9 Month old Beardie w/ Crooked Spine-Help!

[newmommy2011]

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

 

[newmommy2011]

Ugh... can't figure out how to post pictures... if you could let me know, I will upload them. thanks! Kim aka "Newmommy2011"

 

[Beardednoob]

Ugh... can't figure out how to post pictures... if you could let me know, I will upload them. thanks! Kim aka "Newmommy2011"

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=152184

 

[newmommy2011]

Thanks! Did it!

 

[AHBD]

Hi Kim....I can see that despite your financial situation, you want to help the poor baby, which is commendable ! Yes, he has metabolic bone disease, and you want to halt it as quickly as you can. Whatever he will eat right now is what you should put his calcium powder on for now. If he eats greens, that's great, but if not, put it on his crickets. It's good that the Reptisun is on it's way, by the way, you can take the red bulb back to the store, they are useless. You can use a common household bulb of the same wattage to get the heat you need. His basking temp. should be about 5 - 10 degrees hotter. Do you happen to live in a warm part of the country ? If so, getting him in the sun [ not in a glass tank, it will heat up far too much ] but like in a kiddie pool or clear plastic storage bin will help immensely. As for the dome + coli bulb, you can take those back for a refund, they are known to cause serious eye problems. If you can't get him outside , you might turn the compact bulb on for about an hour a day after he eats, to help digest his calcium, but turn it off after that, especially if he starts keeping his eyes closed. But definitely return it once the good light comes in.

 

[newmommy2011]

OMG! Thank you!!!! Yes, I live in California! And it is beautiful out today. I am going to take him out in his giant play box (I use it to let him run around and see something other than his tank but keep him safe from crawling away! Got it on the crickets... That was kind of my hunch (get calcium in him anyway he'll take it). Good to know abou the coil! Funnily, he doesn't close his eyes, he looks up at it! Poor thing, probably starved for sunlight!! OK, on the temps... will turn up the bulb (Have had the red one a few months and it has a dimmer which is nice cuz it does get hot here and I try to keep the tank consistent... OK, here we go to play outside!!! Thank you!!! Keep the advice coming. Poor little guy. I feel so bad for him and angry at the store!!! I thought I was doing everything right *sigh* thanks again!!!

 

[AHBD]

That's great Kim ! The sun has the best UVB in the world LOL ! Just be sure that the floor of his " playpen" doesn't get too hot, even at 70F in the sun, plastic + metal hold the heat + become very hot. If it's above 75 - 80, just hold him yourself, or be sure if he's in a container that he is in partial or patchy shade. Since he is little, don't leave him out alone.

 

[newmommy2011]

Great! Just came in... his "play pen" is a big open cardboard box with nothing in it so nothing like logs or rocks to heat up. I kept him on my hand for a while then he crawled off but I kept my hand near him in case he wanted to get up... He just sat there still the whole time basking it didn't get too hot. We sat out there for 25 minutes. I'll only turn the compact light on when he eats... I can't thank you enough for your help and advice!!!! I will keep you postd. You may have saved his life... certainly this forum saved his life. I want to sue the pet store! They even gave me a care sheet which had NOTHING like the advice found on this site!

 

[AHBD]

That's good, Kim, you are fortunate to live in a warm climate because you can always rely on the sun for UVB exposure. You really don't need to use the coil bulb at all, that was just a last resort because it was critical to get him to absorb the calcium. Keep taking him out like that. Make sure he stays hydrated, too. Shallow, warm, supervised baths about every other day and gentle spraying/ dripping water on his snout to get him to drink.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Kim,

I am so sorry poor little Chris has MBD.
Taking him out in the sun daily, will help immensely until you can get the Reptisun 10 or Arcadia D3 12% light. Remember to get the tube bulbs though & not a compact/coil light. Does it appear to be hurting his eyes having it on? As suggested, I would take the compact/coil light out & just use a basking light right now.
I would change the red basking bulb out to a bright white basking light. A house hold light bulb or a halogen bulb works great & they are bright, too.
Don't beat yourself up, it is not your fault, it happens which is unfortunate. I am sorry that this happened!
Daily soaks in a warm bath can help with hydration. You can also try water therapy too in order to help him with rebuilding some strength to help his back.
Continue to keep his basking platform low so he doesn't have to climb & hurt himself. The substrate in his tank is a towel so that is nice & soft. Keeping the tank basic is perfectly fine, it gives him everything that he needs.
You can continue using the calcium powder right now until you get the liquid for him. Is his appetite good?

Tracie

 

[SamusTheDragon]

Aww poor little guy :/ Hope he's doing better. Did you order the uvb fixture yet? If not, don't get one from a pet store, just get one from home depot, they're about $10 for the fluorescent light fixtures. They come in 12" , 18" 24" etc to fit the light. Just take the cover off. Sorry if someone already said this or you have a fixture lol. Good luck with Chris

 

[newmommy2011]

Thanks to you all! Yes, his appetite is great!

OK, on changing the red basking to a regular light bulb.

Yes, I ordered the Reptisun Bulb and an under the cabinet holder and, no, no one told me to take the cover off but I figured if a screen will filter the light, a cover will too so I was going to take it off -- thanks for the confirmation!

Yes, I do baths once a day during the week and today I am doing 2... he loves his bath!! He just soaks and soaks and never tries to get out. When we first started them, he scrambled around... now he loves it

Thank you, thank you!!!!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is he doing today, did he eat well I hope?
That is great he loves his baths now, they are good for him & will help to build up his strength.
I hope you get your new light soon. It will need to be 6-8 inches from him, alongside the basking light.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[newmommy2011]

Hi Tracie and all,

Thanks for asking! Chris seems to be doing better although his spine is still crooked of course. I just to the Reptisun today but even having the higher temps, daily baths and bright white (65 watt) flood light as well as outdoor sun bathing 3 of the last 4 days has brightened his color to a vibrant yellow and he is eating more and going number two every day... he seems more alert and follows me and watches me from his Glass House so I think all signs are pointing in a good direction. I will definitely keep you posted over the next few days since he has UVB now and should have liquid calcium tomorrow!

p.s. He eats his veggies when I am gone! I took pictures of his veggies before I left for work to confirm my hunch... little stinker - he rarely eats them in front of me! :wink:

 

[jgollihur]

I just rescued a 6 month old with that same type of bump on her back. Please keep updated. My little girl is so sweet and i want to get her all better. I also hope chris keeps improving!