Worried about my baby beardie.

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Help please.

We have had our baby beardie for several months and she's been doing great until yesterday morning. When my husband went to check on her he said she was on the floor of her tank and dragging her back legs. Initially I thought she was impacted because of having to feed her slightly larger crickets because of a shortage of crickets due to winter. We gave her a warm bath, pure pumpkin, unsweetened apple sauce with olive oil and organic prune baby food.she doesn't seem to be getting any better and doesn't want to stay on her basking branch, she would rather be on the bottom and she holds her head up fine but doesn't really pick her body up and I'm worried it may be MBD starting. I'm lost and extremely worried about her.

Side not her UVB bulb went out and I bought a new one on Wednesday.

Also we have a appointment with a vet but he's out of town and couldn't see her until Monday.
 

CooperDragon

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That's not a good sign. It might be MBD. Which UVB light are you using? How far above her basking area is it sitting? If you want to post photos of her setup, you can upload them here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button when you reply.

Are you dusting the crickets with calcium powder when you offer them? Proper dietary calcium combined with proper UVB exposure and temperatures are key to preventing MBD and other health problems.
 

Malloryaw92411

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I use a Exo Terra® Repti Glo Desert Terrarium Bulb - UVB 150, 26 Watts, she is in a 40 Gallon tank, we had to add a heat emitter next to her basking bulb because we couldn't get her hot side hot enough, they are in a double dome, her UVB is in a separate dome but directly next to the other two bulbs. Her basking spot is maybe 12 inches or a inch or 2 more from the bulbs. I will upload photos of her enclosure in a moment.

I dust her crickets in zoo med repti calcium with D3.

Could the new UVB bulb be what's causing this because I noticed no problems until it was changed.
 

CooperDragon

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It may be a problem that has been creeping up. The 26w 150 is an OK(ish) UVB light for small tanks but isn't much use beyond about 7'' based on my testing, especially if it's shining through a mesh top which will intercept some of the UVB. In a tank that size, and sitting on a mesh top, I advise getting a 24'' T5 tube like this http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/ These provide excellent UVB at around 12-14'' (10-12'' through a mesh top) so it's better suited for your setup. The bulbs are great too. They can go at least a year without needing replacement.
 

Malloryaw92411

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I have only had this bulb since Wednesday. She was a extremely picky eater when we first got her. Terrified of crickets and would only eat certain baby foods and only off the tip of my finger. She now eats small crickets and I try to dust at least 10 a day because that's what I was told to do. She will still eat baby food but I cannot get her to eat vegetables and will lick fruits. She was extremely tiny when we got her. Is there anything else besides the bulb I can do until we go to the vet on Monday?
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Malloryaw92411":gmx65vpa said:
I have only had this bulb since Wednesday. She was a extremely picky eater when we first got her. Terrified of crickets and would only eat certain baby foods and only off the tip of my finger. She now eats small crickets and I try to dust at least 10 a day because that's what I was told to do. She will still eat baby food but I cannot get her to eat vegetables and will lick fruits. She was extremely tiny when we got her. Is there anything else besides the bulb I can do until we go to the vet on Monday?

At the very least return the bulb and exchange for a much more powerful 26W UVB200.

Strongly suggest mounting it so NOT more than 8" from the basking spot which will now be the floor.
&
remove the branch for now , don't want little bearded dragon falling and hurting itself if it can't use it's back legs
&
vet visit is STRONGLY ADVISEABLE.
 

Malloryaw92411

Member
Original Poster
She has started using them a little but I only left the rock in there she already has a vet appointment for Monday because our vet is out of town until then.
 
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