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Yesterday I noticed my dragon not acting like it normally does...and I thought this was due to her being constipated possibly. Today though I just noticed that it seems as though she is breathing just a tad heavier than normal, barely noticeable and I put her up to my ear to listen for any cracking noise and didn't hear anything. She's not eating as well as she was earlier this week, say about 70% of what she was and she still is acting weird by spending more time at the bottom of her cage instead of her usual branches. My question is, if this is a URI then obviously it is very minor right now, could she get over it by herself. Right now I have her basking temp at 115-120 and her ambient at 85. Also, do you think this infection could have been brought on by me spraying her with water every now and then. I didn't notice once that water went into her nose when I sprayed her and am worried if that possibly caused it. Any input woukld be greatly appreciated, thanks.

also, I forgot to mention, she is also gaping a little more than usual. Other than that, those are the only symptoms I see currently. I have seen no mucus from the nose and her mouth looks good.

I have also noticed now that she seems be be keeping her head tilted upward more frequently and that her saliva has gotten a little thicker, meaning it's not as runny as usual. I know that it is very serious when a chameleon gets a URI, but does the same apply to a beardie, also, how fast can this sort of illness progress, like if I had to take her to the vet, could I wait till monday without too much worry, considering the fact that she doesn't seem to be very sick at the moment.

A respiratory infection can progress quickly.
I tried to find my previous post in the archives but couldn't but we had a dragon shipped to us and within 20 minutes of opening the box she progressed from periodic gaping with thick mucus & tilting her head up to breathe better to full blown respiratory distress (gasping, gagging, beard flaring, ribs extending with each breath & wanting to be tipped nearing upright vertical to breathe).
She was rushed to the Vet emergency clinic and was put on oxygen, given fluids, she was cultured & swabbed and had blood drawn & chest X-ray etc. She spent several days in ICU and still is a very fragile dragon. Disrupting her world (spraying her with water, changing her routine or her tank) can cause her health to deteriorate quickly and then we are back on lots of medicines, soaks, parazap, etc, etc.
I would absolutely take your dragon to the Vet as soon as possible to either rule out a respiratory infection or get started on treatment before it's too late.
Respiratory distress is an emergency situation in a human as well as an animal.
Best of luck,

Sharla

How old is your beardie? The first thing I would do is drop the temps to 100-105F basking, 80F cool side. Too high of temps can kill a bd within a couple of days. Also, what kind of thermometer are you using to measure temps? Stick on & little round analog types are useless.
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs

with temps that high (lower them please), your beardie could get dehydrated quickly. Offer some water by dripping it on it's nose.
Normally when a beardie has a URI it gapes constantly.
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TheClassyLizard

my beardie, Giblet, is about 9" long...sorry, don't know her exact age but I purchased her about a month ago and she has grown over 3" in that time. She has been very healthy up to know, I supplement her first feeding everyday and she usually has a great appetite. I have read on here and many care sheets that younger dragon should be kept in warmer temps, like 115. She is very well hydrated because she excretes excess clear water with her stool most of the time. I feed her some greens and she actually gets most of her water from crix which eat fresh carrots and so they are always plump when she eats them.

when carrick was a baby, i thought he was dying, i had just been through so much with a previous baby that when i saw my lil guy seemingly breathing heavier i thought that was it, tunrs out, he was breathing normally, i was just paranoid. if you are truly concerned, get her to a vet, otherwise watch her closely, if she is eating, basking and doesnt seem to be distressed just keep on chugging along, if you see anything totally out of the ordinary, get her directly to a vet.. like i said though, if you are very concerned at this point, dont wait, get to a vet now. and yes somewhat higher temps for babies is fine, so long as those are the surface temps and not the ambient air temps, a surface temp of 105-115 for a basking area is fine, the cool side should be 80-85 no hotter, no cooler. do you know what the humidity is in your enclosure? and what are you measuring temps with? a digital thermometer will give you accurate temps
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reiko
photos

yes, I do have a digital thermometer and the "outdoor" sensor is adhered to the hottest basking surface in the cage, so the high temp is surface, not air.