boosted is having difficulties walking with swollen neck

My dragon, boosted, is having trouble moving around, doesnt seem like he wants to eat and his neck looks like its swollen. I bought another dragon and she is full of energy, jumps around like crazy and just really made me realize boosted wasnt acting normal. Any ideas?

Are they housed separately?

No, they are together. Boosted was like that before we got Phoenix. They are the same age as well. Maybe a week difference.

I just started giving him a multi vitamin powder hoping that will help. He also dose not have as well of movement in his legs or toes as the new one I got. I new something was going on but made it very obvious when I got the new one. Boosted has been like this for a while I just thought it was part of how they developed like how humans go threw grow spurts and are always tired. I keep in tuch with the breeder i bought him from and he grew way faster then others in his clutch witch was another reason why I thought he acted the way he dose. Just thought maybe he grew to fast for what ever reason. I have had a iguana untell she got over 6ft and then a pet store bought her off me to keep in there store, but this is my first time with bearded dragons and they are like our family so any help of what I am doing wrong or advice to what I need to do is welcome.

:!: Firstly, you will need separate housing for Phoenix right away.

Not only is keeping 2 dragons in the same enclosure irresponsible as they are solitary animals, but if you are sure one is male and one is female, once they hit breeding age they will be trapped and the female will be over-bred.
Not to mention, if there is something wrong with your main guy, adding the stress of a cage mate, along with the possibility of being picked on, or if he has any parasites, etc, that will spread to your new dragon could easily make this worse. Separate immediately.

:!: Secondly, how big is this enclosure? How old are your dragons? What is your basking temps? How are you taking this temp? What is their diet like?

Personally, I would have not purchased another dragon while the one you currently had was having troubles. I understand you did not really realize this until afterward, but if there's an issue with your husbandry the same thing is likely to happen to your new dragon as well.

Please run us through your setup, as asked above.

I have not figured out how to post pics of there home to show it but it's a 2ftW, 2ftH, 4ftL wooden with plexiglass windows. It is made out of pine wood 1X6 boards, with sticky tile on the bottom and fake grass carpet with ceramic tile over half the floor. The hot side is 103-108 the cold is 78-82. All Temps are read with digital temp gauges and three spots of the cage and temp is monitored buy a ink bird thermostat. There is a heat and uvb like on hot side and a fluorescent UVB on the cold side. I have no issue separating them at all I just put them together because I seen alot of other owners have shared cages including the breeder they came from. All the research I've done on his actions dose not lead to parasites but I am still going to get his tested when I get a call back from the vet for his appointment. He eats crickets with and super worms and sometimes meal worms, kale, raspberry are his new thing. I have double checked so much, me and my wife both have and just looking for something or anyone who has had simular symptoms with there's.

Hello, Here is a link to where you can post photos https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ then just hit the XIMG to attach them. Photos of Boosted's neck will help a lot. Also you mentioned you have two uvbs do you know what brand they are, also what it is there distance from the basking area? I ask because some uvb brands have a week output and even some good brands won't be strong enough if the distance is too far from the basking area. You also mentioned he's not eating, has he pooped recently? Supers and especially mealworms can sometimes cause digestive issues but so can parasites so a fecal would be a good idea. It is definitely a good idea to seperate only because beardies are solitary animals and being around another beardie can be a huge stress factor as the more dominant may bully the other and I've seen some horror stories and for a beardie who isn't feeling well it's just not ideal. As far as him not being overly energetic, it could be because he's sick but since you said he's always been like that he might just be what many like to call a couch potatoe. I definitely have one of those she's been that way since I brought her home lol. In her tank she barley ever moves just to change position or when it's feeding time when I take her out she definitely wants to explore if only for a moment then she wants back in the tank lol. Hope your beardie feels better?

That is the cage I built 2ft X 2ft X 4ft
That is a pic when he was about 2-3 mouth old he is 5 mouths old now. Basking spot is about 15-17in from lights
In this pick you can see how the lights are set up. I can't remeber the brands, I know the head and uvb was bought at a pet store for like $40 and the fluorescent UVB was bought from Walmart as a green house and reptile uvb light.
This was taken about 9 days ago. He lays around simular to how he is on my hand.
This is a pic of his neck and the beard that my wife think is bloated cuz how big it is and loose when he is just laying around. He is earring just not as much as he use to. When before he would he 10-14 crickets now it's more like 3-5 a day.

Hi. He's definitely developing MBE. You need to move those uvb lights closer and they need to be right next to the basking light so when they bask they get uvb. I'd start giving him some liquid calcium . What kind of uvb do you use?

Yea, I'd have to agree with the above poster, that last picture is concerning. 15-17 inches is pretty far even for a high output flourecent light like the reptisun 10 t5 ho which is usually recommended a distance of 12-14 inches. You might want to try and figure what brand it is as it's really important, like I said earlier some brands don't give off enough of uvb which can cause mbd in some dragons. A visit to a good herp vet might be in order.

Hopeing Boosted feels better soon

Thank you all so much for the help. I do to beleave it's MBD and since I've been doing bathing daily and vitamins I've seen a improvement. I'm ordering some new bulbs now cuz I'm not sure the strength of what I got. I'm in the process of building taller basking spots and won't be a issue at all to move the Florissant closer to the heat lamp. I thought it would be ok were it was cuz the heat lamp also said uvb out put but I guess that is not enough to alone. I called the nearest vet to me that will take him witch is like a hour and a half to two hours away and the Dr who see beardies is not in tell next week. I'm going to keep working with him tell we can get him there and hopping for more improvment.

Your heat and uvb light sounds like an mvb but some of those pet store brands have been known to cause issues. If your picking up a new uvb I'd definitely go with the reptisun 10 t5 and that should be enough. As someone else suggested you might want to try liquid calcium in the meantime. Best of luck and keep us posted.

Hello,

He definitely has metabolic bone disease due to no UVB exposure.
Since your tank is a little taller, I would seriously consider getting either the Reptisun 10 or the Arcadia D3 12% or 14% High Output T5 tube bulb. They have the ability to reach further distances so you could mount it around 10-12 inches & he would receive great UVB exposure.
Check this site out for help with purchasing the lights:

www.lightyourreptiles.com

I would also consider getting some liquid calcium to help with a higher & faster absorption rate for him. Be sure to keep his basking spot lower so that he doesn't have to climb much right now so he doesn't hurt himself.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

Thank you all agin for all the help. I did order the liquid calcium as well. And I planned on making the new basking area 10-12in from the bottom of the tank with a longer less angled ramp so it will be easier for him. It's my gaol to get him healthy. I'll admit it'd my falt from lack of experience with beardies. I thought I did alot of research but I see now I didn't do enough and now boosted is the one suffering. I will keep everyone posted and will not stop intell he is 110%.

Everything I ordered hoping all these things will help.