Beardie with MBD Needs Help

[Biblioscarlet]

Hello. My significant other and I recently rescued a beardie from someone who wasn't taking proper care of it. At first we thought it was just malnourished and dehydrated, that was until we picked it up. Turns out the poor thing has MBD, they didn't have a UVB light for it, he was in a 10 gallon tank that wasn't being cleaned properly, and he was being fed almost kibble like food. We're really hoping we're not too late in our rescue attempt. Once we got him home we set up his tank with a fresh UVB light and gave the little guy a bath to make sure he wasn't impacted, he pooped so we were glad that there was one less thing to worry about. He also really seemed to enjoy the bath.

The warm side of his tank is between 95 - 100 and the cool side has been consistent at 70 - 75. We know they've had him about 3 - 4 months since they got us ours at the same time. Smaud (our dragon who is healthy) is about 11" in length while Louie (the dragon with MBD) is maybe 6" in length. The tank is lined with a reptile mat.

We're trying to get Louie to eat, but he has no energy to go after anything, so we attempted to hand feed him a pinhead cricket and a small dubia. No luck. I've gotten him to eat a few mustard greens with calcium supplement by putting them near his mouth, he seemed to have a hard time chewing and the effort seemed to tire him out. But since eating the greens the other day he's had a bit more energy, but still not much. I've also been able to give him some water with a dropper and he no longer appears dehydrated.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can help Louie eat a little bit more? I don't want this poor little guy to waste away because his previous owners didn't know how to take care of him or when to realize something was wrong. Any help is appreciated.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, its really nice that you rescued poor little Louie. Can you post pics of him as well as his set up ? Here's how:
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to attach pics

It's good that he poo'd and that he's drinking. To get some nutrition in him, get some baby food squash/green beans /chicken [ no added ingredients ] and mix with a few drops of water + a tiny pinch of calcium + D3 powder. Offer that with the syringe or eyedropper. That will get something in to him for now.

 

[Biblioscarlet]

Thank you for the advice! I currently don't have pictures of his set up, I'm still in the process of moving to the house (currently it's an hour away from my weekly residence). Louie is in the capable hands of my significant other for the time being.

From these pictures it doesn't really show, but he has a hump in his vertebrae. He also has twitching in his hind legs, usually at night. But his color has seemed to improve after having UVB light.

For a reference on his size, below is a picture of Smaud taken the same day. (My significant other is holding them, and he has much larger hands than I do.)

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Bless him, he does look tuckered out.
Which UVB are you using for him?
As suggested, the babyfood is very helpful for getting nutrition into him.
A hump on his spine is probably going to be calcium related. Hopefully that will straighten out quickly since he is still growing. Just be sure he gets plenty of calcium, once daily 5 days per week along with the UVB exposure.
I hope he improves more for you!

Tracie

 

[Biblioscarlet]

We have him under a Reptisun 10.0 UVB lamp. And we are going to try the baby food today. My significant other said he was able to get a syringe and feed him a bit yesterday, as well as get him more water.

 

[Biblioscarlet]

Update!

Louie is doing much better this week. He's eating on his own and seems to enjoy the baby food. He now holds his head up for long periods of time and the tremors in his rear legs have stopped! He seems much happier and enjoys head rubs.

 

[cmoo]

That's great that he has shown improvement! He is lucky to have you. My beardie with MBD has an easier time with BSFL, since they're not as fast and cannot get away from her as easily. They're also an excellent calcium source, which is especially important for MBD. Just a suggestion

 

[JessPets]

That's great that he has shown improvement! He is lucky to have you. My beardie with MBD has an easier time with BSFL, since they're not as fast and cannot get away from her as easily. They're also an excellent calcium source, which is especially important for MBD. Just a suggestion

I'd definitely try some BSFL. BSFL is very high in calcium, so it will hopefully help him pop into shape. I am so glad to hear you guys rescued him!