Beardie not eating or moving!

[Jenny0417]

Hello! My partner and I rescued a 4 year old white male bearded dragon from a teenager who could not take care of him when we picked him up, he did not move at all. He hardly moves during the day, he is stiff and can barely move his head as well. He has been eating baby food but he doesn’t want to anymore. We can see that he is malnourished and we try to do everything we can but he no longer wants to eat anymore, he trembles when he tries to walk and his arms are super stiff. What can I do ?

 

[KarrieRee]

Sounds like hes got a bad case of MBD-- go over the tank lighting w/ us what are you using for a UVB brand and bulb NO coils!!!!!!!!!! What are his basking temps and how are you taking them NO stickons they are inaccurate --- please post pics of him please
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at the top of the message box then click on the pic it should post -- please post pic of the tank and lighting as well
Make sure hes hydrated --- see if he will drink out of the bath -- do not let him aspirate so if he starts drinking really fast stop him- you can also drop water on his nose to see if he will lick it if he does keep doing it till he stops - make sure hes basking temps are 95-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer --- his UVB should be a long tube fixture NO coils - you can get him outside in direct sunlight for 15 minutes or longer if hes on you -- that will give him some good UVB --
Karrie

 

[Jenny0417]

Hello! Sorry I didn’t have a chance earlier since I was at work. So we have the long tube lighting for his UVB, his night bulb is 75watts, his tank temperature ranges from 90-100. He is currently isolated from our other dragons since we just got him a couple of days ago. We have been feeding him baby food that includes kale so he gets his dark greens, I will be taking him to the vet on Friday to see how severe his MBD is

 

[KarrieRee]

Can you take a pic of that long tube lighting -- I am thinking its a coil tube which is not good- he needs this https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood.html I would recommend this one --- his tank is pretty bare --- please get rid of the night bulb if its colored --- he does not need light at nite they sleep better in the dark and cool temps -- not below 65 and in the lower 70's -- AHBD and Tracie Drache613 can help out w/ the MBD thing -- Tracie is our vet tech on the board
Karrie

 

[Jenny0417]

Okay perfect I will start shopping for those types of lights! I will remove the night light, and yes his tank is bare as of right now since we are keeping him isolated from the other ones. We don’t want to do much in case things don’t work out :/ we’re really worried right now, but I still buy him the lights you told me ! Thank you so much

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Poor dear, he most likely does have metabolic bone disease. He is lucky that you took him in, & it will be awhile
before he is more mobile but hopefully he will recover to extent for you!
The T5 tube bulbs are very good so we definitely recommend either the Reptisun or the Arcadia T5 tube for him.
What supplementation do you plan on giving him? I would try to get him on a liquid calcium to help out his bones,
because it absorbs easier than just the powder alone.
You can keep the tank to the bare minimum so he doesn't have to climb much at all to bask, etc. His bones are
probably compromised so you wouldn't want him to hurt himself.
I highly recommend keeping him a little warmer at night though for now since his immune system probably needs
a good boost.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie