1001 questions

[Callista]

Hi,
Sarkan is my first beardie, and I love him dearly. I adopted him from a rescue centre earlier this month, but because he's my first beardie I'm constantly worried about him. I've posted before in the health subforum about some questions, and I was really grateful for the replies from Kingofnobbys. But because I'm so paranoid, I wanted to ask you all some more questions...

First of all, his toe is a little swollen. It has been for four days now, with no change (or at least, I noticed it four days ago).

(it's the toe that is at the bottom of the picture, his right pinkie)

Should I take him to see a vet?

Secondly, today I saw him sitting like this:

I've read that sitting with the feet backwards can be a sign of MDB. I have an UV light, a reptisun 10.0 T5 HO tube, and he often basks underneath it. There is nothing between him and the bulb. He can get pretty close to the bulb (sometimes I'm worried he sits too close). He gets dubias dusted with calcium twice a week, and he usually eats about 8-10 every time. He also gets a salad every day, but he rarely eats from it. His temperatures are about 41°C (105.8° F) directly underneath the basking lamp, and 25°C (77° F) on the cool side. This is taken with an IR temp gun.
Is it bad that he doesn't really eat vegetables?

Sarkan is shedding at the moment, and it seems it's really bothering him. I give him a bath every few days to help him, but it really looks like he's itching like crazy (he's been scratching against everything, even using his feet to scratch at loose skin. I hope he won't hurt himself)

He also has a few scales that look grey, more so than the rest of his pre-shed grey:

(this is from a few days ago, he's shedding his back at the moment, so I'm hoping that grey spot is just from shedding and it will go away.)

Sarkan sometimes makes a puffing noise. He just opens his mouth and lets air escape with a puff (hard to describe). It's not coughing, I don't think. Is this bad?

Am I worrying too much? Should I take him to see a vet?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Can you post a picture with both front arm/hands in it. The picture with the toe you were referring to, the forearm looked a bit swollen, but it was hard to tell for sure.
As for them sitting with their arms back, it can be a sign of metabolic bone disease, or just being lazy. As long as he doesn't walk on the wrists then there are no problems there.
How close does he get to the T5 HO tube bulb? The 10% bulb shouldn't be able to be closer than really 10 or 12 inches, for safety. Is your basking light directly beside it too?
He is a leatherback, correct? The shedding can be a real source of aggravation to them & they can shed in weird patches, too.
They do a funny sounding forced exhalation puff that they blow air out real hard or puff themselves up. It doesn't sound like a cough though. If he can breathe normally & you don't see any mucous from the mouth or nose, it shouldn't be a respiratory issue.
I might recommend taking him in for a blood test if he is heavy enough, 100 grams or more, to see what his calcium levels & uric acid levels are.
You could increase his calcium to 3 times per week, also. Try to get him to eat some greens or vegetation, if possible. They do need it for health & for hydration. You can try putting colored pieces of pepper either red, or yellow in to see if that entices him, or strawberries or blueberries too.

Tracie

 

[Callista]

Hi Tracy, thank you for answering. Here's a picture of both his front legs:

(sorry that the picture is sideways, I don't know how to turn it)

He doesn't walk on his wrists, and so far I've only seen him sitting that way once.

This is my enclosure:

The platform in the middle is 18 cm (7 inches) from the UV lamp, his usual basking spot is 24,5 cm (9.6 inches) from the UV lamp. The lamp has no reflector. Is that too close? Is it harmful that he can get that close?

I don't know if he's a leatherback. I didn't think so, but as I said, he's my first beardie and he was adopted from a shelter. But I do know that he really doesn't like shedding.

He is 340 grams (I measure him every few days), so I'll see about making an appointment with the vet for a blood test.

I've been trying to get him to eat greens. He gets a salad of endive and butternut squash every day, with one or two extra ingredients. I've tried red bell peppers, apple, chicory, basil, zucchini, carrot... I'll see about getting some blueberries, but it's really not the season for them. He used to eat a bit of his salad, but that was before I fed him dubias for the first time. Now he only eats salad if I put some in his mouth when it is open while he is basking... (I probably shouldn't do that, but I'm worried he isn't getting enough nutrients. I do gutload the dubias before feeding them off).