Curved Spine

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Hello. I recently got a pet bearded dragon from petsmart, and she had a curved spine. I've had her for a few months and i've noticed the curved spine is actually impacting her (toppling over). I'm pretty sure she had gotten metabolic bone disease at petsmart, but I just want to make sure i'm giving her the proper treatment. I'm aware I can't cure it but she's still growing so I want to help her as much as I can. This is my current tank setup
50 gallon tank
18 Inch uvb (reptisun)
Daytime and Night time basking bulb (exoterra)
I also dust calcium with her food and leave calcium in her cage. For her diet I give her meal worms probably once a week, I try to feed her leaks and squash occasionally so she digests everything properly. Mainly i feed her dubia roaches and crickets.
Also, her curve is slight but it starts at her back legs which is resulting in her tipping over.
If you need more info please ask! I appreciate any suggestions regarding her setup and diet, thank you.
 

nullthegod

Member
Original Poster
I forgot to mention this, it might be important!
recently she ate something and became impacted, with both her bottom legs paralyzed. Luckily I treated it when i noticed she hadn't pooped and she was dragging her legs around, but could this have worsened it? If this caused it to worsen will it get better overtime since it's not the metabolic bone disesase itself? Sorry if that's stupid but I think it could have worsened it. (Note: She started walking on her bottom legs again after pooping)
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Do you have any pictures of your dragon?
Are you using calcium supplementation daily or several times per week?
The feeders that you give need to be smaller than the space between her eyes to help in
avoiding impaction issues. Did the curve in the spine happen to get worse after the
insects were fed?
It is possible she could be impacted but also could be calcium related, too.
The Reptisun tube is a good bulb. Is it on top of or underneath of the screen top?
Do you know about how old she is?
If you can post pictures of your tank set up so we can see it all as well.

Tracie
 

nullthegod

Member
Original Poster
110198-1792774825.jpg
Here is the picture of her. I believe she is about 6 months?? She was a bit bigger when i got her so i’m not too sure. I feed her calcium without d3 daily and then i feed her calcium with vitamin d3 about once a week. Its hard to tell personally, but i do feel her spine worsened after the impact ion issue.
 

nullthegod

Member
Original Poster
110198-4027915327.jpg
Here is her tank. I’m actually relocating her into a bigger tank that i’m currently building, so i do not have uvb on the inside. Although, in this new tank i will. I keep a small bowl in her cage with calcium (its hard to see in the pic but its sort of behind the leaves) i also sprinkle calcium on her basking area cause she tends to eat it off there, and i get nervous with the carpet. Regarding the carpet, i feel nervous cause her nails tend to get stuck but I’ve heard so many bad things about calcium sand. What would be the best flooring for her new cage? I was thinking tile (i dont want the carpet to rip her nails out)
 

nullthegod

Member
Original Poster
Sorry for all the replies, but i’d like to say this regarding impaction. I’m almost positive she was impacted about a week ago but I did a lot of research with how to help and she pooped about 2 days ago. After pooping, she was able to walk again, so i assume it had pushed against her spine. The leaks and squash seemed to help with that so i’ve decided to feed her those frequently so she digests everything properly :). I was so relieved to see her up and moving but i’m thinking the paralysis could have done something to her spine to worsen it. Luckily she has a lot of time for growth, but im still kinda concerned. Also as i said before i’m not too sure on her age because she was slightly bigger when i got her (she’s currently around 14 inches i’d say)
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Thanks for the pictures, I appreciate it.
The Reptisun 10 tube is on top of the screen so it may not be strong enough having to
go through the screen top. Are you able to mount the tube bulb underneath of the screen
perhaps, so that she can get a stronger UVB exposure?
It is hard to tell but the tube bulb is in a light fixture, correct?
The calcium intake sounds fine, you can continue the regime for that right now.
Impaction will absolutely cause pressure on the spinal column which will ultimately affect
the mobility of the legs rendering full or partial paralysis.
So she is better today? For now, I would continue giving more oral fluids or soft foods to
help the digestive system until everything is passed through.
As far as the substrate, you can opt to use a non adhesive shelf liner, or slate/textured tiles
either one of which are very easy to keep clean.
She should continue to improve, especially since she is still growing. Let us know how she
is doing.

Tracie
 

nullthegod

Member
Original Poster
Hey i just wanted to let you guys know that her spine is no longer curved. I'm surprised at how quickly it got better bet after another big poop, it seems to be normal again. So, I guess its safe to assume the impaction was causing the curve :). Anyways I kept feeding her squash and stuff and she's pooping normally now :D Thank you for all the help, also I don't know how to close the post lol.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Oh wow, her spine is straightened out now? Do you have any pictures of her you could
post now that she is better?
You don't need to close the thread, it will just fall off eventually down in the posts if you
don't want to keep it updated. Or you can start more threads & contribute to other posts,
etc.
I hope you stay on & help out, or learn more from others, too.

Tracie
 
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