I got a lot of good answers from my last thread, but again I was wondering. I really wouldn't be able to recognize an illness in my Bearded Dragon if he had one. What kind of symptoms would I have to watch out for if there was something wrong?

Unusual gapping, lethargy, swollen limbs, etc.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

You'd want to watch for him not eating right, breathing with his mouth open, swelling in legs, him being more "tired" or inactive - lethargy. They will try to hide symptoms of not being well as this is self preservation in the wild. You will get to know your Bearded Dragon more than anyone else will, and if he's not acting like himself chances are you will notice. That is when you take him to the vet. Ours died because I did not follow through completely on that feeling of "things aren't quite right". Although I did find out there probably wasn't anything they could have done.

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Kat

I agree with all the above however three more to add are blowing bubbles out of the nostrils, wheezy breathing, and closing eyes for very long times and at unusual times.

Dan

Oh, Oh! I forgot the possible respiratory issues in my post! Good description!

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Kat

In my experience, you don't have to recognize the illness as much as your dragon's normal behavior. Know your dragon. If he's normally even tempered and active and likes to bask during the day, then one day starts acting nervous or lethargic or stays in his hide all the time, he's probably sick or stressed. Also look out for color changes or changes in his eating or eliminating habits.

Reptiles are generally creature of habit, so any out of normal behavior usually indicates a problem of some sort. Knowing your dragon well, you'll be able to spot that something is "off" fairly quickly, and diagnose the problem from there.

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"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.

What kind of illness would swelling of the limbs signify? That seems like such a strange symptom.

Metabolic Bone Disease from lack of calcium and UVB light. There are other things it could be, but that would be my first guess.

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Kat