(Update!) spasms and seizures

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laurenc

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Updates for anyone who has been replying to or reading about my issues with my lil baby

So I got home today and she’s moving fairly normally, the majority of her spasms and weird movements have stopped and she’s walking a lot better and even managed to catch some crickets! She’s come on leaps and bounds in a short amount of time so hopefully she just keeps getting better and makes a full recover!

Thanks so much for the advice and kind words to those who replied x
 

laurenc

Member
Original Poster
UPDATE (just incase anyone reads this and wants to know)
She’s had her oral calcium that the vet gave us
I know not to expect massive improvements straight away but today she seems less shaky, still a fair bit when she tries to get around but definitely less so and a lot less head shaking, still having a little issue with actually catching her food though so I’ve pureed her greens and syringed them to her, she’s reacted well and seems very alert and more hydrated

I know this sounds a bit weird but is it okay to purée some crickets into the mix so she gets enough protein, or hand feed them for a few days til she gets a bit better. I have been advised not to by a friend because apparently that will mess her up and I will always have to hand feed her? But I don’t want to give them to her as normal because I feel like it might stress her out while she’s having difficulty with her motor skills

Also is it safe to use a calcium dusting powder while alongside having 2 units orally syringed? I don’t want to make her more ill and as you can see I’m fairly new to this and very wary of making any more mistakes
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, so sorry about your poor baby ! Yes, the calcium is starting to work a little but the type of uvb bulb is crucial right now. What exact type + brand is it, and how close can she get to it ? Can you post pics of her tank and also the lights ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload

You can give her smallish to medium cricketsby hand if she wants them, just not too many at a time. Can you get her out in the sun ? [ NOT in a glass tank which overheats ] Just out on your lap or set in the grass on a warm day. This can help calcium absorption tremendously. Don't give her extra powder, only give what the vet has for her until it's gone. And discontinue the antibiotcs, that can dehydrate her + make her worse. It's on of the worse things that Dr.'s + vets can do, prescribe an antibiotic with no cause for it.

Hopefully with the liquid calcium + sunshine she'll bounce back. She may be vitamin deficient as well [ usually vit. B ] but hopefully not.
 

laurenc

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":zz5y05jr said:
Hi there, so sorry about your poor baby ! Yes, the calcium is starting to work a little but the type of uvb bulb is crucial right now. What exact type + brand is it, and how close can she get to it ? Can you post pics of her tank and also the lights ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload

You can give her smallish to medium cricketsby hand if she wants them, just not too many at a time. Can you get her out in the sun ? [ NOT in a glass tank which overheats ] Just out on your lap or set in the grass on a warm day. This can help calcium absorption tremendously. Don't give her extra powder, only give what the vet has for her until it's gone. And discontinue the antibiotcs, that can dehydrate her + make her worse. It's on of the worse things that Dr.'s + vets can do, prescribe an antibiotic with no cause for it.

Hopefully with the liquid calcium + sunshine she'll bounce back. She may be vitamin deficient as well [ usually vit. B ] but hopefully not.
.

Hi, thank you for your reply and advice

Unfortunately my phone cameras are broken from dropping it a few weeks back so I can get a picture of my set up just yet but I can try over next few days, and for now I can describe everything best as I can.

So my lighting is definitely an issue (I feel horrible, the pet shop obvs told me it would be fine and it’s definitely not) so a 10.0 uvb compact coil bulb by Reptisun :(
It’s 7 inches away. I have since done a lot of research and will get this corrected and get her a tube uvb ASAP, pet store wasn’t open today forgot it’s a Sunday.

Her basking lamp and temps are all good though. And substrate I have just been using newspaper as when I got her she came with large wood chippings which are not appropriate and the pet shop sold me calci sand but I got rid of it the next day after someone told me to research the dangers, luckily she’s not impacted. Why can pet shops sell and promote things that are so harmful or inadequate???
I’m so inexperienced I just didn’t think they could do that.

Yeah luckily it’s been really sunny here recently so I can get her outside for some direct sunshine!

Okay so should I not dust the cricks when I try and feed them to her later? And what about any kind of multivitamin? And yeah I did think that it’s probably similar to us having antibiotics that’s aren’t needed. Might speak to the vet again tho and just double check why they gave them to her

Again thanks so much for reading my ridiculously long post
 

laurenc

Member
Original Poster
UPDATE
she still can’t eat herself it’s like she can see the food but cannot make her head do what she wants it to and same with her limbs when she walks, I have tried hand feeding her and it won’t work she just can’t get it, I have syringe fed her so at least she has something but I feel absolutely terrible I’ve run out of ideas and don’t want to stress her out or hurt her, I do love her so much, unfortunately emergency vet isn’t an option and I’ve spent literally last penny I had at the vets with her on Saturday
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Keep up the syringe feeding and add a bit of extra calcium powder to it. Get her out in the sun as well. I know this is heartbreaking for you. :( If you teat her with calcium + sunshine and see no improvement you can guess about it being other issues. Get some reptile vitamins [ herptivite is a good one ] by Rep-cal, or miner-all without D3.


Another thing, have you bathed her before this happened ? Sometimes inner ear infection [ waer in the ear ] can cause this type of problem. Antibotics can clear that up if that;s the case.
 

laurenc

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":1flhk1l5 said:
Keep up the syringe feeding and add a bit of extra calcium powder to it. Get her out in the sun as well. I know this is heartbreaking for you. :( If you teat her with calcium + sunshine and see no improvement you can guess about it being other issues. Get some reptile vitamins [ herptivite is a good one ] by Rep-cal, or miner-all without D3.


Another thing, have you bathed her before this happened ? Sometimes inner ear infection [ waer in the ear ] can cause this type of problem. Antibotics can clear that up if that;s the case.
Thanks again for your reply, I will keep syringe feeding her just worried because I’m in work 9-5 tomorrow so will have to feed her and give her vitamins etc before work and I don’t want her to be alone all day :( I’m just beside myself, I love her so much and it’s all happened so quickly, I’ve barely slept at all since

And yes I did actually bathe her a couple of days before this happened
 
Sorry about your dragon. Btw, if you are going to buy a tube light at a regular pet store you probably won't find the correct brand, the only two trusting brands of tube lights are Reptisun or Arcadia. Petco may sell the reptisun T8 (It does at mine) but it is a weaker bulb therefore it must be mounted inside of the tank at around 6-8 inches from your lizard, and the bulb would have to be replaced every 6 months. Or, you could order the T5 HO Reptisun/Arcadia online. The pros are you can just let the light sit on top of your cage bc it is strong enough even at around 10-12 inches away from your dragon, it is more efficient bc it uses up less energy, and lastly you only have to replace it every year.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I am sorry about your girl, she does sound pretty critical. The oral calcium should help out
immensely. No need for extra powder right now, while using the liquid. Since she doesn't
seem to have an infection the antibiotics really are not needed either, as already suggested.
Meds can oftentimes cause more harm than good.
I would highly recommend buying the T5 tube bulb, either the Reptisun brand or the Arcadia
brand. They are much stronger than the T8 tubes. The stores probably wouldn't have the T5
tubes or it is limited on which stores have them. A T5 tube can be 10 or so inches from them
for safety.
I agree, do keep up with the syringe feeding right now while she is trying to recover. It would
be best to have her basking area low in case her bones are compromised so she doesn't fall &
hurt herself.
I'm glad you got the sand out too. It is very frustrating that pet stores continue to sell garbage
that is unsafe for reptiles.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie
 

laurenc

Member
Original Poster
Hi thanks for your replies I really appreciate it, on my lunch break I’ve been to get her an 18 inch 13% uvb by Arcadia and the correct set up for that, they also dropped the price of it a bit for me because I told them about her and gave me some similar advice that you guys and the vet have given me.
I can’t find anywhere that stocks the T5 bulbs in my area so I just got her this one for immediate use and I will order the T5 online just i needed to get something for straight away if that makes sense.

Also been told that this is an issue that will have been going on with her for a few months so definitely before I got her?
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That is great you were able to get an Arcadia 12% or a 14% either one. Just be sure to place it
at around 6-8 inches from her, unobstructed. It is a good bulb. So, you can upgrade to the T5
when you are able to find one.
How is she doing today?
Yes, she most likely had these issues before you got her then if she has had these problems for
awhile. She probably didn't have proper UVB & supplementation previously. I hope that she
makes a full recovery!
Keep us posted on her.

Tracie
 

laurenc

Member
Original Poster
Hi, yeah it’s 12% think I maybe have accidentally written 13
Got it 6 inches away from her and unobstructed :)

She is doing so well in such a short amount of time she has stopped twitching and spasming, can walk in a straight line and her motor functions are pretty much back to normal, she even caught her own dinner last night so no longer needs hand feeding! Really didn’t expect this kind of turn around so quickly so I hope this means she’s okay now

Still keeping my eye on her and the oral calcium of course, thanks again for all of your advice
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That is wonderful news! It sounds like the calcium & lighting are really helping him out
quite a bit now. Hopefully you caught it in time & he will have a full recovery now.
Feel free to post more pictures if you would like. We all love to see pictures.
Sure, the Arcadia 12% tube bulb is very good & since it is unobstructed then she should
be getting great UVB exposure. :)

Tracie
 
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