8 Wks Old.. weird bump before tail?-SOLVED! UPDATE with PIC

[Kalyn876]

Hello, so here I am again being a worry-wort.

Another thing that seems odd to me is that my baby used to have a perfectly flat back (top pic) and in the last two weeks he has developed a type of hunch back?? (Bottom pic). I have never had a baby this young before so i am wondering is this normal or something I am doing wrong??

His temps are all good he has a Reptisun 10.0 thanks to this site and tile and newspaper for his substrate basking temps are 100-110 depending on the ambient temp in the room. I dust his crickets one out of his three feedings every day and vitamins once a week. He did have an RI and since then hasn't been eating like he was since the baytril.I had him on critical care for a few days because he wouldn't eat anything no hes up to about 10 cricktes a day but this is steadily increasing.

This may be a better angle

Thank You soo much for all your input!!

Kalyn

 

[Gail]

Poop looks fine, odd coloring once in awhile isn't anything to worry about.
How close can he get to the UVB bulb? Generally a hump like that is the beginning of MBD, is there anything like screen or plastic between the dragon and bulb?
What size of crickets are you feeding? Feeders that are too big can also cause back humps and/or partial impaction. I really would recommend taking him to the vet again to try and get this corrected before it gets worse. Of course, it could be a deformity that has nothing to do with MBD.
He looks awfully thin, I would suggest feeding the critical care at least once a day until he gets some weight back on him.

 

[Kalyn876]

There is a screen between him and the bulb...I move the screen 2X a day for as long as I'm home and not sleeping (morning and evening) I am feeding him 2 week old crickets which I pick through to find the smaller ones. Any Ideas as to how I can get the UVB in the tank its glass...maybe mighty putty; is it toxic??? I cannot leave the screen off all day because I have cats and I can't keep the bedroom door shut because it gets too hot in there.... I will definitely give the critical care once a day. The pic is also from this morning before he had breaky.

Thank you for the tips I really appreciate it!!

 

[SoleSky]

I velcroed my uvb to my glass tank. Just took a few strips of high strength and then I put it on the inside. Same with my digital therm.

 

[AHBD]

Poor little guy ! That's almost certainly m.b.d. since you have seen it develop in the time that he has not been eating, then he may not have gotten the calcium and also enough UVB exposure. The bones become soft and deformities are usually seen in the jaw, limbs back and tail...sometimes one area more than another. The back looking like that may be from the soft bones along with partial impaction. The way Solesky has his UVB light positioned would be really good for your guy, also mixing the calcium in with the critical care. If you can get him in the sun for a bit each day, that will help as well. [ Not unsupervised ] At least he still looks pretty alert. I hope you can keep him healthy, I know you really care for this little one.

 

[Kalyn876]

So i moved his UVB into the tank, 6-8 inches above him. How much calcium should I mix with the critical care? Should I up his cricket dustings to 2 or 3 times a day?
I also went home at lunch and sat outside in the plus 28 with him for two hours. I will expose him more when I get home.
I guess my last question is can this be reversed? I feel so horrible for doing this to him... bad bad mommy..

He is a trooper, hes stayed alert through an RI, baytril for ten days and now this...
I also bought him some pheonix worms however he won't eat them, He just looks at them like they are some kind of alien then goes for a cricket..bah

I can't thank everyone enough for your input!

 

[AHBD]

Hi Kaylin..no, you're not a bad mommy. You took him to the vet for fecals and for clearing up his URI. You were doing all you could for him . This type of thing can creep up on a baby , especially one that didn't eat well because of illness. The adjustments to the tank will def. help, and you don't need to take him out anymore today. If you can get some liquid calcium it might work better, but with the bulb closer that might even do the trick. You can usually get Calglucon at a drug store, but one of the moderators [Drache ] has a website that she sells it from. You can p.m. her for further info and dosing. I'm sure just a drop or so at a time.If you stay with the powder, just a small pinch with the critical care....it's hard to gauge how much with the powder, but he should benefit from it along with the lights being moved closer.

 

[lauraj1055]

I would definately get the liquid calcium for him which is more readily absorbed than the powder one.. you can get it at Drache's store

www.bug-de-lite.com

I keep my bearides on liquid calcium, and will never go back to the powder. I like knowing exactly how much calcium they are getting..

 

[Kalyn876]

I have now ordered the liquid calcuim from Drache613's website. I appreciate all the information and help. The funny thing is I have owned my other BD for 9 years and never had an issue I now know that was because I got him at a year old and have been very lucky. But the babies are so darn cute its well worth the stress!!

Thank You every one for your help.

P.S. I ordered the cherry flavour...hopefully he likes it. I had a hard time deciding which he would like more lol.. :lol:

 

[AHBD]

I wish all the best for him ! The hump may remain, but as long as you keep it from getting worse, he can still be a happy pet.

 

[lauraj1055]

I got the cherry for my babies too.. and they love it.. )

 

[Kalyn876]

Hey everyone,
First off thank you everyone for your help!! Due to our quick actions he has made a complete recovery!
These pics were taken yesterday July 9/2011 so only 3 days went by and look at the difference!

Hehe in the last one he just finished waving at me

 

[Drache613]

Hello Kalyn,

Well, he is definately cute for sure!
So you think his hump was caused by lighting? Well, hopefully you will get the calcium soon!
How is he doing today?

Tracie

 

[Kalyn876]

Hi Tracie,

I believe fully that the issue was caused by his UVB not being close enough to him not to mention the screen in between. When i lowered to UVB into the tank he would hang out under there all day for two days straight. I weighed him yesterday and he is now at 6.34g and eating like a champ again!I cannot wait to get the liquid calcium as i will be using it for the rest of his life

I don't think it was impaction because he has been pooping every day other than one day last week because he didn't eat much the day before.

Thank You sooo much for all your help!!

 

[lauraj1055]

That's a big difference, and now you can only see a very slight little bump.. and I'm sure in a couple days after getting the liquid calcium, and the the UVB being correct now, he will have a full recovery