Calcium Deficiency untreatable?

Hello friendly BD fans,
I am in need of some advice. I have a 5 month old beardie who is currently living with…
1. A 20g
2. Tiles on the floor
3. Repti sun 10 florescent light bulb
4. A zoo med 100w heat lamp
5. Eats all green kale, collard, dandelion, etc given to him every day
6. Crickets dusted with calci powder with d3
7. He is caged by himself(not with my healthy female)
8. His cage stays at 83 all day and at night it does not drop below 70
9. He is bathed every 2 days for 2o min

I am at lose and don’t know what to do. About two months ago he was diagnosed with having Coccidia as well as a calcium problem. We took him to the vet and got the Coccidia treated as well as the calcium problem. He seemed fine until two weeks ago when his back legs started twitching again(A sign of calcium problem). Sure enough he had a calcium problem yet again. They treated him and the sign our gone but he is not eating. I am afraid that the calcium deficiency will be a constant problem. It seems he just cannot get enough. He is very skinny and not gaining weight. The Vet we go to specialized in reptiles and is not sure what he can do anymore to help. He have a BD the same age who is fine and has no problems. The vet said she is very healthy. I am at a lose with what to do and have already spent over 400 dollars to try and help him, but I cannot keep spending this fortune to try and fix him.

Please help me I am not sure where to turn to!!!
He is not impacted which was a relief after we saw the X-ray

Hello
What type of calcium is he on? Is his UVB linear and how old is it?How close can he get to it?
There is a chance that he cannot absorb calcium properly even if he is being given it consistently and correctly some do have issues metabolizing it.Generally that is when liquid calcium/injections come into play.Did your vet diagnose why he had this issue? Also how often are you giving the calcium and exactly what brand is it?

Vicky

Vicky,

thank you for getting back to me so quickly, Griff is using ReptoCal Powder with Vitamin D3. The UVB bulb is a 24" 610mm 20 watt Reptisun 10 by Zoo Med. The last bulb we had for 3 months, but last weekend we picked up a brand new one in hopes that the bulb might of been the problem. The fiture that houses the bulb is made by Fluckers it is a full spectrum. He can get as close as 3-4 in from the bulb.Right now he is currently taking Neo-Calglucon every 12 hours for 30days.
Hope that Helps

Jeremy

Jeremyjames87":78d67 said:

Vicky,

thank you for getting back to me so quickly, Griff is using ReptoCal Powder with Vitamin D3. The UVB bulb is a 24" 610mm 20 watt Reptisun 10 by Zoo Med. The last bulb we had for 3 months, but last weekend we picked up a brand new one in hopes that the bulb might of been the problem. The fiture that houses the bulb is made by Fluckers it is a full spectrum. He can get as close as 3-4 in from the bulb.Right now he is currently taking Neo-Calglucon every 12 hours for 30days.
Hope that Helps

Jeremy

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Hi
Ok so is this the calcium you are using?
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=6418
or this
http://www.amazon.com/Rep-Cal-Calcium-Vitamin-PINK-BOTTLE/dp/B00076HTQA
If its the first then I would switch it because that is most likely your culprit.If its the second then thats good.So he is 5 months old? You should be dosing the calcium 5xper week on his feeders once a day,are you doing this?Good that he is on the Neo.When he is on it do his labs come back ok? Did the vet run any tests actually testing his absorption levels? See calcium can appear present but what really needs to be done is to verify if he is actually capable of absorbing it.

Hello,

What do you measure his temps with? Do you use a stick on thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?
What are the basking temps at?
Good he is on neo glucagon, that should help immensely.
The Reptisun 10 UVB is that a flourescent tube or a compact or coil light?
Does he have any physical deformities yet, such as a curved tail, etc?

Tracie

Drache613":b74e2 said:

Hello,

What do you measure his temps with? Do you use a stick on thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?
What are the basking temps at?
Good he is on neo glucagon, that should help immensely.
The Reptisun 10 UVB is that a flourescent tube or a compact or coil light?
Does he have any physical deformities yet, such as a curved tail, etc?

Tracie

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I use a temp gun to measure his temps. I also have a digital themometer in the middle of his cage on the cool side. His regular cage temp is 82 and basking is up to 87-89. The reptisin 10 is a florecent tube. There are no signs of physical deformaties, But when he is eating crickets somtimes is tail will arch up. Other than that there are no signs.

Jeremy could you verify my question in regards to the calcium brand?

vickson420":f5e33 said:

Jeremy could you verify my question in regards to the calcium brand?

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sorry about that yes, it is the second one so that should not be the problem. I do not believe the vet has checked to see if he can hold calcium I will have to see about that. I will give the vet a call tomarrow.

I definatelt would because it sounds like your supplying the "material" but for some reason he isnt absorbing it correctly.It may be a case where he is going to have to stay on liquid calcium.

Tracie,what do you think?

I have a female that doesn't absorb powdered calcium. Have you tested your baby for the adenovirus? She is now 2-1/2 years old, 20" with a 4" tail nip and 868 grams and has no symptoms and is very strong now. Her body stopped metabolizing powdered rep-cal calcium at 5 months old. She had a T-Rex MVB light so she was getting plenty of everything. I would recommend switching UVB to a MVB when you get her a bigger tank. This really is not that uncommon. I mentioned Magick's issue a few months ago to a breeder on another site, she said it is really common. She herself gives liquid calcium and vitamins. It takes more than two months to recover though.

vickson420":f5d8c said:

I definatelt would because it sounds like your supplying the "material" but for some reason he isnt absorbing it correctly.It may be a case where he is going to have to stay on liquid calcium.

Tracie,what do you think?

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I think you are right...I hope that is not going to be two expensive and only around 50.00 a month, but if it makes him better I will do it. I can not see him suffer it kills me to know he is not happy. thank you very much for being so prompt as to respond it helps alot to know there are people out there who care.

Jeremy

pscaulkins":db4e3 said:

I have a female that doesn't absorb powdered calcium. Have you tested your baby for the adenovirus? She is now 2-1/2 years old, 20" with a 4" tail nip and 868 grams and has no symptoms and is very strong now. Her body stopped metabolizing powdered rep-cal calcium at 5 months old. She had a T-Rex MVB light so she was getting plenty of everything. I would recommend switching UVB to a MVB when you get her a bigger tank. This really is not that uncommon. I mentioned Magick's issue a few months ago to a breeder on another site, she said it is really common. She herself gives liquid calcium and vitamins. It takes more than two months to recover though.

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No I have not I will def get him treated for it. I am not sure the vet did that test. It is good to hear that there is a cure for what he might have and that I am not th eonly one in the world that has a BD with this problem...even if I feel like I am.

No problem and I do think pscaulikns was correct an MVB bulb would go along way with the calcium assistance and an Adeno test isnt a bad idea either.Let me know what the vet says.

Hello,

It does sound like he may not be absorbing calcium very well for some reason. There are dragons that just tend to do better on a liquid calcium.
You can get the liquid calcium much cheaper through Veronica at: http://www.beautifuldragons.com Just click on the medicine & supplement area.
A mercury vapor would definitely help with his ability to synthesize D3 much better than with just a flourescent tube bulb.
As Sandy stated, dragons with Adeno tend to have calcium absorption problems. We have one that did not process powdered calcium very well either so we switched to liquid calcium & his urates look much better.

Let us know how things go at the vets. In order to test for the absorption of calcium, he would need to do an ionized calcium test which tests the 25 hydroxy levels or the ability of the bones to uptake calcium into the bones & the density of them as well.


Tracie

Drache613":dd94d said:

Hello,

It does sound like he may not be absorbing calcium very well for some reason. There are dragons that just tend to do better on a liquid calcium.
You can get the liquid calcium much cheaper through Veronica at: http://www.beautifuldragons.com Just click on the medicine & supplement area.
A mercury vapor would definitely help with his ability to synthesize D3 much better than with just a flourescent tube bulb.
As Sandy stated, dragons with Adeno tend to have calcium absorption problems. We have one that did not process powdered calcium very well either so we switched to liquid calcium & his urates look much better.

Let us know how things go at the vets. In order to test for the absorption of calcium, he would need to do an ionized calcium test which tests the 25 hydroxy levels or the ability of the bones to uptake calcium into the bones & the density of them as well.


Tracie

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Tracy,
She might of done one, would it of been seen on an X-ray and blood sample? I do have the test results as well as a picture of an x-ray I can send to ya would that help you out?