Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've already written the breeder but I'm worrying so much about this that I thought I'd copy and paste the message I sent to him to see what yall thought about it as well:

I noticed on Saturday that Arwen was breathing
heavily. The sides of her body (where her lungs are
located) sink into her body more than usual when she
breathes out and when she breathes in, she inflates
her beard. It's almost like she's gasping for breath
and then trying to "dry heave". It wasn't very
noticeable at the beginning of the weekend but by this
morning, I am positive something is not right with
her.

I've also noticed that she won't drink when I spray
her. She just lets the water run off her head without
opening her mouth. I've been soaking her (even though
she hates being soaked) because I don't want her to
dehydrate.

She shed her tail and legs with no problem but it's
been a few weeks and she still has not shed her body.

Nothing in her enviroment has changed. UVB light, florescent light, spotlight. Outdoor carpet for substrate.

The warm side of the tank stays 97 and cool side 82.
She's been eating kale, endive and escrole as staple
veggies and I alternate apples, pears, strawberries,
mango and acorn squash. However, I ran out of those on
Saturday so all she had for Saturday and Sunday was
the staple veggies and the Juvenile Bearded Dragon
Food pellets.

I bought some more stuff at the store and gave her
mustard greens and speghetti squash this morning.

The only thing I have changed is cricket suppliers.
For the last week, I've been using a different cricket
breeder. I have noticed that these crickets chirp while
the ones I used to buy from another company did not
chirp. I dust the crickets at every feeding with
RepCal calcium powder. At every-other feeding, I add
the RepCal herptivitamen (sp?) powder.

She still eats well and chomps down about 25-30
crickets (3/8" at every feeding- twice a day. The
veggies are left in her cage throughout the day. I
take them out at night when I check for stray crickets
that she didn't eat.

She has been acting a little sluggish, too. She's
still alert but doesn't run around like she used to
when out of her cage.

My husband is collecting a sample of her stool and
taking it to the vet today. Maybe that will give us
some answers.

I also wanted to add that Arwen is eliminating fine.
She goes twice every day and it looks normal.

Also, I have noticed that she will do a weird push-up
looking thing when basking on her tree. It happens
sparratically (and lasts only a few seconds)and only
happens at night (around 6 pm). I thought it was
head-bobbing but since it's not directed at anyone, I
thought I'd mention it to you.

I did some research after the e-mail I sent him and found
this info pertaining to respritory infections:

Beardies are very resistant to respiratory infections.
However, prolonged exposure to low temperatures,
improper humidity and poor cage conditions could
result in respiratory problems. Treatment for this
type of infection usually involves administering
antibiotics and raising the ambient temperature of the
environment. Symptoms include gaping, forced
exhalation of air, puffing of the throat, a puffed up
appearance of the body, and lack of appetite.

Arwen has all these symptoms except lack of appetite.
I've been keeping her cage clean and temperature high.
Like I said before, it gets 97 degrees on the hot side
(sometimes even up to 100) and the basking spot is
definitely hot enough. It's a 100 watt bulb and she
can get up to 7 inches away from it.

As far as humidity, I don't keep water inside her
tank. It's been raining a lot here in Alabama so the
over-all humidity in the air might be a little higher
though.

If you need anymore information, just let me know.

How big/old is she?
-----

n/p

if you are concerned about a resperatory infection, i would get her into a vet and get her checked out, its never too early with these guys. If she seems sluggish and is having some trouble with breathing i woudlnt hesitate to get her to a vet. You do need to get your basking temp to 105-115, 97 is too low, so double check those temps, and have her checked as soon as you can. You dont want to wait to see if gets worse with these little guys, its great that she is still eating etc, it coudl be nothing, and it could be something,if you have concern bring her into the vet, there is just no way to diagnose and treat a problem here, we can only give suggestions. Best of luck with her, let us know how you make out. Also, kale should be fed sparingly, a good base to a salad are collard greens, the endive and escarole are excellent tho. She also doesnt need fruit every day, once a week or a couple times is plenty.
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reiko
photos

The warm side stays around 97-100 but under the basking spot it is WAY hotter than that.

How does the vet determine it's an RI? I think that with all the rain we've been having and the fact that I'm giving her warm bathes to hydrate her has caused the infection. She is in the living room and there's a door to the outside so too much humidity could be the factor.

My husband is going to put her on sand today and put her in the reptile room so the temps will rise higher. Won't taking her to the vet put undue stress on her? I was thinking that maybe she has a parasite and it has weakend her immune system enough for her to get an RI so I've sent off for a fecal exam. What will the vet physically do to determine if it is an RI and what do they normally do to treat it?

Thanks Reiko! You're the best!

http://www.anapsid.org/rti.html

have a read there, it has a lot of information on RI for you. Do you have a digital thermometer to check the basking temps to be sure that they are correct? its really important for them to have the correct temps to be able to properly digest their food.

let us know how you make out with her
PS you might want to hold off putting her on sand until the fecal comes back and she has a check up, keeping her on papertowels that can be easily changed and tank disinfected right now probaly is the best thing to do.

>>The warm side stays around 97-100 but under the basking spot it is WAY hotter than that.
>>
>>How does the vet determine it's an RI? I think that with all the rain we've been having and the fact that I'm giving her warm bathes to hydrate her has caused the infection. She is in the living room and there's a door to the outside so too much humidity could be the factor.
>>
>>My husband is going to put her on sand today and put her in the reptile room so the temps will rise higher. Won't taking her to the vet put undue stress on her? I was thinking that maybe she has a parasite and it has weakend her immune system enough for her to get an RI so I've sent off for a fecal exam. What will the vet physically do to determine if it is an RI and what do they normally do to treat it?
>>
>>Thanks Reiko! You're the best!
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reiko
photos