Hacking beardie

Question
QUESTION: Have a young beardie.  She started this strange hiccup with a chirp sound on Thursday. This hiccup became a hacking when taken out of her housing (had a bowel movement so I'm not thinking impaction).  On Friday there was no hacking when taken out of her housing, but still has a "hiccup" with a chirp.  This morning she ate 2 medium crickets but immediately vomited them up.  She ate 2 superworms around 3:00 and was able to keep them down but only after dry heaving.  Spoke to a vet. who does not deal with exotics and he suggested exposure to ammonia causing pneumonia or a vitamin A deficiency.  What do you think?  Giving her vitamin supplements and she has a UVA basking lamp and a UVA/UVB lamp across her housing.

ANSWER: Hello Lorin,

Could you tell me more about your setup please.  
What type of basking light are you using?  Is it a bright white light or a colored light?  
What type & brand of UVB light are you using, is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light?  How close is it to her?
What type of substrate are you using, sand, tile, paper towels?  
What are the temps in the tank?  What type of thermometer do you use to measure the temps with, a stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?
The recommended basking temps are 95-110 & the cool end around 78-82.
What sized tank is she in?  
What vitamins do you give, calcium?  What brand of vitamins do you use?  What is the frequency in which you give them?
It is highly unlikely that she was exposed to ammonia unless you cleaned her tank out with ammonia & did not wash it out well.  
They are not very prone to vitamin A deficiency & at her age, that is unlikely as well.
How old is she?  
How often does she go to the bathroom?  She can still be partially impacted even if she is going to the bathroom.  If she is under 15 inches, it is not recommended to feed superworms.  I would stick with appropriately sized crickets which are smaller than the space between her eyes, phoenix worms, or butterworms.  
If she is still throwing up, I would cease feeding live bugs for the moment, until we figure this out.  Get some chicken & or turkey babyfood, & some squash babyfood to feed to her via a plastic dropper or a plastic syringe.  Just mix a good pinch of calcium in with it.  
Start with 1-2 cc's daily.  
It sounds like a respiratory infection to me.  

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Bright white focused beam basking light, and a UVB florescent tube bulb about 12 inches away from her maybe less. Basking area averages 90 to 96 degrees.  Using a digital stick on probe for a thermometer. She's in a 10 gallon glass tank with calcium enriched sand as substrate, we plan to move her to a 60 gallon tank in the next week (looking into Astroturf or a reptile carpet for substrate).  She's 10 inches in length but I don't know her specific age.  Vitamins brand: T-Rex Brand containing Calcium, Vit. D, and Vit. A.  On average her bowel movements are every other day or every third day. Last two bowel movements were Thursday and Saturday. The only hacking I've notice is when she is straining for a bowel movement.  She's not throwing up anymore but still has a cough and since vomiting up the crickets on this past Saturday, she has no interest in them. She's still attracted meal worms.  Trying chicken and turkey baby food in the case of impaction.  My friend the vet. (not familiar with lizards) is starting her on an antibiotic in case of RI, recommended by the local zoo's reptile vet.  Thank you for your timely response and if you have any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated-

Answer
Hello Lorin,

The digital stick on thermometer is not accurate for measuring the basking spot so I am not sure if your temps are correct.  You will need to get either a temp gun or a digital probe for more accurate readings.  
What brand is the flourescent tube light?  Reptisun 10 or Reptiglo 10?  How old is it?  I need to make sure it is not one of the ones that are not very good.  
I think that she could be impacted with the calcium based sand.  Until we get this figured out can you take the sand out & replace it with paper towels?  That calcium based sand, when ingested, turns to cement & it is extremely hard to pass through.  
The basking temps need to be 95-110 & the cool end around 78-82 or so.  If she is not at the proper temps, she wont be able to digest very well & can have GI problems.
She needs a straight calcium supplement such as Repcal calcium or Jurassical pure calcium.  I would switch from the T-rex brand because too much vitamin A can become toxic in time.  
Which antibiotic is he going to be on?  Can you find out for me, as well as the concentration of it, as reptiles need to be carefully dosed according to their bodyweight.  I just want to make sure the meds are correct for him.  
For now, I would recommend giving soft foods only in case of impaction.  Try using some canned sugar free pumpkin, sugar free applesauce, some squash babyfood & a couple of drops of olive oil daily to help her out if she is impacted.

Tracie