Ever since my husband got me my baby beardie, Penelope, we've wondered if something was wrong. At first it was just her appetite. It took her about 3 weeks to start really eating correctly. Then her walk was a bit off. We thought maybe she was just a bit clumsy. We had read that bearded dragons were excellent climbers and rarely, if ever, fell off their trees. But Penelope seemed to constantly fall. It got to the point that I started lining the bottom of her basking tree with a soft blanket just in case she did fall.
Last week, we noticed her steps were a bit more exaggerated than they had been before. This week, it's seemed to get worse. We do have a vet appointment set up, but it's not until the 15th. All other vets I called are booked to April.
We've been doing more and more research, and I've contacted some experienced people, and we've come to think that Penelope may have muscular dystrophy. When I sent a video to one lady, she said Penelope could be the poster lizard for this disease.
So my questions are as follows:
1. Is there anyone that has experience with an MD beardie?
2 .Is there any other issue that could mimic the issues that MD presents? How would I know if it's an issue from one of her falls and not MD?
3. What kind of feeding routine is recommended? She can eat by herself so far. She loves her dubia roaches as well as wax worms. I've been told serrapeptase would be good for her. She is underweight so we were thinking of also giving her the Critical Care Carnivore. Can these two things be given together?
I just need advice and recommendations on how to help her. She doesn't seem to be in any pain. She still poops normally and eats every day. I give her calcium and vitamins. She has an Arcadia T5 Dragon 14% UVB tube light and a 100 watt basking bulb. She loves her hide and loves to climb but I'm honestly debating on getting her something smaller and lower to the ground. Any sort of recommendations are greatly appreciated. The picture is how she lays and falls asleep and even sits. She has ballerina legs. She is able to move them and sometimes bends them at the joint like a normal beardie, but it's happening less often than before.
Last week, we noticed her steps were a bit more exaggerated than they had been before. This week, it's seemed to get worse. We do have a vet appointment set up, but it's not until the 15th. All other vets I called are booked to April.
We've been doing more and more research, and I've contacted some experienced people, and we've come to think that Penelope may have muscular dystrophy. When I sent a video to one lady, she said Penelope could be the poster lizard for this disease.
So my questions are as follows:
1. Is there anyone that has experience with an MD beardie?
2 .Is there any other issue that could mimic the issues that MD presents? How would I know if it's an issue from one of her falls and not MD?
3. What kind of feeding routine is recommended? She can eat by herself so far. She loves her dubia roaches as well as wax worms. I've been told serrapeptase would be good for her. She is underweight so we were thinking of also giving her the Critical Care Carnivore. Can these two things be given together?
I just need advice and recommendations on how to help her. She doesn't seem to be in any pain. She still poops normally and eats every day. I give her calcium and vitamins. She has an Arcadia T5 Dragon 14% UVB tube light and a 100 watt basking bulb. She loves her hide and loves to climb but I'm honestly debating on getting her something smaller and lower to the ground. Any sort of recommendations are greatly appreciated. The picture is how she lays and falls asleep and even sits. She has ballerina legs. She is able to move them and sometimes bends them at the joint like a normal beardie, but it's happening less often than before.
