seizure questions

Status
Not open for further replies.

danzemacabre

New member
Posted this on another forum, someone redirected me here based on the knowledgable moderators. As such I will amend this post for a little more detail.

We are pet sitting my eldest's class beardie for the summer vacation. We have had him now for about 4 weeks, this is the second time we have had him. He started seizing the other day (Friday), which we have come to realize is mostly related to a calcium deficiency, but we have not taken him to a vet yet. The reason being is the seizures only seems to happen while he is in his enclosure. I have had him outside his enclosure, and outside this morning, for almost two hours with no episodes, but when we put him back in, within 30 minutes he had an episode and had one other before we took him out, about an hour apart. My family has taken turns watching him for the past 5 hours now, outside of his tank....no episodes.

Does anyone have any experience with this, phenomenon? That is the weirdest part, he will have episodes in his enclosure, but once you take him out...fine.

We are currently getting his diet back in order, as we were just given freeze dried crickets to feed him, and have just purchased a UVB bulb for him. After speaking to my daughter's educator, they want us to not use the UVB bulb and use her old bulb as "that is just something they get you to buy".

This is a picture of his enclosure.
104935-4546892634.jpg
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
There is no decor in the tank ---------- what kind of bulbs are in the domes on top- where is the dragon? What does he sit on for basking? Freeze dried bugs are not very healthy- here is a nutrition website for him / her http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html-- he / she should be offered a salad every day --- live staple feeders should be fed at least 2 times per week - I recommend dubia roaches -- they can be purchased on line or in one of your pet stores in they carry them - they can be kept in a 10 gallon aquarium or tote and fed carrots squash carrots apples -- they dont like greens -- the bugs should be dusted w/ calcium D3 and vitamins alternating between the 2-- I am thinking the dragon is in pretty bad shape if he is having seizures which would be from lack of UVB and calcium -- If you are going to help this dragon you need to listen to the people on this board as they are the most knowledgeable here --- what kind of UVB did you buy?
Karrie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Poor dragon, those teachers have no business keeping this exotic pet with specific needs ! Good on you for taking it home and trying to help ! It desperately needs a better diet and uvb. If not, it will continue to deteriorate, and the " owners " will not care much probably because it's not a cute, furry creature whimpering that tugs at people's hearts. Just a reptile that will suffer silently. Lack of calcium + uvb affects every function of the body, including neurological [ causing seizures ] and will shorten it's life span dramatically.

Anyway, it would be great if you get the dragon outside in the sun [ not in a glass tank, too hot ! ] and get some Repashy calcium plus or Reptivite calcium powder. Put a good uvb bulb over the tank, a mercury vapor bulb like Megaray [ heat + uvb in one ] or a Reptisun 10.0 t5 [ the long skinny tube ] for uvb along with a good heat bulb. As karrie said, there needs to be at least one large climbing log and a nice flat rock to keep it's claws trimmed. Can you post a few pics of him/her ?
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
AHBD":3hpmtftr said:
Poor dragon, those teachers have no business keeping this exotic pet with specific needs ! Good on you for taking it home and trying to help ! It desperately needs a better diet and uvb. If not, it will continue to deteriorate, and the " owners " will not care much probably because it's not a cute, furry creature whimpering that tugs at people's hearts. Just a reptile that will suffer silently. Lack of calcium + uvb affects every function of the body, including neurological [ causing seizures ] and will shorten it's life span dramatically.

Anyway, it would be great if you get the dragon outside in the sun [ not in a glass tank, too hot ! ] and get some Repashy calcium plus or Reptivite calcium powder. Put a good uvb bulb over the tank, a mercury vapor bulb like Megaray [ heat + uvb in one ] or a Reptisun 10.0 t5 [ the long skinny tube ] for uvb along with a good heat bulb. As karrie said, there needs to be at least one large climbing log and a nice flat rock to keep it's claws trimmed. Can you post a few pics of him/her ?

I concur.

I'd be very reluctant to hand him back to the school teacher when school goes back. It's pretty clear they don't give a toss about the dragon's welfare , the dragon is just furniture to them.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
After seeing the tank and what has been happening w/ this dragon for god knows how long my heart has just been hurting for the creature - hes got to be suffering from this kind of treatment - I dont know how the person who has this dragon could not see what kind of health its been in -- or the suffering --- After speaking to my daughter's educator, they want us to not use the UVB bulb and use her old bulb as "that is just something they get you to buy". If they want you to continue the type of care going forward the dragon will not live very long - as it is I am surprised it has lasted this long --- with all good conscious I could not continue w/ the care that they have said to do - I would be taking matters into my own hands and ignore them totally - the only thing is by the end of the summer if the dragon survives and continues to get better going back to the old care is just going to be for nothing
Karrie
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Oh, poor boy, but, at least you are taking care of him now. Are you able to take him on a
permanent basis, possibly? A lot of times, class pets go by the wayside in the care
department & especially exotic pets such as reptiles rarely receive the proper care or
attention needed to thrive.
It is a bit odd he doesn't have any seizures outside of his tank. I do think though that this
will be calcium & UVB related though. Which UVB did you get for him?
How is his appetite doing, has he been eating very much? I hope you are able to get him
to better health, soon. If possible, try to get some liquid calcium for him, too for help with
getting his levels up to par more quickly.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 

Liapera

Member
He absolutely needs a UVB bulb.
UVB is important because UVB tells the body to synthesize calcium.
Without UVB, the body does not uptake calcium, and the beardie will quickly develop metabolic bone disease. MBD is basically osteoporosis.

Twitching is one sign which can present in metabolic bone disease. Advanced stage metabolic bone disease presents seizures.

I would get this beardie on at least a D3 supplement to support small amounts of calcium synthesis if at all possible. That won't fix it however, he needs a good desert UVB, preferrably a tube instead of a coil bulb.

I would also recommend a vet visit. To save his life they may neeed to give calcium injections, and the teacher will need to read up on taking care of an animal they negligently gave a life-long disease to. Hopefully if you act quickly they can reverse a lot of the damage.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

Forum statistics

Threads
155,899
Messages
1,255,686
Members
75,965
Latest member
williamyoung
Top Bottom