I came home to find my 6 yr old male in dire straights. His mouth was full of reptibark substrate and he had mucous in his half open eyes. He sporadically made heaving motions with his mouth and head. I have made him as comfortable and warm as possible, but do not see him surviving this. He is struggling to breathe.
He was alert when I gave him a bath on saturday, and seemed less active, but OK when I came home from work yesterday. I used tweezers to clean out the substrate from his mouth and throat. There was thick mucous in his mouth. I called the vet, but they are not open until tomorrow. I think he is too far gone to make it to an appointment.
I am concerned about my other beardies. Has anyone any idea about why a beardie would eat substrate? He has meal worms and fresh greens in his tank, refilled every day. His body weight is good, and he was moving fine this weekend. There are no lumps when I palpate him, and no visible marks.
Any advice would be appreciated.
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Dying Beardie advice
Replies (1)
first quick question why are you using Retpibark for a desert animal?
If humidity is too high it can cause infections, also if the bark shifted as some point your dragon could have mistaken it for food. (hell mine mistook a piece of shedded skin for food cause it moved a little)... Since Bearded dragons have somewhat sticky tongues it may be a little hard for it to push the bark out of its mouth.
I would recommend switching to either a repticarpet or calcium sand, and watching the humidity levels. Set up a vet appointment to see about getting rid of the infection.
