Strange breathing.

[newbeardie11]

Hey guys

Just wanted to pop in and check on my beardie. He's a male and just woke up from brumation about a month ago. The issue is hes doing this weird type of breathing where he draws a lot of air in and pushes it out of his mouth. Also my buddy noticed a snot bubble coming out of his nose two weeks ago.

His living situation:
40 Gal breeder
94F basking
80F cool side
~72F at night
Temps taken with IR gun
ReptiGlo10.0 UVB tube light (I know ive read the reviews but they seem alright now, I live in canada too so getting reptisun is a fortune and often really difficult to find, Im a student which makes this even harder).

Video of breathing : https://vimeo.com/163011550
Notice how he looks like hes straining when hes breathing. It was hard to capture since hes so active but when he pops his mouth open its because of too much airflow.

What do you guys think?

 

[CooperDragon]

That looks like a burp or cough. The thick mucous around his mouth makes me think it's either a respiratory infection or perhaps he has irritation in his GI tract or mouth. If you inspect his mouth do you see any swelling, irritation, or sores? A culture would need to be taken by a vet to determine if there is an infection in the respiratory system or GI tract. It may be a good idea to bring him in for a checkup if you have an experienced reptile vet nearby. In the meantime, I'd try bumping the temps a bit. Bring your basking area up to 100-105 and use a ceramic heat emitter to bump the overnight temps a bit to high 70s or around 80. That may help his immune system fight off whatever is causing the issue.

 

[newbeardie11]

Fair point. I don't think its a burp or whatever since he does it quite frequently. Hes had a cyst on his lower jaw for the fair bit of 2 years now. A vet has seen him and given me general antibiotic which didnt eliminate the cyst.

However, this breathing issue has occurred without the cyst before.

I will try bumping up the temps. Right now im running a 50W IR bulb and a 60watt household. Im thinking of picking up a 50W halogen to replace the IR, what are your thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[CooperDragon]

I like the halogens. I use a 90w PAR38 halogen as my basking light. Go with the highest lumens you can find to provide a nice bright white light.

The coughing looks like what my Dundee used to do. He went on and off a lot of different meds to try and fix it. He had a lung wash done and it was determined not to be a RI. Was possibly an irritated GI tract but I'm thinking it's likely that his severe mouth rot was causing irritation and excess mucous and the coughing behavior was a reaction to that. Point being that it could be caused by a number of things but I'd look into those possibilities first. The issue may wind up resolving itself with some bumped temps and perhaps some extra hydration depending on what the cause is.

 

[newbeardie11]

Alright, Thanks! That's probably what it is honestly.