Acting like he has MBD

[Vandy]

For the last 2 weeks my dragon went on a hunger strike and was refusing to bask. I had a fecal done and he was treated for coccidia. 2 days before he got treated and 2 days after which is today he's been basking a little bit and eating a little bit. But now he's barely using his back legs and his legs just seem like they are made of rubber. Hes having a little bit of a hard time getting around and is just not walking normal. Hes about 8 months old his reptisun 10 t8 is only 3 and half months old. 106 basking temp .papertowel substrate .All I can get him to eat right now is hornworms. He's refusing Phoenix, supers , and cricket and will never touch salad. What's going on and how could this be mbd when I dust and have proper uvb that's 6-8 inches away? Here's some pictures I might try to do a video on you tube

 

[AHBD]

Hi Vandy, sorry that your boy is having such trouble. If you can get him out in the sun that might help. Sitting in the grass with him [ since he's not moving well and can't get away ] may be something to try for an hour each day.

Just wondering though if he doesn't spend much time under the basking zone ? The hot basking bulb makes the rock very hot, try a flat piece of wood instead. But it may be that he stays just a bit out of the range of the uvb to avoid the heat .

 

[Vandy]

Thank you for the reply. These are good ideas . I will start taking him outside . Never have before because there are a lot of hawks around. If he doesn't start acting better in a day or two I'm going to buy a new uvb. I've been wanting the t5 instead of t8

 

[Vandy]

Still no appetite barely eating. 1st day of force feeding

 

[EllenD]

When has he last pooped? The circumstances don't sound like MBD, and typically paralysis from MBD doesn't just suddenly appear, it's usually gradual. But if a hard impaction is putting pressure on his spine this can suddenly cause their back legs to go numb.

He has a plastic plant, check it for missing pieces, they often eat bits of those and that can impact them. He looks good and if he's had the same setup all his life I can't imagine it's MBD that just suddenly kicked in one day...

 

[Vandy]

No he didn't eat any of the plant and he poops every day . They are getting real small from not eating. He got treated for coccidia last week but had no appetite 2 weeks prior to that. I posted it and got a little bit of feed back on it. But his back legs are rubbery and he isn't using them right . Plus no appetite. I got hornworms, super worms and Phoenix worms here and he won't eat anything. now that he won't even eat a hornworm it's really got me worried. what can I do to stimulate his appetite? I got a 34 inch t5 to replace is 24" t8 hoping that will help.

 

[Vandy]

I took him outside for natural sunlight too but it really freaked him out. I force fed him some collard greens,apple baby food and calcium powder that I blended into liquid and gave to him with a baby syringe . I'm thinking about buying fluckers reptiboost tomorrow and some squash baby food.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is too bad, poor guy. Your lighting & placement look fine. You don't have a plastic shield over the tube UVB, correct? Just making sure.
Are you dusting daily then, how much of it does he get & do you use D3 also?
I agree, try taking him outside a bit also. It will take him a little while to get used to going outside, too. Keep a very close watch on him. The T5 needs to be 10 or so inches from him, for safety. It is a great light so hopefully that will help him out.
He is a good looking dragon, too!
Which medication was he on for the coccidia & is he done with his treatment?
The baby food squash can be mixed with chicken or turkey baby food for some protein too.


Tracie

 

[Vandy]

No plastic shield on the uvb, yes I'm dusting with calcium w/ d3 as far as the medication goes I'm not sure what exactly he got. The vet said he would call the coccidia level moderate and gave him a 1 time dose of something orally. Didn't give me any to take home. His appetite was down before treatment so I was really hoping after it would come back. How important are probiotics after treatment? My vet told me nothing about it and I learned about in on here. I used soy yogurt because I didn't want to wait for something to get shipped to me. I just don't understand. He barely ate anything in 3 weeks. His back legs are a mystery to me.

 

[Vandy]

Refused food again today. Day one of fluckers repta boost. He is basking. Basking temp 110. One of his back legs did twitch a lot for about 10 seconds and stopped. Seemed to get a little bit of energy from the repta boost.

Is the repta boost going to give him enough calcium?
Is it possible for a dragon to have a impaction but still be able to pass some poop?
Should I just give him the repta boost 1x a day with nothing else. Or should I give him some blended up veggies and baby food to via syringe?
He eats from a syringe really well thats one positive I guess
I have a 3ft t5 10.0 bulb waiting to go in I'm just waiting to receive the fixture in the mail.(Home Depot,lowes, any pet store doesn't have a 3ft t5 fixture)
Is it possible my 3 month old t8 10.0 is defective?
The vet has 0 answers for me. But at least he doesn't charge me anything.

 

[Vandy]

Here's a picture on what his back legs do and a link to a videos

Here a video of him walking
https://youtu.be/-CsJ0ltuWlE

 

[AHBD]

Aw, what a sweetie and he still has a great body shape and strength. At that age + size they don't usually lose much when they go on a hunger strike.

And yes, feed him smoothies that contain a variety of greens and you can sneak a few bugs in there as well. Impaction causes a different type of walking problem....rather than the legs being floppy, they more seem to just drag behind. I don't think it's impaction, he would be straining to pass it.

 

[Vandy]

Yeah he's definitely not straining to poop . So what do you think is causing him to walk like this and have absolutely 0 appetite?

 

[neilkd21]

Aww poor little guy. He looks fine apart from the legs. What tests has the vet done? Is the vet experienced in reptiles?

 

[Vandy]

I think the vet is more of a cat and dog kind of vet but he's all I got. He did a fecal and treated for coccidia. He asked questions about my set up and because of having proper temps, uvb and diet from day one and looking him over he said weight is good eyes good mouth good hydrated good. He doesn't think it's mbd or impaction . But what else could it be?