Bulging Eyes

One of the creepiest things bearded dragons do (and iguanas too!) is bulge their eyes out. The first time I saw it, I thought my beardie's eyes were about to explode out of his head. 

I'm not exactly sure why they do it, but I do know that they are able to flood the backs of their eyes with blood to push them out. Then they are able to allow the blood to flow back into the veins and return their eye socket to normal. 

This morning I caught Dory bulging her "normal" eye and took pics. 

Her bulged eye was as big as her big eye. Once she realized I was taking pictures, she let her eye return to normal. 

Dr Folland and I think Dory's fat eye is caused because she's unable to pull the blood back out of her eye. So it's a reflux problem that causes one eye to always be huge, filled with blood. 

Normal eye-- 

Bulgy eye-- 

Bulging eyes and black beards are two normal things for bearded dragons and they don't always signal a problem. 

The Faces of Brumination

It's winter here and all my guys have slowed down. Some are eating; some aren't. Some are active and run around; some lift their heads and that's it. 

Here are pics of the ones who are bruminating the most. 

Ziggy--he's been in this position for three weeks. He lifts his head and lowers it. That's about it. 

Nubs-- he crawled under his log and gives me the stink eye when I make eye contact or touch him. At least his eyes are open today. 

Max-- he's like Ziggy. He's in one spot and doesn't move much. He watches things, but doesn't get up. 

Dori-- she goes in her blankie and won't move for days. I have to check her at least once a week to make sure she's still alive. I've been waking her up more often to feed her since she doesn't look great. 

Milo, Tiger, Peanut, and Gen are all active and daily eating. 

Vet Visit

I was brave (dumb?!) and took 4 animals to the vet on Monday. Teddy, my dog, needed a shot; Lil Foot had a drippy nose; I wanted to do bloodwork on Nubs; and Dori has not been doing well. 

Teddy- 

Lil Foot-

Nubs- 

Dori- 

Nubs' bloodwork came back perfect. I was very relieved. Lil Foot should be okay with increased nighttime heat. Teddy charmed all the staff and was only happy when someone was holding him. He didn't even flinch for the shot! Dori had a very low percentage for her iron level, but, when we retested today, it was fine. So now I need to figure out what else is wrong with her.