HELP ive never given my beardie calcium

OK so I understand that this was completely stupid of me and I made a big mistake but I have not given my Beardie any calcium since I've had him which has been around 10 months... I've read page after page on how to care for him and what to feed and felt like I was doing everything right! and up until recently I thought that was the case. In the last month I noticed very strange behavior in him, he was staying all day in his cave not coming out at all I tried a couple different things but nothing seemed to work so I just decided to block off the entrance in the morning figuring he was just getting to attached. once I started doing that I would find him curled up in the corner all brown and ice cold, He was not basking or eating his greens like he normally would although his appetite for crickets and superworms did not change. I was just at a loss for what to do so I did some research and all of a sudden I find out how much calcium your bearded dragon actually needs and I feel horrible... I can say for sure he probably hasn't had much calcium in his entire lifetime... Now my question is could my beardie have permanent damage??? can I make up for his lack of calcium? could he possibly have mtb? I have started sprinkling calcium in his greens and insects 5 times a week and he seems to be acting normal again but im exteremly paranoid... he doesnt seem to show any signs of mtb besides the lethargy that he showed before but that seems to have gone away and hes acting normal again... I NEED SOME ADVICE I also think he looks very small for his age hes almost a year old but doesnt look the size of a year old beardie i think.... could this be because of lack of calcium? again I just need advice can i reverse any possible damage if their is any at all?? and can someone run me down on mtb signs??? thanks so much!

Hello,

Things like this can happen. At 10 months of age, he most likely has some type of calcium
issue, just due to the fact they need so much to grow.
Have you been using a UVB light for him? If so, what type & brand are you using? What types
of foods have you been giving to him?
The signs & symptoms of metabolic bone disease are definitely lethargic behavior, but also
strange muscle twitches, the inability to walk or climb properly, loss of balance & appetite.
To post pictures here, you can click o the XIMG to upload photos to the image gallery then
copy/paste the IMG onto the site.
If you can also run over the tank setup, such as the size of your tank, substrate used, foods
offered & temperatures, also so we can be sure everything else is correct.
Since he doesn't seem to have any other signs other than lethargy & stunted growth, he
should be able to hopefully catch up without any visible signs like physical deformities, etc.
I would give him calcium 5 times per week on his insects & greens to try & get his levels up
right now. He may have lucked out & not develop any permanent health problems.

Tracie

thanks so much for the reply! Yes I give him 12 hours uvb light and I use a reptisun 10.0 uvb bulb and also a reptisun heat bulb which heats his basking spot up to about 100-110 F, I give him a portion of collard greens everyday as his staple green and mix in usually some other vegetable like carrot, parsley, cilantro or squash just to add color and variety he also love grapes so I give those too...I give him 15-20 crickets every other day and ill give him superworms as treats. As for the tank its a 40 gal and I use tile as substrate just cause its easiest for me to clean. I usually don't keep water in his dish since I live in florida the humidity gets to high in the tank but i do offer him water outside of his tank everyday although he gets most of his hydration through baths which i do once or twice a week. Also in the pictures you may see he has a kink at the tip of his tail but that's been there since I bought him as a baby other than that i really don't see any other deformities or anything like that...

Hello,

He looks very good, overall. I am pretty sure that he will be fine now that you have started a
calcium regime for him. Hopefully he will catch up on his growth too.
I really like his colors, the normals are gorgeous! His tank setup is nice also. Let us know how
he is doing.

Tracie

He does look very good, visually a picture of health. He must have derived a lot of calcium from his veggies, it shows just how important they are in the diet.


As Tracie said, you can get him started on the calcium now but just to avoid possible tummy upset or constipation maybe use it every other day .

Thanks so much for the replies! good to know besides the calcium thing i'm doing an OK job! Hes the love of my life and I would've hate to see him get sick because of poor care so thank you for the peace of mind! i'm lucky hes a strong man. also for anyone who's wondering his name is scully

Hello,

I'm glad that you realized you weren't giving him any calcium, before he started developing
calcium issues! Luckily, he must have had some good sources of calcium & has some good
genetics also.
I think he will be alright. Let us know how he is doing or if you have more questions.


Tracie