Beardie is walking funny. Possible MBD?!

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uscpsycho

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Rufus is four years old and a good size. He is right about 24", weighs 26.5 ounces and is still gaining weight since brumation. The only veggies he'll eat is the baby food I hand feed him and otherwise he mostly heats bugs. Temps are correct and he has a mercury vapor light for basking and UV.

He's been pretty lethargic the last few days in his enclosure, which I chalked up to him being moody due to major shedding. But I take him out every day to get his baby food and everything was normal. The last two days I didn't feed him any bugs so he hasn't eaten much but he's had veggies available if he wanted them.

He usually poops every day but he hasn't pooped in the last couple of days so I gave him a nice warm soak today and he had a healthy poop in his bath.

When I took him out of the bath he was struggling to walk, I have never seen this before. But after a few minutes of this he was back to walking regularly and even climbed up a step to a raised area in my house and then back down. I fed him a roach in he enclosure and he went after it. I just checked on him and he climbed up to his preferred basking spot which is a bit of a climb (he hasn't climbed at all for the last 2-3 days).

This is a video of him trying to walk after the bath - https://www.dropbox.com/s/c2bq4tvceydu5fs/20190816_121045.mp4

From some videos I looked at online, the way he was walking might be associated with MBD. But it didn't last long, he popped right back up and was back to walking normally. I know he wasn't walking this way because of impaction because he just pooped. He gets calcium/vitamin supplements with his food and the roaches are properly gut loaded. I would be shocked if he had MBD but anything is possible, maybe it is the very early stages. Here he is basking today.
87592-4976260946.jpg

You can see in the video and the photo that he looks pretty darn healthy. Should I wait it out and see if this happens again or should I get him right to a vet? It is Friday and if I don't take him today I might not be able to take him in until Monday.

Some advice or reassurance would be appreciated!
 

Ziggy17

Member
I saw you said he was shedding. Could it be possible he was trying to scratch his belly on the floor to loosen shedding skin? Just a thought :)
He is a good-lookin' guy!
 

uscpsycho

Member
Original Poster
I have never noticed him walking this way to exfoliate. (Can we call it exfoliating? lol) Has anyone ever observed their dragon walking like this while shedding?

I haven't seen him actively trying to remove the shed this time. In the past I've seen him rubbing his face against objects to loosen the shed but haven't seen anything like that lately. I have been giving him a healthy mist every day to help with it.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
To me it looks like he cant get any traction on the smooth tile --- mine will walk like that on my kitchen floor which is a smooth vinyl floor--
Karrie
 

uscpsycho

Member
Original Poster
Rufus doesn't have any trouble navigating the tile, so that's not it.

I think Ziggy was right about Rufus trying to get the shed off. I monitored him a lot today and he was rubbing his body all over. So forcefully that he pushed a large log around. And he was also rubbing his belly on the floor of his cage. So now I'm pretty sure that he was trying to get loose skin off after his bath. But it definitely didn't look like that, I was so worried about him.

I also saw him eating greens today for the first time in over a year! I was so excited! He must be hungry because he put the salad in his mouth and spit it out twice before he finally caved in and ate a big piece :lol: It was only one piece but :blob8: :blob5:

I'll keep an eye on him and post if there are any concerning changes but for now I think all is well.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That actually does look like he is trying to get shed off more than anything else. You
mentioned he can support himself fully on all fours & walk around normally? They can
really rub on things trying to get skin off if it's really bothering him.
That's great he finally ate a little bit of greens, hopefully he will start eating more. They
can really be picky when it comes to eating greens, too.

Tracie
 

uscpsycho

Member
Original Poster
Watching that video again it really does look like he's trying to rub skin off his belly but he isn't getting traction that low to the ground. Walking on all fours on that tile is no problem for him so I never considered loss of traction.

Everything seems pretty normal with him since that day. Of course he hasn't eaten any more greens, and he still seems like he's in a bad mood because he's still shedding. But I'm not worried about anything being wrong with him at this point.

What a relief! I was so worried about him when it looked like he was struggling to walk.
 

Orochimaru

New member
this looks just like when they are trying to get off a little extra itchy part on their soft bellies, its rather annoying when they have to shed. Also as it was right after a bath its the best time to peel off any extra skin without any itch or pain so they usually go at it. I would look for the behavior after the shed is done and if it still continues then maybe a vet visit to make sure everything is A-OK
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is your boy doing today? Was he able to get all of that skin off of his little belly?
Has he eaten very much? I hope he is getting everything shed off of him, it can be a
pretty stressful time for them!
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie
 

Aaradimian

Juvie Member
If this is just him trying to get shed off, you might be able to pick up a chunk of lava rock cheap at a pet store for his cage. Each of ours has a fist-sized chunk in their vivs & love it when a shed rolls around. We've never had any issues with them hurting themselves with it and it's pretty cute to watch them scratching themselves.
 

uscpsycho

Member
Original Poster
Just an update that everything is fine with Rufus. He is a big boy and is still working through this shed. Lately, about half the time he comes out of the bath he does the same weird walk for a while.

Today he had a lot of loose shed and when I misted him he acted like a crazy person. He was just walking in circles rubbing as much of his body against the floor and objects as he could. Never seen a beardie do that, it was so cute. And he's been trying to scratch it off with his toes too. It looks like he got almost all the shed off now, he's been such a grumpy old man lately so I'm looking forward to him being himself again.

Thanks for the help. I was so worried for a minute there but I take such good care of him and he's never had an issue so if he was sick I would have had no idea what went wrong.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That is excellent news to hear your dragon is doing well now!
I hope he gets all of his shedding completed soon because I know it sure does frustrate
them when they can't quite get all of it off. It does give them a lot of exercise when they
are running around trying to get their skin off!

Tracie
 
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