Heavy Breathing

mcgin014 · New Member Joined: Aug 06, 2008 Posts: 5

I'm new here and just recently purchased a baby Argentine Black and White Tegu. The little guy is doing great. It eats like a champ and it's poops are solid and look normal. But one concern I have is it's breathing. Instead of breathing "normal" it seems like it is breathing hard. I am comparing this breathing to my bearded Dragons. There is no mucous out of it's mouth or nostrils and it's tongue is split. I cannot find anywhere that has the symptoms I am seeing for any type of respiratory infection. the basking spot in the cage is 105-110 the cool end is 82-85 and the humidity ranges from 40% in the cage to 70% in my humid hide. I am using a digital thermometer and a temp gun to monitor mu temps. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to make sure I covered everything. Thank you and I will post up pics when I get a chance.
Peter

worldeater · Respected Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 590

don't worry, it's normal, they do that if they're hunting or if they feel a little threatned.
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1.1.0 Arg B/W Tegu Joker n Groxy
1.0.0 Australian Water Dragon "Spyro"
1.0.0 Red Eared Slider "Turdy"
0.1.0 White Dwarf Hamster "MiMi"
1.1.0 Black&Albino Kingsnakes "Pearl & Hannibal"

mcgin014 · New Member Joined: Aug 06, 2008 Posts: 5

thanks for the quick reply. I have been looking for a couple days and have had no luck on finding information. Now that I found this site I'll be here quite a bit.

angelrose · Moderator Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1470

hello mcgin014, come on in and Welcome to theTegu Forum Family.

Congrats on your new tegu ! happy to hear he is doing well. that's just 'huffing' as said above.

Welcome Aboard, Peter

. look forward to seeing you around.

october · Honored Member Joined: Aug 04, 2008 Posts: 224

Hello mcgin014. I am also somewhat new here.....I have had my tegu for 6 months and I know that I worry about everything.

As far as the labored breathing, if there is no mucus coming from the nose or mouth and the eyes are clear, it is probably just him naturally breathing. They do take quite the big breaths sometimes.

Also, does this heavy breathing occur after a huge meal. I have noticed that mine breaths very heavy after a huge meal. I asked my vet about it during Smokey's ( my tegu) check up. The vet said that after a huge meal, there could be labored breathing because the lungs are so far back. So an enormous meal could actually be pushing up to the lungs, hence, heavy breathing might ensue.