Help w/ Osteomyelitis!

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blumhm

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We have had our baby beardie, Ron, for about 2 months now. About a week and a half ago, he had paresis of his hind legs. We took him to the vet and they thought it was from trauma and told us to wait a week. We went back to the vet yesterday and got an x-ray. He had swelling in his back right leg. Turns out he has osteomyelitis, MBD, and reduced bone density. He was prescribed calcium glubionate 0.04 mL daily and Baytril 0.12 mL daily for one month. We have a probiotic and supplement to give him when he is on the antibiotic.

He gets fed dubi roaches dusted in calcium daily and a multivitamin 2 times a week. He usually eats anywhere from 2-15 a day. He gets collard greens, dandelion greens, and squash but never eats any veggies. He gets bathed daily. He is in a 40 gal tank, reptisun 10 UVB tube bulb, basking spot 104-108, cool side 80-90.

We are surprised he has MBD. We thought we did everything to avoid that. If anyone was any advice for MBD or osteomyelitis please let us know! Thank you!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, I'm so sorry about poor Ron. Sometimes hind leg paralysis is caused by impaction. Be sure that the insects you feed him are no longer than the space between his eyes, even a bit smaller since he already has a problem. Is he pooing O.K.? Since the vet feels that he has MBD + osteomyelitis, you might get some help from a thread in the health forum, a poster wrote about their beardie's problem with it. Hopefully Ron can be helped.
 

blumhm

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Thank you! Our first thought was impaction too, but he is pooping 1-2 times a day. And we are careful not to feed him anything bigger than the space between his eyes.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How often were you previously giving him calcium?
How close was the Reptisun 10 tube from him? Was there plastic or screen in glass in between him & the light?
If it is not due to impaction, metabolic bone disease can cause hind leg weakness & paralysis.
Sometimes the immune system can become taxed & suppressed with metabolic bone disease. The Baytril should be helpful for kicking any type of infection also.
Can Ron climb very well or does he not try to climb? For now, I would lower the basking area so he can't hurt himself.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie
 

blumhm

Member
Original Poster
He can get about 6 inches to the UVB light and it is mounted inside of his cage, so there is nothing blocking it (its about 2 months old). We changed his basking spot to a flat box with a ramp leading up to it so he doesn't try to climb. He has a cave in his cage that he tries to climb on, but he can't really get it up. And before he was getting his food dusted with calcium everyday.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is Ron doing today, any improvements yet?
When is he going to be finished with his Baytril round?
The Reptisun tube distance is fine then, with no screen in between. Is it directly overhead & not mounted on the back wall?

How is his appetite doing? I hope he is eating well right now & begins to improve some for you.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie
 

blumhm

Member
Original Poster
He is on it for a month. Then we go back to the vet to see if he has made any progress. He hates it so much, its a struggle to get him to take it. His appetite seems ok, at little less than it used to be. He ate 10 roaches today and a little bit of syringe food. And he is drinking a lot of water, he goes down to his water dish on his own, so thats good. His behavior seems a little strange. He jumps around a lot, and off of stuff. Thats the only concerning thing. Other than that, he is just stressed.
 

blumhm

Member
Original Poster
Ron got prescribed pain meds today, so hopefully that will help with his appetite. He has been having some watery stool, but that might be due to his liquid diet the past 2 days.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I am glad Ron is doing pretty well.
A month is awhile for him to have to be on the Baytril though. Be sure to give probiotics daily to help him out.
Yes, his stools will be watery if he is not getting much of anything to eat other than liquids, etc.
That is great he did eat some roaches though recently, that should have helped him out quite a bit.
I am happy to hear he is drinking, that will help with hydration since he is on meds. He is most likely stressed due to the medication right now.
Is he basking normally, too or has he been hiding any?

Tracie
 

blumhm

Member
Original Poster
He is basking a lot. He pretty much spends his whole day doing that. He doesn't really hide. And he gets his probiotic every night mixed w/ a bit of supplement. He loves that, he will usually eat pretty much all of it.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

It sounds like Ron is doing pretty well now. :D
I am happy to hear he is not hiding but is basking happily all day long now. That is great he is getting a probiotic daily with his supplements. That should help him out a lot.
I hope he continues to improve for you now.

Tracie
 

blumhm

Member
Original Poster
Ron's MBD doesn't seem to be getting better. In fact it seems to be getting worse. He is still pretty active and is eating good, but he is getting more lumps and has more twitching. I have no idea why he getting worse. We give him his meds every day and he has the correct lighting and temperatures. Its been frustrating seeing him get worse even though we seem to be doing everything right. Any thoughts on what could be hindering this recovery? Thanks!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Do you have pictures of Ron & of your tank setup too?
What foods are you feeding him now?

Does he have any swelling around the joint areas? How much longer does he have on the Baytril?
Do you know how much he weights, estimated?
What is the strength of the calcium he is on? Maybe it is not quite enough possibly.

Tracie
 

blumhm

Member
Original Poster
Here is a picture of his set up. Its kind of hard to tell, but he can get within 5-7 inches of the light. He has a flat box right now because of his back leg weakness:

I'm not sure the strength of the calcium, it doesn't say on the prescription or vet summary. He gets dubia roaches, collard greens and squash (but he usually doesn't not eat his veggies). He weighs roughly an ounce, around 28 grams. He gets a multi vitamin twice a week. He does have swelling in his back right leg. We got an x-ray done at his last vet appointment because of the swelling and the vet said it was osteomyelitis. The swelling was only in that one spot at the vet, but the base of his tail has gotten bigger, and I am not sure if it is from the infection spreading or if its because he is growing. He goes back to the vet on the 14th and then we will decide what, if anything, can be done next.
 
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