I have 2 Bearded Dragons a Female named Venus and a Male named Maverick
Maverick is perfectly happy and healthy and has been since he was a baby
Venus however has been having some issues.
She was purchased as an adult in 2016 from a reptile show and at the time she seemed perfectly healthy. The breeder told me she was 2 years old (though I am not sure if this is true or not).
After bringing her home I noticed she really wasn't a big eater and it took a lot of work to get her to eat greens and other veg.
For 3 years she was fine and had no health or behavioral issues to my knowledge.
The Cage set up was and still is:
L48in x H18in x W16in
Two hides
A large shallow food dish
Smaller no escape feeder dishes
And a 100watt Flunkers basking bulb + 24in T8 Reptisun tube light
The substrate is coconut mat (made of the fibers from the husk)
The thermostat in the cage has her basking area at 101 Degrees farenheit
Last night it got down to 72 Degrees in her tank
This summer I worked at a summer camp and their care was left to my Parents and younger sister
After returning home on Friday 8/14/2020, my parents informed me that Venus hadn't been eating/drinking and seemed to be just staying in her hide.
At first I thought that she was brumating but when I went to take a closer look it definitely wasn't that.
I had left home on June the 11th and apparently she hadn't been eating much since late June or early July. She has DEFINITELY lost weight and when I set her up to bask I noticed a spasming in the muscles in her hind legs. I watched her bask for a while and noticed these spasms happened occasionally and that her head would also sometimes shake (as if she had the chills).
I began research right away and pretty much immediately all signs pointed towards MBD
If she had really been in her hide that entire time she would not have been under the UVB light and definitely wasn't eating so she wasn't getting the calcium vitamins or general nourishment she needed to stay healthy.
I also found out that the tube light being above a screen was cutting down her UVB intake dramatically which probably wasn't helping her the entire time I have owned her.
Starting yesterday I have been giving her a 15 minute warm bath every day
Taking her out in the back yard and letting her sit in the sun (no more than 30 minutes)
and trying to get her to eat/ poop (since she hadn't "gone in a while" according to my sister)
Her jaw is still strong and she can still move around but her walking is clumsy and she generally seems lethargic.
I was able to get her to take a couple of super worms that had been dusted in this calcium:
https://www.amazon.com/Rep-Cal-SRP0...ld=1&keywords=repti+cal&qid=1597617326&sr=8-4
I was also able to assist feed her some collard greens and some carrot
(I opened her mouth a little a put the carrot/greens in and she chewed it and ate it on her own)
Since I am really concerned about her lack of willingness to eat and general lethargy I purchased these and I will begin feeding her the herbivore mix as soon as they arrive (hopefully before tonight) And probably begin adding some of the carnivore mix once she seems to improve
https://www.amazon.com/Oxbow-Critic...&qid=1597617721&sprefix=oxbow+,aps,231&sr=8-2
https://www.amazon.com/Oxbow-Carniv...&qid=1597617796&sprefix=oxbow+,aps,231&sr=8-6
Since her UVB set up was all wrong I purchased a MVB for the time being so that I can use a clamp lamp and take the screen off (until I can get a tube fixture to mount in her cage)
This is the bulb I purchased
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y9FJWPR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also found this site and puchased some Calcium Glubionate
https://store.beautifuldragons.com/Calcium_Glubionate/p6073015_19482678.aspx
Her current weight is : 385 grams
I am unsure what her weight was previously but it was probably at or above 400 grams (estimate)
I unfortunately do not have an exotics vet that I trust in my area after several people reported them as using unsanitary practices (using the same mat/Popsicle stick for two animals etc) and I do not want to risk making her anymore sick
Here are some pictures of her today
https://imgur.com/gallery/uY1D5Kf
https://imgur.com/gallery/auYfuZB
She blinked for the second one, and while typing this the Ox Bow arrived. The MVB is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I will try to get a film of the shaking. She also had a very large poo after I put her back in the cage from taking these photos.
Her feeding schedule was:
Greens: M W F Sat
Supers: T T Sun
Dusted with the linked Calcium: 4 Days
Dusted with Multi Vitamin: 3 Days
Do you think I am overreacting or am I not doing enough? Is there anymore I can do or advise anyone has for getting her to eat solids again on her own?
Also if anyone knows someone who will ship Calcium Glubionate fast I would really appreciate a link.
The stuff I ordered won't ship until Tuesday and I do not want her condition to deteriorate any further.
In early 2019 she had had an incident of shaking that was somewhat similar but after I changed out my UVB bulb she seemed okay. If I had to guess the incorrect UVB set up I have been using has left her short for a while and this just exacerbated the issue.
Thank you all in advance ~ Red
Maverick is perfectly happy and healthy and has been since he was a baby
Venus however has been having some issues.
She was purchased as an adult in 2016 from a reptile show and at the time she seemed perfectly healthy. The breeder told me she was 2 years old (though I am not sure if this is true or not).
After bringing her home I noticed she really wasn't a big eater and it took a lot of work to get her to eat greens and other veg.
For 3 years she was fine and had no health or behavioral issues to my knowledge.
The Cage set up was and still is:
L48in x H18in x W16in
Two hides
A large shallow food dish
Smaller no escape feeder dishes
And a 100watt Flunkers basking bulb + 24in T8 Reptisun tube light
The substrate is coconut mat (made of the fibers from the husk)
The thermostat in the cage has her basking area at 101 Degrees farenheit
Last night it got down to 72 Degrees in her tank
This summer I worked at a summer camp and their care was left to my Parents and younger sister
After returning home on Friday 8/14/2020, my parents informed me that Venus hadn't been eating/drinking and seemed to be just staying in her hide.
At first I thought that she was brumating but when I went to take a closer look it definitely wasn't that.
I had left home on June the 11th and apparently she hadn't been eating much since late June or early July. She has DEFINITELY lost weight and when I set her up to bask I noticed a spasming in the muscles in her hind legs. I watched her bask for a while and noticed these spasms happened occasionally and that her head would also sometimes shake (as if she had the chills).
I began research right away and pretty much immediately all signs pointed towards MBD
If she had really been in her hide that entire time she would not have been under the UVB light and definitely wasn't eating so she wasn't getting the calcium vitamins or general nourishment she needed to stay healthy.
I also found out that the tube light being above a screen was cutting down her UVB intake dramatically which probably wasn't helping her the entire time I have owned her.
Starting yesterday I have been giving her a 15 minute warm bath every day
Taking her out in the back yard and letting her sit in the sun (no more than 30 minutes)
and trying to get her to eat/ poop (since she hadn't "gone in a while" according to my sister)
Her jaw is still strong and she can still move around but her walking is clumsy and she generally seems lethargic.
I was able to get her to take a couple of super worms that had been dusted in this calcium:
https://www.amazon.com/Rep-Cal-SRP0...ld=1&keywords=repti+cal&qid=1597617326&sr=8-4
I was also able to assist feed her some collard greens and some carrot
(I opened her mouth a little a put the carrot/greens in and she chewed it and ate it on her own)
Since I am really concerned about her lack of willingness to eat and general lethargy I purchased these and I will begin feeding her the herbivore mix as soon as they arrive (hopefully before tonight) And probably begin adding some of the carnivore mix once she seems to improve
https://www.amazon.com/Oxbow-Critic...&qid=1597617721&sprefix=oxbow+,aps,231&sr=8-2
https://www.amazon.com/Oxbow-Carniv...&qid=1597617796&sprefix=oxbow+,aps,231&sr=8-6
Since her UVB set up was all wrong I purchased a MVB for the time being so that I can use a clamp lamp and take the screen off (until I can get a tube fixture to mount in her cage)
This is the bulb I purchased
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y9FJWPR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also found this site and puchased some Calcium Glubionate
https://store.beautifuldragons.com/Calcium_Glubionate/p6073015_19482678.aspx
Her current weight is : 385 grams
I am unsure what her weight was previously but it was probably at or above 400 grams (estimate)
I unfortunately do not have an exotics vet that I trust in my area after several people reported them as using unsanitary practices (using the same mat/Popsicle stick for two animals etc) and I do not want to risk making her anymore sick
Here are some pictures of her today
https://imgur.com/gallery/uY1D5Kf
https://imgur.com/gallery/auYfuZB
She blinked for the second one, and while typing this the Ox Bow arrived. The MVB is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I will try to get a film of the shaking. She also had a very large poo after I put her back in the cage from taking these photos.
Her feeding schedule was:
Greens: M W F Sat
Supers: T T Sun
Dusted with the linked Calcium: 4 Days
Dusted with Multi Vitamin: 3 Days
Do you think I am overreacting or am I not doing enough? Is there anymore I can do or advise anyone has for getting her to eat solids again on her own?
Also if anyone knows someone who will ship Calcium Glubionate fast I would really appreciate a link.
The stuff I ordered won't ship until Tuesday and I do not want her condition to deteriorate any further.
In early 2019 she had had an incident of shaking that was somewhat similar but after I changed out my UVB bulb she seemed okay. If I had to guess the incorrect UVB set up I have been using has left her short for a while and this just exacerbated the issue.
Thank you all in advance ~ Red