Something seems off
Your gut is telling you that your beardie is behaving strangely. Check the list below to see all the common symptoms and causes. At the end of the day, please do not solely rely on this list and contact your local exotics vet for proper diagnosis.
See a vet today
Shed stuck on a toe or the tail tip, see a vet today
Can constrict and cut off blood supply
Shedding
Back legs dragging, see a vet today
Several causes, none of which wait
Impaction
Tremors, twitching, rubbery jaw or bent limbs, see a vet today
Metabolic bone disease
Disease and the vet
Clicking, wheezing, mucus, or gaping away from the lamp, see a vet today
Respiratory infection
Health and body
Dark ring right around the tail, see a vet today
Different from a normal dark tail top
Health and body
Worth understanding
Not eating
Shedding, season, settling in, or improper temperature or lighting
Shedding
Won’t touch salad
Usually too many insects
Feeding
Infrequent bowel movements
Dehydration or a cool basking area, long before it is impaction
Impaction
Beard has gone black
An emotional response, not a health sign on its own
Behavior and handling
Skin dull, gray or patchy
A normal shed. Patchy is correct in this species
Shedding
Sunken eyes, wrinkled skin, hard chalky urates
Dehydration, often well advanced by the time it shows
Water and hydration
Gaping while basking
Normal thermoregulation
Behavior and handling
Basking all day, or avoiding the lamp entirely
Too little or too much infrared
Lighting and heat
Scratching at the glass
Space, reflection, boredom or breeding season
Behavior and handling
Lethargic
Never self-explanatory, worth working through properly
Behavior and handling
Sleeping constantly in winter
Brumation, but confirm it isn’t illness first
Brumation and estivation
Sluggish and hiding through summer
Estivation, which is not brumation
Brumation and estivation
Losing weight
Track it against a recorded baseline
Living with a dragon
Digging
Normal behavior, or a female looking for somewhere to lay
Behavior and handling
Laid eggs without a male
Normal, and usually a sign of too many calories
Health and body
Waxy plugs on the thighs
Clogged femoral pores
Health and body
Swollen, firm joints or toes
Gout, an injury or advanced MBD; telling them apart needs a vet
Disease and the vet
Many issues can be properly diagnosed when you have all the data to back it up. Keep all your records, record your dragon’s weight and track their supplements all in one place. Good record keeping gives your vet all the tools needed to take the best care of your pets.
Not sure which row you are looking at? Ask Lizzy and describe it in your own words, or read the full guide. This is a community guide with general suggestions, not veterinary advice. If your dragon is unwell, please seek a proper diagnosis from an exotic vet.