Staying puffed up-won't let out air-not even while asleep

[zaxblue]

Hello,

One of our dragons has been puffed up all day...not just her beard, her whole body. As if she was trying to float in water. She's been sleeping for over an hour now and is still puffed up.

We've obviously seen our dragons puff up a lot. Especially when they're stretching in the morning or getting overly excited while eating roaches. However, normally when we pick them up they hiss and let out all of their air almost immediately.

But, this girl just won't let out her air and it's been over 12 hours now. She was moving around fine all day and even eating veggies, greens, and dubia's with her normal vigor. Everything seems perfectly normal except for the fact that she's puffed up like a balloon.

She pooped two normal full poops today which is normal for her. She's definitely not gravid or full of food... She doesn't look anything like a gravid dragon or overly-full dragon.... just puffed up like a balloon like she's in the tub. But, she hasn't seen any water since her bath yesterday and nothing else has changed.

We've never seen this from any of our dragons. HAS ANYONE ELSE?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

 

[StLDragonMaster]

The only thing that comes to mind for me is a case that happened with a snake I read about once. It had ate a rat and its teeth lacerated the snakes esophagus causing air to leak out under the skin! This may be something to think about, is your dragon large enough to handle the size dubias it ate with out damage to its mouth, throat, or GI track??

 

[zaxblue]

Thanks for the reply. She definitely hasn't had any over-sized dubia's. I used to be stingy with the small ones and only use the larger roaches as feeders. But, our dubia colony has grown so big that I've been giving her tons of small ones no bigger than a large cricket. So, she'l likely OK there. Plus, she's consistently plumped up everywhere just like in the tub.

ALSO, I can see her swallowing air just like when they puff up in the tub. So, she's doing it intentionally. I just don't know why.

Thanks again

 

[StLDragonMaster]

No prob, wish I had more for you :| What type of calcium/ supplements is she getting? My girl would burb alot after I changed her supplement one time before I knew what she was use to, which caused me to switch back. I had to call the breeder and get on board with his upbringing!

 

[zaxblue]

Hasn't had any changes to her diet. In fact, she doesn't get any extra calcium or supplements. She's the only dragon that doesn't get any extra calcium. She's a great, great eater. Aside from a veggie medley, she eats tons of collard greens(high in calcium) every day and spends most of her day within 4 inches of a reptisun 10.0(she has the option to get just as much heat farther from the UVB but usually chooses not to.) I also mix high calcium bearded dragon pellets with purina puppy chow for the dubia so they likely have a bit of calcium in them, as well.

 

[StLDragonMaster]

Sounds like you know your stuff, I agree this is odd! I hope the best for you and your beardie. Keep us posted on what you find!

 

[zaxblue]

I decided that I would give her another bath and rub her for impaction, just in case. Even though she pooped twice yesterday. I was able to get a little more out of her. She's definitely not impacted.

Unfortunately, she is still puffed up today, too :-(

Just a side note: She did just finish a shed about 2 weeks ago so that's not it either.

Any suggestion, what so ever, are greatly appreciated!