Possible severe MBD, advice needed?!

Hello,

Bit of background:
I rescued Pebbles in May, when he was around 3 months old so now about 8 months. He was very small due to a poor start in life & the loss of his tail. Since then he hasn't grown much & is only 4.5 inches & 27g.

I wouldn't say I'm new to beardies as I've had another for around a year but I'm no expert.

When I rescued Pebbles I went to the pet shop & sorted out a basic set up so I could rescue him ASAP with the intention of developing & upgrading it over time, the guy recommended a combined arcadia lamp which would give off UVB & be a basking bulb which would be sufficient as he is only in a 2ft viv.

Fast forward to now:
About 2 weeks ago, I noticed he was becoming less active (assumed brumation was beginning as my other dragon went into brumation this time last year) so I thought little of it. Then he was eating less, again, just thought I would monitor it, then was pooing less.

Last Thursday, I realised he hadn't pooed for a week, despite regular baths & whatnot. I was feeding him & his tongue was swollen & pushing out the food, the bug was actually crawling back out of his mouth before he could chew it & he had no strength in his legs, was kind of dragging himself (looked like he was swimming on the floor) & he was very swollen with air & doing this weird hiccup action.

I whisked him off to the vets who gave him anti biotics, pain relief & an anema as well as giving me some meds to continue at home, including a bowel movement medication & to bath in reptoboost. Her main concern was the bloating & lack of poo, then she was going to work out the rest.


At the weekend, I decided to check out my light to see if it was all fine & the UV was still going strong & to my horror, he had accidentally given me the wrong bulb so Pebbles has had virtually no UVB in 5months - I very quickly went & purchased a new full UV unit! So I searched MBD symptoms, he ticks pretty much everybox; swollen tongue, softened jaw, weak limbs, inability to lift himself.

So, after all that info - I just want to know, because I think he is quite severe, are things hopeful for him? Can dragons recover from severe MBD? I've rang the vet & she said monitor for another week & with the UV he should pick up a bit.

(He pooed a tiny bit yesterday, is eating via syringe at the moment because the tongue is still swollen - with calcium mixed in)

Hi there....poor Pebbles, his condition can possibly be stopped from getting worse but he may never actually regain much strength. Of course you can always hope and getting him on the right track ASAP is the thing to do. I'm surprised that he tolerated the enema in his condition, I would have opted for the laxative treatment first. You can also offer baby food squash or prunes, unsweetened applesauce and canned pumpkin [ with no spices ] To any of those add a few drops of veg. oil or raw honey which are all natural laxatives. Did the vet say what the antibiotics are for ? There has to be a reason, a diagnosis of something to necessitate givinig strong meds. The Reptaboost in the bath won't help anything, all meds. + nutrition must be taken orally. Daily baths in sticky solutions can be stressful. What exact brand of uvb bulb did you end up getting ? Can you post a few pics of him as well as his set up ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/

Thanks AHBD!
Sorry I forgot to say, yesterday I did give him some baby food, immediately before posting this & he was loving it, I mixed a little calcium powder into it too & he ate more than he has eaten in 2 weeks!
I double checked the meds, it's an antibacterial not antibiotic, she was worried there could be something wrong in his bowels but obviously we couldn't test it due to the lack of poo.
He was dehydrated also which is why she recommended the baths and to try to get him to pass poo - he is a lot more hydrated now so much have worked (I have also been syringing water into his mouth so could be either)
I bought an arcadia UV flood 12% which is what was recommended to me by a reputable reptile store.

Here is his set up, usually around 38C in the warm side, cannot remember cold side but lights have not long come on so will update when I get a good reading. The UV is currently on a 4 hour timer as to not overload him & hurt his eyes - recommended by the reptile specialist.


This was him on one of his worst days on Thursday, right before I took him to the vet. Legs were week, very sleepy, tongue out, soft jaw - I honestly thought he was going to die.


This was taken about 5mins ago, he still doesn't have much strength in his legs, but he has a lot more energy now & actually tries to move. He is holding his head up well & looks a lot brighter in general, his tongue isn't constantly out either but bottom lip is now bent like that all the time! The bloating seems to come & go now whereas it was constant before, seems to be when he is a little stressed like when I first pick him up but a few mins later it will go down again - unsure why that is?

Yes, he looks like he's doing much better already. Good to see his little tongue back in his mouth, his jaw will now probably always hang open slightly. The water by syringe is what's hydrating him, not the baths, so keep up the syringe feeding + hydration that way. What type of baby food are you using ? Some vets actualy prescribe a supplement called Oxbow critical care that is full of nutrients, maybe your vet can give you some. And can you give the name of the medicine, is it Panacur ? That would be a dewormer. As for the Arcadia uvb, that is the tube bulb across the top ? And the other heat bulb is what brand ? Don't turn the uvb bulb off, it's meant to be on all day. Pet store employees often give incorrect advice. One more thing, see if you can get the basking temp. up to 40-42 C, babies need a lot of heat, especially when they're sick. The cool side should be no less than 78-80. But I'm glad to hear that he's doing better already, sweet little guy.

I'm using a baby food called Ella's Kitchen - one is butternut squash, carrots, apples and prunes, the other is carrots, apples and parsnips - 100% natural ingredients with nothing added.
Will speak to her about the critical care meds although I have heard about Vetark Critical Care Formula that I can buy over the counter - is that any good?
The meds I have are:
Infacol - releases wind & reduces bloat
Loxicom - anti inflammatory/pain relief
Emeprid - helps bowel movement (laxative type med)
Baytril - antibacterial
Most were for his bloating and bowels cause he was the size of a balloon - he was like rolling over on his tummy.
Yep, arcadia flood is across the top & the basking bulb is arcadia basking solar flood 50w. Will having the UV on all day when he has never had it properly before not bother him? The pet shop guy was a reptile specialist with loads of reptiles himself.
I have just ordered a digital probe thermometer for both ends as I'm currently using a basic thermometer, cool end is currently 28C. Will turn the thermostat up & get the warm side a little hotter, although this will make the cool side warmer? (2.5ft viv not 2ft as previously stated).

Maybe just up the temp. by 1-2 degrees, that should be fine. And no, the uvb bulb should be on at least 8 hours....Pebbles needs it to absorb the calcium. I've raised beardies for over 20 years, so I know about beardies. I've owned many other reptiles as well. It would be different if the bulb was too close, but it's a good distance.

Are you in the U.K ? The baby food with parsnips,apples + carrots can be discontinued, the other one is fine but you'll want to get something like baby food chicken to give her protein. Either that or try the smallest fresh shed bugs you have. If in doubt, pull legs off + smash the head of any insect and if you can get a hold of reptiworms or Phoenix worms [ not mealworms ] that would be good, as would small silkworms.

As for all the meds., the laxative will not be needed now since she had an enema, and the baby foods themselves [ esp. squash ] will act as a natural laxative. The Baytril is an antibiotic....did the vet say what it's for ? That is a powerful drug and can cause dehydration and also wipes out the good bacteria that protects the immune system ....I would not use it if your dragon was not diagnosed with an infection. The anti inflammatory is probably not needed either.....her being bloated was firstly from being impacted + not pooing, and then baby beardies can bloat themselves when picked up sometimes, she might have done it at the vet out of fear. She's not bloated now, which is great ! I don't think she needs any of those meds. now.

He was getting it for 8 hours as it was on for 4, off for 4 then on for another 4. But will turn the timer off now.
I am in the UK, I did try looking for chicken but everything had all sorts of other bits like rice and pasta with it.
I was going to order some Calci worms today so he could had those & I'll try some small bugs tomorrow when I get my delivery, only have 3rds at the minute which is what he was struggling with because of the swollen tongue - this has reduced slightly.
She gave the enema & then the laxative to continue after as the enema didn't do anything but he has pooed a tiny poo twice now so will discontinue that. The anti inflammatory one was because the legs were weak she wanted to reduce pain & inflammation to try & get him moving again. I was thinking these were unnecessary now but didn't want to stop without the vet saying so, but will do now as obviously it's not just me who thinks they are unnecessary.
Thank you AHBD!

Your'e welcome. Actually 4 on, 4 off, four on is O.K at first, I thought you meant 4 hours total uvb. How many days is Pebbles to be on the pain meds. + Baytril ? And I wonder if the meds. are possibly being given for the swollen tongue ? Was it swollen or was he just sticking it out ? It looks O.K. now.

She never really said when to stop the meds, but only gave me a small amount so I just thought to keep going til I run out but that could be a little while still. He does still have a swollen tongue although much less than it was originally was, which is probably why he isn't sticking it out anymore, but still a slight issue