kaybird
Bearded Dragon Egg
- Messages
- 6
I'm completely new to this forum, so I apologize in advance for any rookie mistakes.
My beardie is a rescue and is about a year and a half in age. He is the second dragon I've owned, so I'm not much of a newbie when it comes to caring for them.
His previous owners didn't take too great of care as he came to me with a regular light bulb as a basking bulb and no UVB lights-- as well as iceberg lettuce and crickets as his food.
In the 6 months I've owned him, he's never shown the signs he has shown for the past two days.
He has been puffing his beard only to be followed by a "pfft" or popping type of noise as he opens his mouth wide just to breathe for a few seconds. He does this every minute or so. I read that beardies do this when they shed (which he is currently doing) but now I fear it may be something to worry about.
There is no discharge from his eyes/nose/mouth.
He does not "wheeze" when he inhales/exhales.
I have noticed one nostril looks closed while the other is deeper and more open (see picture). I pulled a few fibers from his closed nostril and tried gently grabbing at anything that was in there but he freaked out and I was too terrified to try again for fear of hurting him. I have also been soaking him for about 5-10 minutes per day to try and loosen his shedding, thinking it may also help the issue. I have seen no difference in his breathing issues.
***If it matters, he is in a 75 gal long aquarium. His basking bulb is 100 watt, UVB 26. He does have a cool side which he never visits. Bottom of tank is tile. Diet consists of turnip greens/mustards and super worms as well as horn worms as of recent.
He's the sweetest boy and has NEVER shown me aggression even when he's upset or hurt. I'm not sure what to do and I just dropped a huge amount of money on school, so a vet visit isn't exactly a viable option for me at the moment. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My beardie is a rescue and is about a year and a half in age. He is the second dragon I've owned, so I'm not much of a newbie when it comes to caring for them.
His previous owners didn't take too great of care as he came to me with a regular light bulb as a basking bulb and no UVB lights-- as well as iceberg lettuce and crickets as his food.
In the 6 months I've owned him, he's never shown the signs he has shown for the past two days.
He has been puffing his beard only to be followed by a "pfft" or popping type of noise as he opens his mouth wide just to breathe for a few seconds. He does this every minute or so. I read that beardies do this when they shed (which he is currently doing) but now I fear it may be something to worry about.
There is no discharge from his eyes/nose/mouth.
He does not "wheeze" when he inhales/exhales.
I have noticed one nostril looks closed while the other is deeper and more open (see picture). I pulled a few fibers from his closed nostril and tried gently grabbing at anything that was in there but he freaked out and I was too terrified to try again for fear of hurting him. I have also been soaking him for about 5-10 minutes per day to try and loosen his shedding, thinking it may also help the issue. I have seen no difference in his breathing issues.
***If it matters, he is in a 75 gal long aquarium. His basking bulb is 100 watt, UVB 26. He does have a cool side which he never visits. Bottom of tank is tile. Diet consists of turnip greens/mustards and super worms as well as horn worms as of recent.
He's the sweetest boy and has NEVER shown me aggression even when he's upset or hurt. I'm not sure what to do and I just dropped a huge amount of money on school, so a vet visit isn't exactly a viable option for me at the moment. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.