My Beardie is having minor spasms

I went to feed my 5 month old male beardie today and he was acting strange. He seemed to be walking fine, but after he would go for a cricket his head would snap back and one of his legs would go a little limp. Just when I thought he wouldn't move again, he would run across the cage to go for another cricket and he would spasm the same way. A couple of times he had such a big spasm that he flipped over onto his back.

I have a ZooMed UVB light with a little 50 watt night light that is on all day and night. I recently took him to my sisters house while I move apartments and they are keeping him in the garage, which is a little colder for him. Could that be the cause? I am going to get another light tomorrow, but I am not sure what to get.

What is weird is that he is still eating, as if he is not sick. We have been dusting the crickets about once or twice a week with a multi-vitamin/calicium/vitamin D mix. Can you over-do the supplements? Maybe my sister is dusting more than I did, I can't get a hold of her right now.

Anything will help, but I will be contacting a vet tomorrow morning.

Thanks in advance.













h

Hello,

No that is pretty much a classic symptom of metabolic bone disease.
What Zoomed UVB light do you have? Is it a flourescent tube bulb? By the description, it doesn't sound like you have a UVB light. Please check the type again for me.
The basking light, is it a colored one or a bright white light? It is not advised to leave any lights on overnight for them, as it can disturb their sleeping pattern. Can you post a picture of your lights & setup so I can see?
The calcium supplementation for his age, he needs a good dusting, once daily, 5 days per week. He is growing quickly & they utilize alot of calcium during the first year of their life.
What are the temps in the tank? How do you measure them, with a stick on thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?

Tracie

I will have to post the pictures tomorrow, but I can give you the rundown in words:

I have on zoo-med 100w bulb (I believe it is the Powersun UV model as it is a white light bulb that provides heat and UV. I have a 60 watt red bulb that stays on at night (I had read that they believe they can't see the red color and I was worried about the temps in his cage) both of these lights are on the right side of his cage where his grape vine stick is for basking.

The other side has a Hide-a-log and a water dish. I have a stick on thermometer on that side that rarely reads above 80 and a Petco digital thermometer on the other side which read 78 tonight. I don't really trust either of the thermometers, so I recently ordered a temp gun to see what is really going on. When I saw that the basking side was under 80, I turned on a space heater pointing at his cage to get the temp up. Unfortunately, I can't check on it until later tonight.

I was thinking it might be the UV as well based on what I have been reading. Tomorrow I will go by a UV setup that runs the length of the cage to ensure he is getting enough. Does that sound like a good idea? I have heard mixed things about the use of UV lights.

The weird thing is that he has never done this in the past, and I just moved him to my sisters 1 week ago. Do those bulbs get damaged when moving? I figured if it is giving off light it should be giving of UV, but I don''t know.

Thanks for the response. If anything sounds wrong about my setup please let me know. I will look at the bulb tomorrow (but I am pretty sure it is the Powersun UV model) and post pictures of the setup.

-Ken

Hello,

So you have a Powersun 100 watt mercury vapor bulb then? How far away is it & how old is it? If your dragon is only 5 months old, the bulb can't be any older than that, correct? It is a decent bulb. So, if it is new it should not be the problem. Is there anything blocking UVB emissions such as a screen? If so, that can greatly reduce the amount of UVB that he is getting. You can get a Reptisun 10 flourescent tube light but get it from http://www.petmountain.com It is much cheaper. Do not buy the Reptiglo 10 tube or coil light.
If it got banged around in a move, it could have gotten damaged. Even though it puts out light doesn't necessarily mean it is putting out UVB on a good level.
If you have not been dusting with calcium on a regular basis that is going to most likely be the problem, unless you have screen blocking your UVB light.
They can see the red light spectrum. Do you cover his head when he sleeps? It is recommended that no colored lighting is used at night. If you need nighttime heating, use a ceramic heat emitter for him.

Tracie