HELP! Beardie eye roll back of head, twitch, head spasm

I got spike 2/25/17 at a reptile expo. Breeder said he was 5 wks (I think hes older because he's about 9-9 1/2". This is the 1st time I've seen him do this.
When I got up to feed spike today he was lying on the floor w/ his head down and usually every morn. Hes on his rock or branch. When I went to feed him he didn’t even move & usually he’s jumping @ the crickets & chasing them as I put them in. He's very dark, & seems lethargic. His eyes are dark underneath & has stress marks (he is in the process of shedding if this could be the reason). His hand/fingers and feet were bending backwards. I've never seen this happen to him before. He was sitting on his rock & his left eye started twitching, & it rolled in the back of his head with his eyelids still open & I saw a reddish film (I don’t know how to explain the redness) & he kept opening & closing his eye & it would roll back again when he opened it like it was stuck or something. 10 mins later he got up and he was having like a spasm – his head was bobbing, moving back fourth quickly & his arms seemed twitchy & then he ran & jumped on his branch.
Tank: 20 Gallon, (30"L x 12"W x 12"H)
My temps are : Day: Basking: 100 – 110, Warm Side: 85, Cool Side: 70
Night: All Areas: 65 (I don't use the night lamp)
Humidity: 20%
Lighting: UVB: Zoo Med™ ReptiSun® 10.0 UVB Reptile Lamp (T8) with an 18” hood
Basking: Repti basking spot lamp (100 W) and Nocturnal Infrared Head Lamp (100 W) w/ a Zoo Med™ Combo Deep Dome Reptile Dual Lamp Fixture
Substrate: Zoomed eco Carpet
Feeding: I have zoomed cricket and calcium gutload block in the cricket cage
dust crickets with zoo med’s reptivite vitamins once a wk
Crickets: 10 – 12 daily give or take
Lettuce: Every other day
Doesn't eat pellets, or fluker's juvenile buffet veggie blend.

The stress marks and spasms don't sound good to me. Did the eye bulging look like this? https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/eyebulging/ if so, it's normal and part of their shed cycle. Your setup sounds pretty good. I'd replace the red bulb with a ceramic heat emitter if you want overnight heat. The red bulb would disturb sleep and isn't really helpful during the day. Temps are right on. UVB is a good one if he get get within 6-8'' of it. Can you post some photos of him? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to the thread using the XIMG button.

The spasms are concerning to me though. Do you have an experienced reptile vet in the area who could take a look at him?

CooperDragon":3ngbbyv3 said:

The stress marks and spasms don't sound good to me. Did the eye bulging look like this? https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/eyebulging/ if so, it's normal and part of their shed cycle. Your setup sounds pretty good. I'd replace the red bulb with a ceramic heat emitter if you want overnight heat. The red bulb would disturb sleep and isn't really helpful during the day. Temps are right on. UVB is a good one if he get get within 6-8'' of it. Can you post some photos of him? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to the thread using the XIMG button.

The spasms are concerning to me though. Do you have an experienced reptile vet in the area who could take a look at him?

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I saw that website today with the eye bulging, and no it wasn't really eye bulging it was like his eye lids were twitching and his eye rolled in the back of his head a couple times like it was stuck. The first picture uploaded of the my tank set up I changed it around to today, and the second was what I had it like before. I thought maybe because they were side by side he wasnt getting enough UVB light, but I noticed before and after I changed it everytime he was on the rock under the basking light his fingers would go upward (which I have pictures of) and when he was on the branch he was fine.
and then heres after those pictures when he jumped off the rock which he seems to look a little better

I went out to shovel and when I came back I think he was even darker than before (idk why the picture uploaded upside down)

I was looking at vets today and I think I might have found one. I am going to try and take him Thursday or Friday. I couldn't take him today because we had a huge snowstorm and I worked from home, hence why I've noticed all of this happening today

He looks pretty good in those photos. The fingers going upward when they bask is normal. It may be to protect them from a hot surface but I'm not certain. It's common though and my dragon does it too. The darkening is just basking behavior and is also normal. He's absorbing the light by darkening his skin. The little ones tend to have those patterns on their chin and belly when they do it but that goes away as they get older. The eye rolling and twitching is what has me concerned. That sounds like a seizure which is concerning and warrants a vet visit. Can you try and capture video of it if he does it again? You can upload a video to a hosting site like vimeo or youtube and post a link here. Seeing what he's doing might be helpful.

CooperDragon":3lr890ru said:

He looks pretty good in those photos. The fingers going upward when they bask is normal. It may be to protect them from a hot surface but I'm not certain. It's common though and my dragon does it too. The darkening is just basking behavior and is also normal. He's absorbing the light by darkening his skin. The little ones tend to have those patterns on their chin and belly when they do it but that goes away as they get older. The eye rolling and twitching is what has me concerned. That sounds like a seizure which is concerning and warrants a vet visit. Can you try and capture video of it if he does it again? You can upload a video to a hosting site like vimeo or youtube and post a link here. Seeing what he's doing might be helpful.

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I've read that when their fingers do that it could be a sign of MBD, but then again I'm not sure. What concerned me is that he never looks like that when he basks, and that the first time he did it was when his fingers were upwards. he always has those lines but they are very light. He is sleeping now, but if he does it again I will take a video and post it to you. I am going to take him to the vet this week, I'm going to call tomorrow to make an appt. Thanks for all of your help!

Bearded dragons have what's called a nictitating membrane or "third eyelid". It sounds like this may have been what you saw. If that's the case, it would be normal except for all the other things you described. (The only reason I know this is because my beardie was blinking his eyes one evening and I saw something weird, so I googled it.)

It's good that you're planning to take him to the vet. Hopefully they'll be able to figure out what's wrong and prescribe something that will help him.

Hello,

The tank setup looks nice, that's a great platform!
You are giving him reptivite once weekly? That is fine, but he isn't getting enough calcium. Even gutloading the insects with a calcium block/feed probably isn't enough. I would recommend getting a straight calcium only powder or liquid for him, to give 4-5 times per week.
The light placement is good & it's nice & bright for him.

Let us know how things go at the vets.

Tracie

SHBailey":3pxh4u3i said:

Bearded dragons have what's called a nictitating membrane or "third eyelid". It sounds like this may have been what you saw. If that's the case, it would be normal except for all the other things you described. (The only reason I know this is because my beardie was blinking his eyes one evening and I saw something weird, so I googled it.)

It's good that you're planning to take him to the vet. Hopefully they'll be able to figure out what's wrong and prescribe something that will help him.

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omg, thanks so much for that! I've been freaking out because I saw it again tonight, but yes I am taking him to the vet on Friday. I will give an update after everything! Thank you for your help!!

Drache613":3rnl2p2g said:

Hello,

The tank setup looks nice, that's a great platform!
You are giving him reptivite once weekly? That is fine, but he isn't getting enough calcium. Even gutloading the insects with a calcium block/feed probably isn't enough. I would recommend getting a straight calcium only powder or liquid for him, to give 4-5 times per week.
The light placement is good & it's nice & bright for him.

Let us know how things go at the vets.

Tracie

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Okay, I started using the calcium powder, and then I got the cricket block. I will start using them both. Do you think that I should look into getting a longer UVB light? My tank is 30" long, and UVB light is 18" long with a 20" hood..

and yes I am taking him to vet on Friday and I will post an update afterwards! Thank you all for your help!

Sounds like seizure activity to me. Could be a calcium deficiency, organic neurological problem, poss. adenovirus...I have seen the same symptoms in a few other bearded dragons. It was related to one of the 3 things mentioned.
Glad your taking it to the vet.

Hello,

Great, let us know how the vet visit goes.
I think you should see improvement using calcium powder specifically for him. Hopefully he wont have anymore issues with spasms, etc.

Tracie

OK, I know this thread is several months old, but I just have to know how the vet visit went, and what the little guy was diagnosed with, and how he was treated. Could the OP please post an update if s/he still visits BD . org?