Beardy holding its mouth open

[shnakey]

Hey guys,
I recently had a black soil bearded dragon arrive late last week approximatly 5 months old. Today hes mouth was open and hes lil tounge was sticking out(kind of like panting). First thing i thought was he needs a spray.(even though i had already sprayed him a couple of hours ago.) He enjoyed it and then went back to the heat.
Hes temps are 30 degrees hot end and 24 degrees cool end. He eats hes fruits and vegies really well but only eats 1 or 2 crickets a day with herptivite and calcium. So i now feed him twice a day(which makes up around 4 crickets hes eating a day now) is that okay?
Can someone tell me what it means when hes mouth is open?Was i right about needing water?Is there anything else i can do?He has got a water bowl which of course i never see him use it and i mist him twice a day.

[becswillbe]

He could just be hot, they open their mouths to cool down when under the heat.
If he wasnt wheezing at all id say thats what it was.

[CodeRed]

Its being defensive after being put in a new cage

wait a couple of days and if it still does that then check for an RI

[mysnakesau]

Mouth open like this. Phoenix does this when he's outside in the sun, must get warm rather quickly

[xander]

They dont sweat, so this is a way to lower their body temperature.Mine does it often.

[CodeRed]

Kathy, most beardies that haved lived indoors get a little freaked out when put in the sun. I guess it would be quite scary for them so they get defensive. Only if they have been out there for a long time and really heated up would it be to cool their bodies down. They can get quite hot before needing to vent like that.

[dragon lady]

he sounds fine.......
if your worried about hydration being that he is only 5mnths...give him a bath
just put a rock in the middle of the kitchen sink...fill with luke warm water..until its shoulder height
mine love holding my hand during a bath

gapping his mouth..he is trying to absorb more heat..
its amazing how much heat there body needs to heat to eat digest & eventually breed
so to heat up....& so they can absorb more to help them function they gape...take in cool air

temps are the same as most dragons........38-40* at head height under basking light....23* at cool end
under a year old........i dont let it fall under 20* at night
d/l

[Rocky]

Yeah, mine does it too, always has. I read that as they have no sweat glands, it is the only way they can cool down when basking. They do it so that they don't have to go and hide in the shade. With out this little method beardies came up with, mine wouldn't be alive today! (got sick, didnt eat for months, when his mouth was open i shoved all the food in there i could!)