I took in my bearded dragon Liz about six months ago, after she was diagnosed with metabolic bone disease. She was living with my family before that. At the time, she was walking very strangely and crossing her arms. She also wasn't pooping very often, but I think this is because they didn't take her out often. They weren't concerned, so I took her myself to the local vet and they said that she was suffering from MBD. They did x-rays that indicated that though she was calcium deficient, her bones didn't look that bad. They told me to give her liquid calcium twice for thirty days, which I did. The day after the vet appointment she laid a bunch of eggs. Since then, I got a better UVB light for her (she used to only have a spotlight) and take her out way more often and give her more live prey they she used to get (they pretty much only fed her veggies).
Anyways, six months later and she has gotten a bit better. She has gained weight and can walk more normally, however now she has some eating and pooping problems. When I first took her in she was still eating a lot of veggies and started pooping once or twice a week, which was an improvement to how she was before. But lately she is pooping infrequently (every two to three weeks) and does not have an appetite for vegetables. I've tried mixing up what veggies I give and even introduced some fruit, but she just doesn't want it. She'll eat vegetables maybe once or twice a week. However, she still has an appetite for superworms. She'll eat these every day without problem (unless I try to feed her too early or too late).
Anyways, I took her back to my local vet recently and they said everything looked good and it could just be her being picky about food, but gave me the name of a reptile specialist group I could take her to if I was still concerned. Because her pooping has still been pretty infrequent and her eating habits are still weird, I decided to make an an appointment. During the appointment, the specialist vet basically just asked me a bunch of questions, made a few broad statements, and barely gave me any answers or advice on what to do. She made a comment about how maybe my beardie didn't actually have MBD because she hasn't gotten totally better. But then also said that dragons with MBD can never get fully back to normal. So that was the first confusion. Then she felt around in her stomach and said thought she could feel something that could be an egg or just fat but she didn't know. She didn't mention this again and never said anything about what to do. Then she mentioned something about my beardie maybe having a neurological problem but that there's no way to fully tell and that there's nothing I can really do about it. But then she also said that it's not necessarily fatal? I was very confused by that. I felt like she just kept making comments without really suggesting anything, so when I told her that I basically wanted to do everything I could to keep my beardie alive and healthy, she said that she would do a blood test and a fecal exam (luckily my beardie pooped on the way there). I'm still waiting on the blood test but the fecal exam came out normal.
What can a blood test show us? The doc never explained this. Does anyone have any advice at all for what I should do to help my beardie (honestly some of you may be more helpful than this doctor) or what I should ask my vet when I get the blood test results? I just feel like I spent a lot of money (350 dollars) to basically get no answers. I'm hoping the blood test reveals something but if it doesn't I feel like I'm just stuck.
Anyways, six months later and she has gotten a bit better. She has gained weight and can walk more normally, however now she has some eating and pooping problems. When I first took her in she was still eating a lot of veggies and started pooping once or twice a week, which was an improvement to how she was before. But lately she is pooping infrequently (every two to three weeks) and does not have an appetite for vegetables. I've tried mixing up what veggies I give and even introduced some fruit, but she just doesn't want it. She'll eat vegetables maybe once or twice a week. However, she still has an appetite for superworms. She'll eat these every day without problem (unless I try to feed her too early or too late).
Anyways, I took her back to my local vet recently and they said everything looked good and it could just be her being picky about food, but gave me the name of a reptile specialist group I could take her to if I was still concerned. Because her pooping has still been pretty infrequent and her eating habits are still weird, I decided to make an an appointment. During the appointment, the specialist vet basically just asked me a bunch of questions, made a few broad statements, and barely gave me any answers or advice on what to do. She made a comment about how maybe my beardie didn't actually have MBD because she hasn't gotten totally better. But then also said that dragons with MBD can never get fully back to normal. So that was the first confusion. Then she felt around in her stomach and said thought she could feel something that could be an egg or just fat but she didn't know. She didn't mention this again and never said anything about what to do. Then she mentioned something about my beardie maybe having a neurological problem but that there's no way to fully tell and that there's nothing I can really do about it. But then she also said that it's not necessarily fatal? I was very confused by that. I felt like she just kept making comments without really suggesting anything, so when I told her that I basically wanted to do everything I could to keep my beardie alive and healthy, she said that she would do a blood test and a fecal exam (luckily my beardie pooped on the way there). I'm still waiting on the blood test but the fecal exam came out normal.
What can a blood test show us? The doc never explained this. Does anyone have any advice at all for what I should do to help my beardie (honestly some of you may be more helpful than this doctor) or what I should ask my vet when I get the blood test results? I just feel like I spent a lot of money (350 dollars) to basically get no answers. I'm hoping the blood test reveals something but if it doesn't I feel like I'm just stuck.