We bought our first beardie in early July and unfortunately it turns out we were given many wrong care instructions for him. I was wondering how long it takes MBD to develop in a young dragon (he/she? is around 13 weeks old now).
Last Saturday morning my husband went in to check on Chomps. He's usually very energetic, happy, excited to see people all the time. Also loves to watch my husband play computer games and flight simulator. That morning he was hiding at the back of his tank, not moving, head clear to the ground. My husband tapped a bit on the tank for a response and got none. He offered Chomps his morning water and still had little to no response so he came to find me and ask what to do.
I went online and looked, seeing the main suggestion was to take a beardie acting like that to a vet. Thankfully we live near an ARAV member vet and he was able to see Chomps that day. When we got him out of his tank, my husband saw he had a slightly bloody foot, leading us to believe he'd injured it badly in a fall off his branch or something similar. Once at the vet's they checked him over and said his foot was just a small toenail injury.
They took him off to the back to weigh and exam him better. When the vet came back in, he said our poor little Chomps had a calcium deficiency and they wanted to do some blood work on him. After a few more minutes the vet came back in, still beardie-less He said they wanted to keep him the rest of the weekend to give him some calcium injections and monitor him to see just how bad off he was.
Monday came and went, no lizard allowed to come home. Tuesday morning we finally got a call saying he's still very sick, but he can come home! We hurried around and got to the vets to pick our little guy up. The vet tech brought him in wrapped in a towel to give us our home care instructions. He was diagonised with MBD, and we were given calcium drops for twice daily use as well as a can of dog/cat food for twice daily feedings.
I got him home and he had no energy at all. He stayed in one spot, head resting down most of the day. That evening my husband took care of the feedings and he ate pretty well overall. The next day it was my turn and he didn't want to eat of course. I got most in him over a few hours time, but it was work...lol....By today, he's looking better already. We've still got a long way to go, but he's moving around, head up most of the day, and putting up some good fight! He even gave a few little hisses and poofed himself up when the husband tried to pick him up. His crickets are disappearing again too, so he's eating some on his own at least.
We've now changed his lighting, changed his diet, and changed his substrate to give him a better place to live. I've talked to the vet once this week for an update I had emailed and he said it sounds like he's improving well. Each day he gets stronger and more like the dragon we brought home with us. I'm not sure what a normal calcium level in a bearded dragon is but the vet told me his was at a 3, which is on the verge of death, so we are thankful he's made it this far
Last Saturday morning my husband went in to check on Chomps. He's usually very energetic, happy, excited to see people all the time. Also loves to watch my husband play computer games and flight simulator. That morning he was hiding at the back of his tank, not moving, head clear to the ground. My husband tapped a bit on the tank for a response and got none. He offered Chomps his morning water and still had little to no response so he came to find me and ask what to do.
I went online and looked, seeing the main suggestion was to take a beardie acting like that to a vet. Thankfully we live near an ARAV member vet and he was able to see Chomps that day. When we got him out of his tank, my husband saw he had a slightly bloody foot, leading us to believe he'd injured it badly in a fall off his branch or something similar. Once at the vet's they checked him over and said his foot was just a small toenail injury.
They took him off to the back to weigh and exam him better. When the vet came back in, he said our poor little Chomps had a calcium deficiency and they wanted to do some blood work on him. After a few more minutes the vet came back in, still beardie-less He said they wanted to keep him the rest of the weekend to give him some calcium injections and monitor him to see just how bad off he was.
Monday came and went, no lizard allowed to come home. Tuesday morning we finally got a call saying he's still very sick, but he can come home! We hurried around and got to the vets to pick our little guy up. The vet tech brought him in wrapped in a towel to give us our home care instructions. He was diagonised with MBD, and we were given calcium drops for twice daily use as well as a can of dog/cat food for twice daily feedings.
I got him home and he had no energy at all. He stayed in one spot, head resting down most of the day. That evening my husband took care of the feedings and he ate pretty well overall. The next day it was my turn and he didn't want to eat of course. I got most in him over a few hours time, but it was work...lol....By today, he's looking better already. We've still got a long way to go, but he's moving around, head up most of the day, and putting up some good fight! He even gave a few little hisses and poofed himself up when the husband tried to pick him up. His crickets are disappearing again too, so he's eating some on his own at least.
We've now changed his lighting, changed his diet, and changed his substrate to give him a better place to live. I've talked to the vet once this week for an update I had emailed and he said it sounds like he's improving well. Each day he gets stronger and more like the dragon we brought home with us. I'm not sure what a normal calcium level in a bearded dragon is but the vet told me his was at a 3, which is on the verge of death, so we are thankful he's made it this far