Beardie having MBD? Bumation? Injury?

[stabrika]

Hi, I have a 4-5 month old Beardie ( Got it from Pet-co our mistake) And when we first got her her set up was completely off, we only had a single UVB tubelight which put off no heat. She seems to struggle with moving to much, even though she does move alot. it's very twitchy when she moves. We now have a large 160+ gallon tank with 2 daytime UVA UVB light bulbs both 160 watts keeping the cage at about 105 in the basking area and about 80 in the coolerside. we also have a 160 watt nighttime basking bulb. We use an all natural wind blown sand which mimics austrailia's natural sand to a T. She eats quite often her poop is a little runny but not very smelly and a normal black and white color. sometimes alittle brown. We also dust everything they eat (They because we have two only one of them having problems) We feed them Super worms all sizes waxworms Crickets Mustard greens Kale babyfood. and fruits. She has light energy moving around some but not that much. everytime she moves is twitchy and seems like she is having alot of trouble moving at all but she still does. she even climbs up her driftwood to get right under the basking spot. We have also started to bathe her everyday so she drinks alot of water. I just wanted to know weather you think it's MBD or and Injury or what. I am doing what I can to try and help her. Is there anything else I should do?

 

[Livey]

To me it sounds like impactation, if shes on sand and feeding `all size worms` i dont really no what that means.
thye shoudlent be on sand at that age,.
but im not really an expert in this area, wait for an expert to come who knows abit more health and what not.

 

[stabrika]

By all size worms I ment from Small to large super worms. and The sand I got came highly Recomended by the exotic pet store as it's an extremly low impaction sand which is diguestable even by hatchlings (Says the employee and owner/breeder)

 

[Livey]

Well i would say the large ones to avoid , only feed them the space of there eyes..
and you can never trust pet-shops anything loose should be avoided, it harbors bacteria,

 

[zebraflavencs]

Um.... If it isn't the outback... it isn't the right kind... And hardpan isn't just sand.. It's mostly clay, with sand mixed in. Didn't mean to sound snippy... Just facts is all... Also, with a sand substrate the bacteria levels would be like making a cat live in it's own litter box... not the best... Though, for adult dragons, that is the owner's call and preference.
So, a non particulate substrate is called for, with younger dragons.
Now, for the worms, the supers are fine as a snack for now, meaning no more than 1-2 a couple times a week at most. Young dragons intestines have a bend that supers or any too large sized feeder can bind up in, that's why we use the no longer than the distance between the dragons' eyes as a rule for feeders.
Once your dragon has achieved 16" in length, then you can use the supers as a semi staple along side other staple insects.
The sad story about most pet shops, is that the almighty $ is the ruling. If the sale is high $$ then the employees have done their job, and most don't even have basic needs knowledge for each specie they sell.. that's why we are here... we have tried it all, and by accumulated experience, can help you choose what's safest and best for your lil darlin...

Now, those UVB's.. I assume they are in line going the whole length of that Castle you have ?
What brand are they, might I ask ?
Also, are you using a therm with a probe, or one of the stick on type thermometers ?
Janie

 

[stabrika]

Alright I will advoid the larger ones. I also have a Beardie that I bought from the exotic pet store that is extremely healthy I am thinking it might just be from the way Pet-Co was taking care of it. It's living condition in the store was pretty bad. So It is possible it was already sick and it might just take time for me to make her better.

 

[zebraflavencs]

It certainly could be just that...
Go slow, and do get a fecal exam done... there might be parasites to deal with, along with other issues...
Are you housing them together ? Or is that huge enclosure partitioned off so each has half ?
The reason I ask, is the older dragon may try to dominate, fight, and even breed with this younger one,(if female), and that isn't good for either one... Also, if the younger one is sick, then you just introduced the same problems to the older dragon...
janie

 

[stabrika]

I have two Reptisun power sun 160 watt bulbs and I am useing a stick on thermometer But i am soon upgrading to a probe one. Also they are both in the same inclosure and have been for sometime now.

 

[stabrika]

i am assuming they are the same age because they are the same size and have been growing at the same rate. they have been getting along fine since we put them together. and yes we do have uvb across the whole tank.

 

[Emeraldcoast]

The twitchiness definitely sounds like it could be MBD. You can stop its progress by exposing your dragon to natural sunlight. I took mine for an hour walk everyday, walking into the sun. I was lucky. I caught it at the beginning. Any damage already done will be permanent. My Sir Darwin has a bump in his tail that will always be there. However, neither he nor my Miss Sydney suffer from MBD any longer.

You might consider changing your lights over to a Repti-Sun 10.0 . It is one of the best lights out there. You can buy them at http://www.petmountain.com very inexpensively. One cost around $20.00

Also, I agree about the sand. Consider getting rid of it. The only substrate for young dragons should be paper towels, or non adhesive shelf liner (Home Depot/The kind WITHOUT the holes in it).

When your dragon is older, at least 16 inches long, than you can switch to Home Depot's Pre-washed, pre-screened play sand. A large bag costs around $5.00 or so.

How often are you changing the sand substrate? Parasites from crickets, etc., can live in the sand. Your beardie could have picked something up.

I agree that you need to get a FULL fecal exam done. A FULL fecal will look for bacteria as well as parasites. You want to rule out as much as possible. It may cost a little more, but it is worth it.

I also agree with the possibility of intimidation/dominance. That can cause stress in a bearded dragon, which in turn can cause illness and/or cause them to stop eating.

Please let us know how she is doing.

Take care.

Emerald

 

[stabrika]

we took cami to the vet and they put "her" (i found out cami is actually a "him" lol) on calcium shots every three days for a month. still very twitchy but seems to be doing better. he also has tail rot any suggestions about what to do about that?

 

[stabrika]

well we are going to end up giving cami to pet kingdom. (pet kingdom will get him better and then put him up for adoption. maybe we can even buy him back. they deal only with exotic animals.) every time i look at him hes got something else wrong with him. (mbd, possible parasites, tail rot, broken toes, retained shed, seizures, something wrong with his jaw. possibly broken.) he still eats ok and i take care of him the best i can its just its so sad to keep doing all these things for him and taking him to vets and not really seeing an improvement. every day i work i come on this site to find anything i can do to help him...i just feel so bad for him. we got him from petco and i dont think the mother was cared for right...and i know he wasnt cared for right... and like i said i do work alot so im not always home to check on him to see if he has rolled onto his back or not...so i am hoping pet kingdom can fix him.

 

[stabrika]

well we are going to end up giving cami to pet kingdom. (pet kingdom will get him better and then put him up for adoption. maybe we can even buy him back. they deal only with exotic animals.) every time i look at him hes got something else wrong with him. (mbd, possible parasites, tail rot, broken toes, retained shed, seizures, something wrong with his jaw. possibly broken.) he still eats ok and i take care of him the best i can its just its so sad to keep doing all these things for him and taking him to vets and not really seeing an improvement. every day i work i come on this site to find anything i can do to help him...i just feel so bad for him. we got him from petco and i dont think the mother was cared for right...and i know he wasnt cared for right... and like i said i do work alot so im not always home to check on him to see if he has rolled onto his back or not...so i am hoping pet kingdom can fix him.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry that you had to give your dragon away. If you were unable to care for her, then hopefully the Pet Kingdom can help her out. Will you be able to see Cami at all?

Tracie

 

[stabrika]

well we probably wont see him again...but pet kingdom has a rescue team so he will be well taken care of. makes me sad that we had to give him to them...