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Your attempt to help this poor girl is admirable but the coughing and watery eyes are very concerning as well as the decreased appetite. A black beard is a sign of distress/discomfort/depression imho. If she has a respiratory infection there is no means of obtaining medication for her other than from a licensed reptile vet after diagnosis. It sounds like she needs antibiotics and soon.
I know you are trying to help her but the best thing you can do for her is find a rescue group that will take her in and get her the vet help that she needs. She probably feels miserable.
Also a heat rock is very dangerous as she could get burned. She needs UVB and overhead heat. I know you are doing the best you can but if she truly is as sick as it sounds she needs more help than you will be able to give her given your financial situation……
Best of luck 
6 Likes
I’m going to have to agree with Caron here, if you can’t afford a vet, relinquishing her to a rescue for care may be the kindest thing. I’d first check if there are any programs through your local humane society or other organization that offer low/no cost vet care for low/fixed income individuals. Having difficulty breathing is uncomfortable and distressing in any species, and the longer she goes without care, the greater the risk of a poor outcome.
There’s also the cost issue of her setup. While you’ve got the basics, it’s not ideal. Adult beardies need at minimum a 4’x2’x2’ enclosure. The thermometer & hygrometer visible in your photos are not accurate nor adequate, you’re going to want a thermostat with probe, infrared heat gun, and a digital hygrometer. She absolutely needs hides, they’re not optional. As Caron also noted, heat rocks are a hard “do not use”, they can cause burns and death, remove immediately. You’re going to have costs with expendables, heat lamp & UV bulbs, feeder insects, etc. Here is a beardie care guide to give you an idea of their in-depth needs:
There’s also going to be the vet care issue long term. Exotics do require vet care, and it’s at a much higher premium than care for your average domestic pet. If they have an emergency, the price goes up exponentially.
In the long run, consider what is best for yourself and Dirt. You’ve done amazing by getting her out of that situation, but you have to ask yourself if you can really provide what she needs long term.
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As others have said the most humane thing you can do is surrender her to a rescue of some sort. If you have a fixed income and cannot afford just a single vet appointment you’ll have a really rough road ahead of you trying to take care of her. And its best you try to find a rescue quickly because respiratory illness is a big killer in reptiles and it needs veterinary care ASAP, there are no other alternatives as the antibiotics needed to treat this are only available through prescription.
Here are a few things I’ve picked up while reading about beardies since my Husband has recently thought about owning one. The burying and low food drive may be due to not having a heat source in the past (as well as approaching seasonal changes) thus the Beardie could be in brumation mode, though it could just as well be linked to the respiratory distress. Do not use heat rocks, this goes for any reptile… they cause severe burns because they can’t be temp regulated and just burn as hot as they can.
They need a basking spot of 110-115°F, a hot end of 90-95°F and a cool end of 80-85°F. They need a Humidity range of 20-40% and no higher than that. The thermometer and Hygrometer in that enclosure is next to trash at actually getting an accurate reading, there are cheap Thermometer/Hygrometers on Amazon that do actually work and are electric so its easy to read so just make sure you read the reviews on them before getting one.
That being said she does actually appear to be at a decent weight, though I’m new to Beardies so if I’m wrong please correct me…
The deformed toes could be a sign of MBD, so please make sure she’s getting adequate UVB and calcium… 10 hours a day for the UVB and dust every meal lightly with calcium that does NOT include Vitamin D3. The reason for that is with UVB Bearded Dragons already produce D3 and giving them too much may cause issues, I’ve read that it is ok to give them calcium with D3 once or twice a week but that is it.
I am unsure of what causes watery eyes in Bearded Dragons but it could be an infection which again needs antibiotic treatment.
Again I strongly suggest finding a rescue that can accept her because she will be better off from it in the long run and can find a new home with owners who can provide her with any immediate care she may need. I wish you luck in this struggle…
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I agree with @cmsreptiles about the digging possibilities. Mine started to dig a bit but he is making use of his cozy dark cave in a corner of his enclosure. He has been in hibernation for about 3 weeks now……
what are the temperatures and humidity?
While it could very likely be a respiratory illness which you can’t do much for without a vet, it sounds like she may also be too cold at night or during the day. I would get a 50 watt ceramic heat emitter and have it on for night time and maybe during the day depending on current temperatures.
The other thing is that Dirt looks to be a very inbred dragon. There could possibly be a deformity of the nostrils causing some of the symptoms but I doubt it.
I would also remove the gravel as that could lead to impaction very easily. I would replace them with paper towels until she is healthy.
And while I know it isn’t what you want, I would begin thinking about surrendering Dirt to a reptile rescue. To get the care up to the minimum you are looking at $500 plus an additional $200 or more every year. Plus if you can’t take her to a vet then you can’t provide what she requires. It isn’t fair for Dirt to not get the proper care and treatment.
I haven’t read any of the replies as I am short on time but I know all the people who have replied and they are all very knowledgeable. Given the symptoms there is no “real help” that they can offer you. Just because you aren’t willing to accept what is best for the wellness of your animal doesn’t mean they or the advice they are giving is wrong. It seems rather selfish to keep an animal you aren’t fit to care for just to benefit yourself. And I mean this in no way to be an attack on you, I just am not going to sugar coat what needs said
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The sad reality is that these animals require specialized care and medication that cannot be ordered online without a qualified veterinarian to prescribe them. Because of abuse with over the counter fish antibiotics, they don’t even sell them anymore where I am because of people using them for themselves or for animals without an actual doctor or vet’s supervision.
Because this is the internet, we cannot physically evaluate your beardie in person. Even if we could, it would be illegal for anyone here to tell you actual medical treatment for him. A human doctor, a veterinarian or licensed veterinarian technician can loose their license if they did that. The best we can offer is the adjustment of temperature and suggest better food options, over the counter vitamins and minerals to supplement and basic first aid like you can purchase at a normal human pharmacy over the counter.
If you cannot afford to take the animal to a vet then the kindest thing you can possibly do is to give him to someone who can. As a former vet technician, I’ve had to suggest this sort of thing many times. The other option is just continue to let the animal go on without treatment which is cruel, or euthanize them…which I would hate to see.
We don’t say this out of being ableist. I just got back from physical therapy to post this… Many of the other members here also have issues of their own they are dealing with.
We are telling you this because it is what is best for Dirt.
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I am sorry you have taken offense to the advice we have given you and I am sorry you are physically compromised yourself. However please understand that this community’s number one concern is the welfare of the animal, not the emotional support of its owner. Animals cannot speak for themselves. We try to provide emotional support for the owner as well, but not by telling the owner something he or she wants to hear at the expense of the health of said animal. There is simply no OTC medical miracle sitting on the shelf at a drug store for a reptile if that reptile needs to be seen by a vet. Period.
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This is unfortunate, we aren’t here to offend you. This is the best course of action for Dirt. If she has a respiratory infection and you cannot provide her care by taking her to a Veterinarian she will suffer much more than she already has and may eventually die. This isn’t bashing you for your disability, we are trying to help you in the long run to save Dirt. There is no home-care options for respiratory distress, no OTC options, she NEEDS antibiotics if she is genuinely ill.
@lilghoul I hope you will see some sense in this and get her to someone who will be able to care for her. Sorry this is upsetting for you…
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