice and comments.
- Erick