Worried about my juvenile beardie.

So I've had my 'fancy' beardie for about 2 weeks now. He (or she) is eating well. I have the temperatures right on the basking side (around 100-105 Fahrenheit) and my cool side is on the high 80s. I have a heating pan on the glass on the cool side to keep the temp regulated. I have a linear reptisun uvb 5.0. My beardie is in a 20 gallon terrarium. He's good at eating his veggies and loves chasing around his food. I originally had a compact reptisun 5.0 (came with the kit) and then he was keeping his eye closed and changed to the linear. Since then he has shed and his eyes are doing great... now on to the current problem. I noticed he's been walking on the backs of the front of his hands. So naturally I became worried and so I looked at some forums on here, but wanted to see what I was doing wrong. I was dusting his crickets with just the calcium without the d3 but saw that I need the d3, but it can be overdosed so Ive been careful. I dust the crickets with the calcium with d3 for 4 days and the other I'll be doing the without d3. So the last 3 days I used the d3(that was when I got the d3 and started using it). And today I dusted with the without d3. He seems to be improving a little but I wanted to make sure there isn't anything else I should be doing that I'm not. Also I do give him 2-3 baths a week and he eats about 7-10 small crickets in the morning and the same at night.

Where did you get your beardie from? Any idea about how old he or she is?
My juvenile beardie walked on the back of her hands too when I first got her. I was told on here that it was most likely MBD as a result of improper UVB lighting in the pet store. Hopefully someone more experienced can provide more insight, but it sounds like you have a good setup and routine so far.

cmoo":2e8xt6ru said:

Where did you get your beardie from? Any idea about how old he or she is?
My juvenile beardie walked on the back of her hands too when I first got her. I was told on here that it was most likely MBD as a result of improper UVB lighting in the pet store. Hopefully someone more experienced can provide more insight, but it sounds like you have a good setup and routine so far.

Click to expand...

I got him at petsmart and he's approximately 3 months old. From most of what I've seen that's what it sounds like. DId your beardie grow out of it? We're you able to correct it in time?

I think you're problem is the 5.0 which is weak. Beardies need the 10.0 T5 High output. He should be able to get closest to it at 12 inches if there is no screen. If you get the right bulb you can do calcium w/o D3 3 times per week/ 1 meal per day, calcium w/D3 2 times per week/ 1 meal per day and vitamins the other 2 days/ 1 meal per day. It does sound like it could be MBD but you only had him 2 weeks. Was he using that bulb before you got him and how old is he?

I bought mine at Petsmart too. She was a little larger, probably 4-5 months, so had spent a longer time without proper uvb. Thankfully everyone here was extremely helpful with recommendations to help her. Her condition has improved, and she has an excellent quality of life, but she definitely still displays symptoms of the MBD.
I feed BSFL, which are higher in calcium. Symton is an excellent company to order online from. I was dusting her worms with calcium +d3, but have since switched to liquid calcium, which is more easily absorbed. I also give her serrapeptase, which is an enzyme that helps with inflammation and pain.
You'll also want to make sure that his basking spots are not so high, since climbing may be difficult and bones are more delicate with MBD. My beardie seemed to have increased difficulty climbing as she gained weight. I have natural slate rocks stacked like steps, which she can scurry up to (she mostly army crawls on her forearms these days) to bask.
If possible, you can also take him or her outside on warmer days to get natural uvb from sunlight. Even a few minutes a day will help!
Hopefully your dragon will improve soon

Thanks everyone!!

I'm. To sure how to post a picture or I would, I have his lid moved slightly back and the uvb bulb balancing on the lid and the back of the vivarium so that the uvb bulb has nothing between it and Buddha (that's my beardies name❤) he immediately ran up the suction cup vine I have on the glass and is now basking under the bulb. I'm hoping this will help so he gets the full uvb he's suppose to.

Please make sure you get a 10.0 the 5.0 will not be sufficient. That's great that you could reposition it.

kyleena29":14dpdbp3 said:

Please make sure you get a 10.0 the 5.0 will not be sufficient. That's great that you could reposition it.

Click to expand...

I will as soon as I can. I can't return the 5.0 so I have to wait until I can afford it again. I've spent quite a lot in the last few weeks changing out products I got from the kit that turned out not to be good enough. ?

It's terrible they even sell those kits as they are pretty much crap. I don't know if you are using a T5 or T8 but they are much cheaper to buy online. Petco is cheap if you purchase online. They don't seem to honor prices in store. You can also try pet mountain. The T5 10.0 is a much stronger bulb, can be placed about 12" at the closest and last a year. The T8 needs to be 6" and lasts 6 months. The problem is they don't use the same fixture. If you can afford to I would get the T5 one.

But the cause of the mbd is that bulb right now. It really is important to replace it. For now, if you can get him outside for even 30 min, it's worth a few if not several hours of synthetic uvb.

kyleena29":1incfmga said:

It's terrible they even sell those kits as they are pretty much crap. I don't know if you are using a T5 or T8 but they are much cheaper to buy online. Petco is cheap if you purchase online. They don't seem to honor prices in store. You can also try pet mountain. The T5 10.0 is a much stronger bulb, can be placed about 12" at the closest and last a year. The T8 needs to be 6" and lasts 6 months. The problem is they don't use the same fixture. If you can afford to I would get the T5 one.

But the cause of the mbd is that bulb right now. It really is important to replace it. For now, if you can get him outside for even 30 min, it's worth a few if not several hours of synthetic uvb.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much! I actually work at Petsmart. So I get a discount. I plan on looking into it today if we have any in stock. Thank you so much for all of your help! It's kind of cool where I live at the moment so I don't want to bring him outside just yet. I'll also look online and see what I can find! Thank you!

That's great! You probably already know to check the online price too. I don't know if they match petco's online price though. I wouldn't mind knowing either. Once he starts to improve you will probably notice a change in appetite. He should be eating a lot more bugs, hopefully some veggies too.

kyleena29":2oudyhwl said:

That's great! You probably already know to check the online price too. I don't know if they match petco's online price though. I wouldn't mind knowing either. Once he starts to improve you will probably notice a change in appetite. He should be eating a lot more bugs, hopefully some veggies too.

Click to expand...

That's the thing! He eat his veggies and his crickets very well. Unless he supposed to be eating more than about 20 cricket the day?and as a sidenote, Petsmart matches other in-store prices but they only match Petsmart.com prices for online prices

I guess it depends how big he is. Since he's had a 5.0 I guess he could be on the small side? But at least he is eating both which is a really great sign!

kyleena29":1nrtvsnw said:

I guess it depends how big he is. Since he's had a 5.0 I guess he could be on the small side? But at least he is eating both which is a really great sign!

Click to expand...

I wish I could post a picture. From what I've read in his size when I got him he's about 3 months old. If not he's definitly almost 3 months. I don't know how to post pictures or I would