Beardie with Intention Tremors. CBD seems to work??

[Drache613]

Hello Tina,

Bless him, I hate to see him have so many issues. At least he is starting to do a little better
though.
Just for clarification, he didn't have any of these problems before you were out of the country?
I would definitely start back up with the CBD, it did seem to help him out.
It shouldn't be hard on his liver, since it is a natural substance.
I hope he continues to improve for you.

Tracie

 

[MissCutiePatootie]

@Tracie
Yeah I know, it saddens my heart.. I wish there was a cure all for him. x[
And yes, that's correct. He didn't have any of these walking issues, mouth rot, or liver damage (that I knew of) before I had left.
He DID have the tremors though. And I definitely think they have worsened. But it's hard to say if it's the hyperparathyroidism making it appear worse or his head tremor condition just grew worse while I was away whether it be from a tumor or some kind of genetic neurological issue or anything else even.
I'll start his CBD rounds again on Monday and see how it goes. I'm pretty excited to see how well it works for him and if he gets better at eating!
Thank you, I hope he continues too! <3

 

[MissCutiePatootie]

I gave Malachi his first CBD dose today. He was given .1mL on his nose and acted like he asphyxiated on it and black bearded straight away. I tested the oil myself and there's nothing wrong with it that I can tell. Should be good for another few months according to the box.

I held him at a decline for probably 10minutes and he was still having troubles every 30 seconds or so. He was gonna poop on me because he wanted to crawl off me so bad (his usual poop behavior) so I gave him a quick warm soak in the sink (he did poop) and after he was still coughing but no longer black bearding.

I thought maybe the oil was thickening his saliva causing airway blockage and making him cough so I gave him 3mL of water in .5mL increments around his teeth to help thin or wash it out possibly and continued holding him at a decline when he coughed again. Waited a couple minutes and put him back in his tank for the heat to loosen up the oil more maybe. He still is coughing but I think he is going to be ok. I think it's going to stop soon. It was such a small amount and he licked the dose off his lips. I'm gonna have to mix it in food next time instead.

This is the first time he's done this with his CBD treatment so pretty odd for such a dramatic reaction. Posting it here because if someone else finds they have a similar issue then they can try giving it with some food instead. Might even just be a better idea to do so, even if it says to give on an empty stomach (for mammals who can cough properly if needed).

Also... Anyone have an idea of a solution I could mix a dose of the oil into that would thin it out so that it doesn't just mix with saliva and thicken? Because that's what I think happened. Water repels oil so I don't think it's as effective despite my efforts to help him out.

 

[Claudiusx]

Did he suck it up into his nostrils by chance?

-Brandon

 

[MissCutiePatootie]

@Claudiusx

No, I don't believe so. If anything it just spread slightly between the crease of his lips. It's such a tiny amount it couldn't even reach his nostrils even if I pushed it all out at the same time.

 

[MissCutiePatootie]

It is such a small amount so I'm not sure of this being the reason but when I tested it myself I took about a dropper full which is 1mL and it coats the mouth and I had to work it with my tongue for a bit before it went away. I think if it's just sitting in your mouth it feels kinda thick and gets thicker.

He was lapping it up with his tongue from my syringe and only took a few seconds before we finished. Probably licked the whole dose up in 3 licks cuz I went real slow, then he started backing away and began black bearding which is unusual for him. I gave it to him the same way I give him his calcium and stuff everyday. Inside his enclosure. He can move away freely and never black beards after taking calcium. I don't know if this information helps paint the picture well or not but maybe it does.

 

[Claudiusx]

Oh ok, from the first description I pictured something different, but that clears it up.
Is it the same oil from previous doses?

Maybe he was just expecting something different since he was so used to getting his food and supplements that way, and this felt different?

Sure wish they could talk sometimes ha!

-Brandon

 

[MissCutiePatootie]

Yes it's the same stuff. Yeah he could have been expecting something else. That would make sense for him backing away.

And yeah tell me about it. Would make our lives so much easier if they just told us what's going on! lol

 

[Drache613]

Hello Tina,

How is Malachi doing?
Did he finish shedding his eyes now I hope?
They sure can worry us though, is the CBD flavored or unflavored? Maybe he was wanting
something else instead.

Tracie

 

[MissCutiePatootie]

Hello Tina,

How is Malachi doing?
Did he finish shedding his eyes now I hope?
They sure can worry us though, is the CBD flavored or unflavored? Maybe he was wanting
something else instead.

Tracie

The CBD is not flavored with anything, it just tastes like hemp if you're familiar? It's like a plant/earthy mellow flavor. It's not super strong to be off putting but I still think it must have just surprised him maybe? I was giving him his calcium and supplements that are unflavored and then the hemp flavored oil at the same time.

Malachi's tremors are smoothing out.
We are on day 5 (4 doses so far because it's like almost 4am right now hehe)
If I was to put his tremors on a scale, 1-10
1 being not there anymore and 10 being the worst they have been which is pretty much where it's at when I got back..
4 doses @ 1mL and his tremors are probably at a 7 or 8.

His head movement is still jerky and shaky but the wobbliness of his head has gone down a lot. I think I only see glimpses of the wobble now sometimes. He seems more sharp.
His walking has improved a little because he doesn't seem as stiff in his movements. He still doesn't lift himself up off the ground like I'd prefer him to when he's out and about and his motor skills aren't what they used to be. His arms and legs look weak with his movement but he is very determined and gets to where he wants to with effort and a little clumsiness. I'm not sure if there's some sort of physical therapy exercises I could do to help him recover some motor skills that isn't stress inducing? Maybe you guys can give some ideas. The one I was doing was swimming in the bath for a few minutes each day. His toes could touch the bottom but it seemed to stress him out too much still I didn't like seeing him like that. He does dig a lot but seems too easy.
The tip of his tail still tremors off and on slightly. I haven't noticed it in his legs since yesterday so maybe those are gone now.
That's about as much description I can give on his tremors at the moment.
I plan to keep going with the CBD until the tremors have disappeared but I am dealing with much worse tremors than the first time I did this so I'm not sure if I should give him some breaks for his liver or continue. Last time I think I stopped around now and waited until the next week to start up again.

He seems calmer, but hasn't lost any of his energy and behaves alert and curious. He's awake before his lights are on (they turn on at 5:30am, he's quite the early bird) and is usually conked out before they turn off. His eyes are still shedding little tinsy pieces along his lashline. Hopefully they will finish soon, seems like it could be an annoyance haha.

On a happy note, my husband has made it known that he is up to something... He told me it's a big secret. He says he has a big surprise for me AND Malachi...and I can't wait to find out what it is! The fact it's for Malachi too will probably make me cry whatever it is haha! It's so sweet when your partner loves your scale babies as much as you do. <3 I'm so excited! I don't want to guess in case I'm wrong but I think it's going to be great!

 

[DragonFinity]

Really interesting ! Dragon lovers will always surprise me

 

[Jypsi]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I last posted about my boy Malachi. Malachi is a partial translucent het. hypo super citrus beardie. I bought him from a breeder. He will be 5 years old in October I believe. He has head tremors for some time now and I'm unsure what from. I've heard it could be genetic from the translucent gene. I'm hoping someone will have some good input or knowledge to share on the matter!
Firstly, I don't think it's a calcium deficiency as he's always had calcium and after a year or two old he stopped taking anything with powdered calcium on it so I switched over to liquid calcium and carefully measured it out according to his weight of course. This is his preference.
He quit eating on his own about a year and a half ago. Before that he still took bugs but wouldn't touch his veggies for about 6months prior when his head tremors started. This has been going on for quite some time. I have been hand/syringe feeding him during that time.

Some things I've done...

In the beginning I upped his calcium intake with guidance from someone experienced just for a short time (2 maybe 3 weeks) and it seemed to have reduced his headshakes but then they came back full on so I lowered the dosage back down as I don't want to overdo it with the calcium. I think it was just coincidence his head tremors improved because they sometimes seem to just vanish for short periods of time before reappearing.

I've had him tested for adenovirus once during his worst symptoms and results came back negative.

I bought a UVB solarmeter to check his bulbs UVB outputs. He's never been with a bulb older than 6months even if it's an arcadia until I bought the UVB solarmeter to be sure it was still putting out well. I swap between ZooMed T5 10.0 HO fluorescent and Arcadia 14% T5 HO when the bulbs need replacement. His fluorescent UVB is on for 12hrs a day. He's also got a Megaray MVB bulb that turns on for 4 hours every day to mimic high noon sun/heat.

I created a dynamic lighting setup for him hoping that this enrichment would make his drive/apatite come back. He has 6500k LEDs on a ramp up timer to mimic dawn/dusk and create bright light similar to daylight.

When I took him to the vet he had labs done. The vet said that the headshakes could be due to some sort of neuro-degenerative disease or a small tumor somewhere. Aside from his intention tremors he looks good. The vet wasn't alarmed by anything on his labs.

I went on a 3 month long trip to Australia, leaving my boy with my mother to look after him for me. I setup a webcam in his enclosure for me to check on him everyday with his own skype account and everything haha. I'm very protective and meticulous over the care of my boy. I gave my mother very specific written instructions that covered everything and showed her the best techniques to care for him and was always a skype call away for her. To make it easier on my mother, I allowed her to only feed him 3-4x a week as it is tedious and time consuming and not always easy to do. When I came back from my trip I offered him some fresh greens and he went for them! I was so proud! I think this could be because he's hungrier since he was being fed less or because of the dynamic lighting setup or maybe both over time! He had his lighting setup for about 5 or so months before he started eating on his own again. Him eating on his own lasted for about 2 weeks even with his intention tremors making it difficult to take bites of food and now he's back to only accepting bugs on his own but not veggies. So I hand feed his veggies by pushing them into his mouth and letting him take bites that way. Sometimes I dip the veggie's in baby food to get a little extra vitamins/minerals in him from other sources. Or sometimes I dip it in spirulina powder.

He is fed silkworms/dubia/BSFL/Superworms. Collards/Mustards/Turnip/Endive/Arugula/Carrot/Squash.
A variety of babyfoods.

I let him soak in the summer sun in his outdoor enclosure whenever I can.

The last and most recent thing I've done was I began to supplement him with CBD oil. I found the lowest strength I could find and started out with 0.1ml dose for about 4 days with no results other than he seemed more active. I gave him a 3 day break after that. The following Monday I started with 0.1ml again before getting advice on the dosage. Once I got approval I increased the amount. The next day (Tuesday) I bumped it up to 0.2ml and the first day nothing really improved right away. But the second day his tremors were gone. I did a little stress test to see if I could trigger them and I noticed a very subtle amount almost missed it. I'm now on day 3 at 0.2ml for this week and I haven't seen his tremors at all! I think I will stop a couple days and see if they return and if they do, start with the 0.2ml dose again and see if they disappear. He won't touch his greens still but will eat bugs on his own.

Please no judgement for using CBD oil. This is something I've researched to my best ability, talked to others about and held out on for some time now and I just want Malachi to have an easy life, eat on his own, and not struggle to grab food due to his intention tremors. I am happy to answer questions and I appreciate any constructive feedback/advice! Thank you.

Hi, I have a transclucent beardie with symptons that sounds like your had. I noticed you wrote about it last in 2019. Would you please tell me if the CBD worked in the long run?