another tail problem? pics included.

[Pleaides]

hello
now ive had my Mischief for 10 months, when i first got him which you can see in the first pic, his tail looks straight with no kinks in, since then gradually over the months its got worse, theres now a definite bump along the middle of his tail, that was the first to appear then it started getting darker than the rest of his tail then the last to develop was the kink at the tip, its black and kinked upwards which you can see in the pics.
please is this any reason for concern? because i pointed it out a month or so ago when he was being treated for coccidia and the vet said he wasnt concerned but i think i should be.

a little info on him.
hes in a 5x2x2 vivarium, temps are 80-85 cool, 93-97 warm and 103-105 basking.
hes on tile, i never ever leave live food in with him so its not from that, hes always gotten his calcium 4-5 days a week and multi-vits 1-3 days a week, he has a white basking light, reptisun 10.0 usually, recently hes been under a reptin 5.0 (i will be changing it sooner as i believe it runs out sooner than the 10.0) and a ceramic heat emitter. hes 11 months old now and as far as i know he hasnt had any falls or caught it in any way (theres nothing he can catch it on in his home) and as there was nothing wrong with his tail when i got him i presume it wasnt from a bite or fight with housemates.
it doesnt seem to bother him in any way when i touch it or run my fingers along it and he uses it fine when he decides to whip me trying to get him in his container for bathing, lol.
any suggestions what could have caused this? or if i should persevere with the vet that something is wrong?
any help at all will be greatly appreciated.

heres the pics
this is the very first pic i got of him, hes still in the container i bought him home in.

this was the first bump that i saw

this is the latest that ive saw has happened with his tail, it has been this way for a while as i said before the vet was not concerned in the slightest

a birds eye view of the whole tail

a side view of his whole tail

 

[Drache613]

Hello Anny,

Well your setup is fine, no problems there. How close is the Reptisun 10 tube bulb to him? How long does he sit under it daily?
What type of calcium supplementation do you use, & how often are you using it?
Some dragons do not seem to absorb calcium very well for several reasons, the primary reason being genetics. If you are using powdered calcium, you could try switching to liquid calcium for awhile to see if there are any improvements. The end of the tail being a little darker with a little crook is normal. I have one with a tiny crook at the end. The pigmentation can change as they get older on different parts of their body.
You can get some liquid calcium from Veronica at beautiful dragons. It is calcium glubionate.
Also, if he grew very quickly early on in life, sometimes that can cause a calcium deficiency because they used up calcium stores faster than they were taking it in which caused hypocalcemia. It doesn't always show immediately but will develop later on.
What types of greens are you feeding?


Tracie

 

[Pleaides]

Hello Anny,

Well your setup is fine, no problems there. How close is the Reptisun 10 tube bulb to him?
ok now this is my problem as i said in the pm i sent you, hes not been basking, hes usually about 8-10" from it but hes been laying in his corner an awful lot lately with a lot of stress marks

How long does he sit under it daily?
he used to literally sit under it all day and even sleep under it, lol, im not home during the day so i cant tell a proper time but can only estimate it at around an hour perhaps but that is literally almost a guess

What type of calcium supplementation do you use, & how often are you using it?
i use calypso calcium 5 days a week, powdered on his greens which he does eat, more some days than others, the multivits are nutrabol he gets that 2 days a week on his greens which he does eat some but not all.

What types of greens are you feeding?
he gets a couple of different greens every week, i feed rocket, pak choi, fresh greens, spring greens, watercress and pea shoots, i have tried all kinds of fruit without success, ive also tried butternut squash lately, whether its chopped into cubes or shredded, cooked or raw neither of my dragons will touch it, they dig through their bowls to avoid it, ive tried hand feeding it to try to get them to taste it, the trouble with both my dragons is neither will lick anything off their noses or mouths so cannot get them to try it.

im glad to hear the crook is normal, lol, im not sure how they took care of him at the reptile shop i bought him, he was around 4 months old when i bought him and knowing what i know now i would not have bought a dragon from there, they house loads together on dreaded wood chips also loads of their dragons have black beards, missing toes and tails and poop and lettuce just thrown everywhere! ahhhh, they even knocked down the price of him cos he has missing toes but his tail was normal when i bought him but im now thinking if you say it can happen later in life then maybe, i just hope like mad it wasnt something i did cos id be soo guilty! i read every book going before i got my first dragon. oh also with the liquid calcium, i cannot get his mouth open without a fight and a lot of stress for him, ive recently ordered the reptiaid from chameleons north west so im hoping that will sort them both out. otherwise ill find a liquid calcium here in the uk.

Tracie

 

[Drache613]

Hello Anny,

Well, Mischief could be trying to brumate though, it is that time of year. If he just is not wanting to bask or basking less that is the classic behavior that they exhibit.
Were you going to go ahead & switch to the liquid calcium then, since he has had MBD issues? I think he just has absorption problems with the powdered calcium. He might do much better on the liquid than the powder. I realize he wont open his mouth. Will he just lick fluids off of the end of his nose if you drip it onto the nose? He would love the flavor of it.
Yeah the little crook or hook on the end of the tail is normal. It is the kink that is not. Has it gotten any worse lately?
I highly doubt it is anything that you have done. He was neglected when you got him. The first 6-8 months of their life are the most crucial when it comes to setting them up healthwise for the rest of their adult life. You did not have him as a baby so you cannot be responsible for that time when he was one. Unfortunately you got him after he was already abused & ill. When you got him he was probably already hypocalcemia though you may not have realized it at the time. They grow so fast that they can quickly develop a calcium deficit if it is not replaced & if they do not have proper UVB exposure.
Is the UVB directly beside the basking light at one end of the tank?
The greens & veggies sounds fine for him. Hopefully he will begin to pick from some of them.
Keep me posted on him! You are doing great with him.

Tracie

 

[Pleaides]

thanx tracie
he has caused me so much trouble, he definitely knows how to make me panic, well last night he was up on his basking rock, all clear of a black beard and stress marks, so thats a good start, lol, he hasnt done that in ages!
yea i may look into getting liquid calcium then, is there any brand you would recommend inparticular? as i cannot get his mouth open without a fight would it be ok to bath him with the liquid calcium in the bath, would he soak it up through his vent ok? also how many days a week should i give the liquid?
i thought he may be semi brumating, my girl seems to be although shes been awake a lot more lately and her eating has picked up.
he does still nibble at his greens, some days he gulfs down the lot and others maybe a couple of bites.
oh i knew i had reason to worry about that big kink , damn vet! lol
well i dont think it has gotten worse its been that way for a little while now and doesnt bother him at all.
his uv runs along the whole of his vivarium, with a white bulb beside it, the uv is not on the roof of his viv its on the back near the top, will post a pic of his home so you can see what i mean.
when hes on his basking rock hes close enough but when hes not basking hes no where near it.
hopefully my reptiaid xl will be here soon!
ok so at the moment hes getting calypso and nutrabol, so if i get the liquid calcium and use reptiaid xl, i dont want to overdose him with too many, which ones should i use in conjunction with the reptiaid xl?

 

[Pleaides]

ok i got pics of his vivarium but the perception isnt good, he looks very close to his white light and uv but hes the right amount of inches away, lol
the only reason hes basking in these pics is because i put him there he got down after i took these pics, also the white light usually has a guard around it but i had to change his bulb this morning because it blew.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Good pictures. The UVB is how far from him then 6 or so inches right? It does look close.
You can look for T-rex bone aid liquid calcium online, I think you should be able to get that in the UK. Also, Zetark has a produce called Zolcal-D too.
Here is a link for the T-rex bone aid I found if you want to order it online:
http://www.fishandfins.co.uk/reptile-treatments.htm

The liquid calcium is too expensive to soak him in it. It would really be better if you could get him to lick some off of his nose. If you do get it I will help you dose it for him. Once you start liquid calcium, begin with 5 days per week, & the nutrabol only once. After a month, we will reassess him & we could go down to 3 times per week on the calcium. Do not give the calypso at the same time as giving liquid calcium.
At least the tail has not gotten any worse though, poor thing. Good it does not bother him though. It just snuck up & started showing.

Keep me posted on them both.
Tracie

 

[Pleaides]

Hello,

Good pictures. The UVB is how far from him then 6 or so inches right? It does look close.
hes about 7-8" when hes basking i believe, when hes in his corner hes about 13" from the uv.

It would really be better if you could get him to lick some off of his nose. If you do get it I will help you dose it for him.
thanx for the link ive ordered some, hmm he doesnt normally lick anything of his nose but will try. so how do we dose him?

At least the tail has not gotten any worse though, poor thing. Good it does not bother him though. It just snuck up & started showing.
yeah i noticed the bump a while ago bt the vet wasnt worried so i wasnt but it wasnt right, all of a sudden i suddenly noticed it whereas i hadnt before. :shock:

Keep me posted on them both.
Tracie

so instead of the calypso i use the t rex bone aid and nutrobal once a week instead of twice, what about thre reptiaid XL i have on its way to me already?