Water in throat

[Zuzu]

I gave my beardie Eren a bath today and he drank from it for a while. I noticed he seemed a little different afterwards, flattening out a bit, his beard seemed rippled and he looks like he swallowing every so often. A few minutes ago, about an hour/hour and a half since the bath, his beard still seemed rippled and he was still swallowing. You could feel this stiffness in parts of his beard. I knew it was something with his throat. I didn't want to have to since I knew it would upset him, but I opened his mouth to look inside and see what's up. I immediately saw a small pool of water in his throat, kind of bubbly. Some of the water came out of his mouth once I opened his mouth, and I opened it a second time to let some more out.

Does he have water in his lungs? Is this serious enough where he needs to go to the vet? What can I do?

His personality doesn't seem different. He's alert and isn't showing and kind of stress. His beard doesn't feel stiff now after I opened his mouth and he isn't swallowing a lot now.

 

[Esther19]

It's good that he is starting to recover. Try holding him in a position with his head down at around a 30 degree angle. See if anything will come out. If not, give him a bit of a break, then try again, just in case any water remains.

We call this "teapotting" if you ever see that term on this forum. I've used a 45 degree angle or greater in cases of extreme emergency, but not for any length of time.

No need for a vet unless he seems to develop a respiratory infection, which would be indicated by a rattling or gasping sound when breathing, or unusual mucous in the mouth.

Keep his tank at around 80 F for a couple nights, just to give his immune system a boost. If you have to leave a light on in the tank, cover him with a blanket so it seems dark to him. If you have a ceramic heat emitter, that would be even better.

let us know how he's doing.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

I was just browsing through the ERs with minimal responses to see if I could help, and I was tickled to see the term "teapotting" being used - I have a feeling I might be responsible for this odd name when Kyle breathed in water by mistake (must have been 2010) and I've used it occasionally for the same meaning since. It's perfectly descriptive though - everyone knows what it means

Anyway, you've got a bunch of good advice from Esther - only thing I'd add is perhaps propping on a folded towel so his head is slightly lower at bedtime - if there's any more fluids, that'll help it come up.

Don't forget that, sometimes, dragons do store a little bit of stuff in their beards - I'm not really sure why. When I served peas, Kyle would often stash some, and then sit chewing them later. She also did the same with a cockroach once - but it managed to get past her teeth when she brought it back up, and it ran across my leg. She happily caught and ate it again.

Frank does the same thing when he's going mad on locusts - it seems to be like temporary storage, for when their bellies are a bit too full to stuff EVERYTHING in right this minute.

 

[Zuzu]

Thank you for the fast replies! I read Esther's the night they posted their reply.

When I checked on him that night, he seemed great. Alert, basking, and eating some of his pellets. He slept nicely on his hammock that night. He has a ceramic heat emitter, so I didn't have to do anything. Next day he is completely fine again! Again, thank you all for the speedy replies.

Is there anything I can do to keep this from happening again? Sometimes, like that night, he'll go to town drinking water in the bath. Just sitting there with his mouth in the water for a minute or two. Should I make him take a little break to swallow lol?

Don't forget that, sometimes, dragons do store a little bit of stuff in their beards - I'm not really sure why. When I served peas, Kyle would often stash some, and then sit chewing them later. She also did the same with a cockroach once - but it managed to get past her teeth when she brought it back up, and it ran across my leg. She happily caught and ate it again.

Oh my gosh, I never knew that. That sounds adorable with the peas lol.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

It's a lot more adorable with peas than it is cockroaches, I can tell you.
Mocha does the same - I've counted her taking anywhere up to 70 slurps in one go. They can breathe a lot more slowly than we can!