she also did th comatose thing right after i posted this. i took her out of the tub, patted her down put her in her basking spot and she made no attempt to support herself whatsoever for at least 30 seconds

I know very little about berdies, but it sounds like narcolepsy. Like she just falls asleep from stress or something. Not that I know much about that either, I've only seen it in dogs and don't know if it's even possible in reptiles. It does sound like it's stress related, from trying to climb out of the cage and after the soak. You could also call an exotic vet and see what they have to say. They might know more.

I would say that's a question for the vet, mainly because it sounds like something isn't quite right.

I don't want to discourage you, but there are a few types of beardie diseases that have symptoms of inactivity and general lack of interest in food. I'm not in any way suggesting that your beardie has any of these, but it may be a good idea to have her checked out by a vet just in case.

Although, it may be stress related like Andrea said, how long have you had her for? If you've only had her for a day or two, it's quite possible she's just stressed, and her response is to "shut down" in a way, and not respond to food yet. If you've had her for a while though, and she still shows little interest in food and isn't moving very much, I think a vet trip is a really good next step.

Beardies also, like most reptiles, can suffer from intestinal parasites which can also affect appetites, and could potentially cause general inactivity. One of the big ones in dragons is call Coccidia, and the vet can run some fecal samples and then prescribe a sulfa drug to kill the parasite infestation.

I think the best thing to do, first off, would be to call the vet and ask the questions you've asked here. They'll probably encourage you to bring her in for a visit, and I don't see any harm in doing so. It'd be good to know what's going on, and the vet will be your best resource.

A couple things occur to me, if you have the light placed in such a way that it is getting real warm inside the rubber maid it could be offgassing. Not that it is particularly toxic but she could be sensitive and causing "interference" in her nervous system. The other thing also related to the light is if she is getting enough UVB light. One of the first symptoms of Metabolic Bone Disease is muscle weakness. Here is a great website with lots of info on beardies. anapsid.org

www.anapsid.org oops

MBD was one of my concerns as well, when I mentioned the beardie diseases, but I didn't want to throw that out there till we got some more information.

UVB is important, as well as supplementing the greens and bugs with calcium and herptivite. Mixing the rep-cal and herptivite powders and dusting fresh veggies or bugs is a good way to get those extra nutrients in there. And the UVB helps the dragons process the calcium.

The good part is though, if it is MBD in early stages, it's treatable with injections, but if it's progressed too far, I don't know if there's much that can be done.

Shellboa +1 on the website, that's one of my favorites, and another is this one, focuses mainly on beardie health issues, if you have a chance, I suggest reading it. You know your beardie better than we do, and we can only guess. Maybe you could narrow down her symptoms using the list here?

http://www.exclusivedragons.com/HealthIssues.html

I agree w/ the others.  It could totally just be stress.  But also as the others have pointed out, there are so many other things that it could be, that I'm going w/ a big +1 on that vet trip.  Do you have a good exotic vet in your area?

As a side note, the clawing at the sides of the tub could be because she doesn't have enough space.  How big is the tub?

unfortunately i have to agree that it might not be stress. i've checked into offgassing because i had a python in there, and it was fine. but there is about a 20 degree variable with the new lamps. she's had a little over a week to settle in without me harassing her, except cage changes

My ultimate vote would be vet trip, just to be on the safe side. Something doesn't seem quite right.