Puffing and burping

[Alannalou]

My beardie is a juvenile and I've had her for a month or two now, she just recently started puffing her beard and opening her mouth (it sounds like she's burping) she does it constantly. While I'm holding her, while she's basking, eating, or really any other time. I don't know what it is and I'm very worried.

 

[Reptilelady]

Hi,
Could you please tell us your temperatures (hot side basking area and cool side)? Also, upload a photo of your setup so we can see if there is anything that might stand out. Does she have a good appetite?

 

[Alannalou]

The temperatures on the hot side are about 90-110. When the light first turns on it takes about an hour to get to a good temperature. The cool side I just leave it. My house is about 65 so I'm guessing about 70. Se has a good appetite. I feed her twice a day and she eats about 100 crickets in 5 or 6 days. I'd upload a picture but I don't know how

 

[Reptilelady]

To upload photo click here:
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/

Once you finish upload, click on the button says "XIMG" when replying to discussion.

 

[Alannalou]

Someone else told me to do this but it's still not working. I upload it and it says image upload successful but there's no buttion that says XIMG.

 

[AHBD]

Sometimes they puff the beard out when shedding, but it's not constant and not accompanied by the open mouth gasp. .....so it could be the beginning of a respiratory infection. Does she spend much time outside of the enclosure ? Do you bathe her, if so how long and does she stay out of the tank afterwards at all ?

 

[Alannalou]

Her head is currently shedding. She spends some time out of her terrarrium and I give her baths almost every day but only for about 5 minutes. I usually hold her after

 

[AHBD]

So it could be partly that she's stretching her beard to shed but she also might have aspirated water during a bath. Actually the worst time to keep them out is after a bath, they can't be warmed up by a towel because they're cold blooded. It takes a heat source to warm them up. You might want to stop the frequent baths, just drip water on her snout for a drink [ more like in nature where they would drink dew in the morning and water droplets ] And put her in the tank after any baths so the lights can warm her up.

 

[Alannalou]

Okay. Hopefully thats it. Thank you! I didn't know that. Thank you so much!!!! You were very helpful!

 

[Alannalou]

But, the humidity in her terrarium is currently 38%. That's kind of low. Can they get an infection that easily? I'm just learning. I knew about upper respiratory infections but I didn't know this caused it.

 

[AHBD]

Most beardies never actually encounter humidity that is high enough to bring on a R.I....that's false info passed around for years. So whether it was 38 % or 68% that would not cause the R.I.

Being chilled after a bath for long periods could bring on an R.I, as well as aspirating water accidentally. So those would be the possible causes if your beardie did have an R.I.

 

[Alannalou]

Oh okay. Thank you. Any other precautions I could take?

 

[AHBD]

You're welcome. Just be sure that the tank is warm enough and that beardie doesn't spend too much time outside of it. If she continues to puff a lot while breathing for more than a week, you might have her seen by a vet that's experienced with reptiles. Hopefully it's just something that passes in a few days.

 

[Alannalou]

Okay, my uncle is a very experienced reptile breeder so maybe he can help me. Thank you so much!!