Interesting Theory.... but possible?

[Jeanne]

OK, as you know, in my collection, I also have beardies. A male who is now just over a yr old and a female who is just over 6 months old. Oscar we have NEVER had any kind of issues, not behavioral or medical..... he has been the easy dragon. Now, some of you may also remember this past summer the problem I was having with dragons purchased from a certain breeder. Out of the 3, only Emily remains alive and reasonably well. She has not been without her issues though. Roughly about 3 months ago, she did a total turn around as far as what her "normal" temperment was at the time. She got really really mean, bad enough that she has actually hurt me a few times. She became unhandleable till almost 2 weeks ago. The only way you could handle her was with a pair of leather gloves on. That was really starting to sUcK. Almost 2 weeks ago, she started trying to eat her half log hide/basking spot, and because she would not stop, I took out the log and gave her a ceramic cave looking hide, that there is no way she could ever bite. She actually made her mouth sore and red, and cost me a vet trip for it. After removing the log, Bri (my husband) and I started noticing that we could actually walk by the cage and not have her freak out, or go up to the cage and talk to her or clean without her getting mad and going after us. Since then, she has once again totally done a turn around in her temperment, she is calming down again and I am able to handle her without any aggression or her trying to bite- without gloves! Bri and I got to talking about the change in her enviroment (hide/basking spot), we have come to the conclusion, there is a good possiblity that we were inadvertantly "poisoning" Emily. Our theory is this: the log we know is a half log bought in most any pet shops in the reptile dept., but it is made of PINE! There have been ppl who have kept rats on it (pine shavings) and seen respiratory issues due to the pine, as I have too, but I have also seen neuro issues in some rats exposed to it too. Some animals may react differently even in same species to things like this, cause the same log we took out of Emily's cage was Oscar's when he was little, and he had no issues like this when using the log and it was his basking spot also. Our theory is based on the fact that we know pine can release toxins into the air the animals are breathing, making them sick. We think what she was breathing she happened to be more sensitive to than Oscar. However, because that log sat under her basking lamp, I would think it may have been putting off more "fumes/toxins" than a log of the same type not under hot lighting or exposed to major heat for long periods of time. We will not put the log back in her cage, because we dont want to see the same problems again just to test the theory,but I think there is a good possibility thats what caused her aggression. She does seem to have some neuro issues going on, but they are getting better day by day since the log is not in her cage anymore.

[daniel1983]

That is really interesting Jeanne. That makes me glad that all of my hides are either plastic or ceramic. I hope the problem is fixed forever.....cause I know that you surely would not want to keep getting bit by a crazy beardie

[frankykeno]

You never know Jeanne. I know in human children that exposure to something even slightly toxic to them or that they are sensitive/allergic to can cause extreme mood changes and behaviour issues but no really obvious physical illnesses one would normally associate with an allergic reaction. Maybe that is also possible in other species.

My sister's children cannot ingest any sort of red dyes for instance. If they are given red cough medicine they literally climb walls, if they are given green cough medicine (same brand just different color) they react "normally". So even though they don't act allergic to it in the commonly accepted manner, quite obviously it is affecting their mood/behaviour in an extreme manner and is in fact toxic to their systems.

I'm glad she's calmer and easier to handle whatever has triggered the change.


~~Jo~~

[recycling goddess]

my daughter is allergic to blue and red... she becomes a crazy person when she eats some... poor thing looks at me and begs it to stop...

i'm so glad you were able to find the cause! good for you

[Jeanne]

Figured I would post an update on Emily since Aleesha posted here too.

Emily has made a full recovery, no neuro issues seemed to have stayed and she is once again the sweet dragon she was before the log incident. She and Oscar have been brumating, but come out every few days.... and when she is handled on those days, she is such a sweetie! She is eating from my hand again, so well now that I can hand feed her baby food as a treat, but have to watch my fingers cause she gets so happy and interested in the baby food.