newmommy2011
Member
Hi there, first to those who post replies and moderate this site - thank you!! I want you to know I have read all I can on this board and I am so very appreciative of all those who give advice and compassionate help to new mommies like me! I have read all I can about this in the last couple days, so I will try to just get to my particular questions quickly... I am pretty sure my 9 month (estimate) old Beardie has MBD. His name is Chris and he is - otherwise - healthy and active and a good eater (albiet picky about veggies and fruit). He poops well and I keep his habitat "OCD" clean
A few days ago, my son noticed that Chris' spine looked crooked. I see him every day and I hadn't noticed because it looks like he's turning around from most angles, not that he CAN'T straightened. He just went through a shed so was hiding and sleeping a fair amount and it seems when he came out of his shed there was a huge bump on his back! Like the Hunchback of Notre Dame (pics below)! I thought maybe it was impaction but he's been going just fine and regularily - nearly once per day at the same time in the same spot (he's so organized!).
So I started reading and realized all this time, even though I dust his food religeously and bought "all the right lights" (allegedly), I got the wrong one... all this time he has never had UVB. I had the Zilla fixture that probably had the wrong bulb (can't read the printing now) but the bulb came with the Zilla fixture so I am going to assume it was crap
AND I was using it through a screen! Of course, I followed Petco's directions on all of this. And now he's suffered for it.
After reading about all of this on this site, I have done the following:
Ordered the Repti-Sun 10.0 15 Watt bulb and "under cabinet" fixture
Ordered 3M hooks to hang it IN the tank
Ordered the Calcium Blast from Drache
Bought every leavy dark green I could find (except the lettuces and spinich which are bad) and keep offering them dusted with a little fruit juice, although he hasn't eaten them yet
I went to several stores yesterday and NONE of them had the right ReptiSun fixture, although they had the compact one and the dome so I bought those.
Here are my questions:
1. Is the compact one OK for a couple days until the the "long" correct Reptisun bulb comes in? Is compact UVB better than NO UBV at all? The correct light should be here Wed. Today is Sunday.
2. Should I stop feeding crickets until he eats his dusted greens? Or should I get calcium in him anyway I can until the liquid arrives, and let him eat dusted crickets to the exclusion of everything else? (he won't eat greens if he's full from crickets)
3. Should I leave his salad and veggies in the tank for him to eat when he's ready or take out and offer again later?
Finally, I know one thing you are probably wondering is why I don't take him to a vet, but I can't. I just came out of a long period of unemployment that happened - unfortunately - right after I got Chris for my son. I am a responsible pet owner and a HUGE animal lover. I love Chris and have been losing sleep worrying about him. It costs $80 just to walk into the HERP vet's office here. I would give up any luxury or non-essential item that I have for Chris, but it's not a matter of giving up luxuries... I literally couldn't afford the $80 for a vet AND afford the lights and stuff. So my decision came down to chosing between buying the calcium and the correct lighting and paying a vet to tell me to do those things... So I am here... asking for fellow-mommy-help. I feel so bad for my little guy.
p.s. The pictures show a very boring tank because I don't want him to fall (he started to fall in the last couple days) so I took out his climbing things.
p.s.s. Stats: Substrate - cotton towels with papertowels underneath - I change them every 3 days.
Hot side basking temp 90-95, Cold side 80-85, Currently using Reptisun 10. UVB compact light with dome and Red bulb basking/heat lamp
So I started reading and realized all this time, even though I dust his food religeously and bought "all the right lights" (allegedly), I got the wrong one... all this time he has never had UVB. I had the Zilla fixture that probably had the wrong bulb (can't read the printing now) but the bulb came with the Zilla fixture so I am going to assume it was crap


After reading about all of this on this site, I have done the following:
Ordered the Repti-Sun 10.0 15 Watt bulb and "under cabinet" fixture
Ordered 3M hooks to hang it IN the tank
Ordered the Calcium Blast from Drache
Bought every leavy dark green I could find (except the lettuces and spinich which are bad) and keep offering them dusted with a little fruit juice, although he hasn't eaten them yet
I went to several stores yesterday and NONE of them had the right ReptiSun fixture, although they had the compact one and the dome so I bought those.
Here are my questions:
1. Is the compact one OK for a couple days until the the "long" correct Reptisun bulb comes in? Is compact UVB better than NO UBV at all? The correct light should be here Wed. Today is Sunday.
2. Should I stop feeding crickets until he eats his dusted greens? Or should I get calcium in him anyway I can until the liquid arrives, and let him eat dusted crickets to the exclusion of everything else? (he won't eat greens if he's full from crickets)
3. Should I leave his salad and veggies in the tank for him to eat when he's ready or take out and offer again later?
Finally, I know one thing you are probably wondering is why I don't take him to a vet, but I can't. I just came out of a long period of unemployment that happened - unfortunately - right after I got Chris for my son. I am a responsible pet owner and a HUGE animal lover. I love Chris and have been losing sleep worrying about him. It costs $80 just to walk into the HERP vet's office here. I would give up any luxury or non-essential item that I have for Chris, but it's not a matter of giving up luxuries... I literally couldn't afford the $80 for a vet AND afford the lights and stuff. So my decision came down to chosing between buying the calcium and the correct lighting and paying a vet to tell me to do those things... So I am here... asking for fellow-mommy-help. I feel so bad for my little guy.
p.s. The pictures show a very boring tank because I don't want him to fall (he started to fall in the last couple days) so I took out his climbing things.
p.s.s. Stats: Substrate - cotton towels with papertowels underneath - I change them every 3 days.
Hot side basking temp 90-95, Cold side 80-85, Currently using Reptisun 10. UVB compact light with dome and Red bulb basking/heat lamp


