Beardie with rubber jaw :(

[KDK241]

Well my new rescued beardie Ali appears to have rubber jaw Someone on another forum said something about his jaw looking slightly deformed so when I gave him his bath today I lightly touched the side of his lower jaw and its squishy. That would definitely explain why he couldn't catch his food very well when it was right in front of him. I can't get into the vet until next week but now I feel horrible for him. After 3 years with no UVB, a basking light or any veggies and only undusted crickets I'm surprised he's not a lot worse off. He's a little under 15" and only weighs 190 grams. He didn't poop all day and finally did in his bath after I rubbed his tummy a little. He has a UVB bulb and basking spot now. I know MBD can't be cured but I will do everything I can to keep it from getting worse. Now I just need to get him to eat dusted food!

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from Health to ER for more exposure

 

[KDK241]

Thanks for moving, I wasn't sure where to put it. I'm not sure if his not pooping yesterday was a symptom of the MBD or if it was because he pigged out a lot yesterday. I was thinking of picking up some chicken baby food and seeing if he would eat that. I'm thinking that would be easier on his system (he has yet to poop without a bath) and I can hide the calcium powder in there better. Plus he needs to gain some weight. He did eat some of his greens yesterday but I didn't give him any dubias. I don't really know what to do right now My vet is out of town until next week and he's the only one I trust to be knowledgeable.

I was also wondering if I should keep him warmer at night. The temp doesn't drop below 75 in here at night but I don't know if he needs some extra heat right now. If so would a black light bulb work or should I get a ceramic heat emitter?

I have grown so attached to him in the 2 days that I've had him and it brought tears to my eyes when I realized his jaw was soft yesterday. The poor guy has had such a rough time and I want him to have the best life I can give him.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....how nice of you to be taking care of this little guy. Your idea to give some baby food and put his calcium in it is good to get some calcium in , and it's great that he's eating greens on his own. If you give him the dubia, just try smaller than usual, easier to chew, or else freshly shed ones. You might also crush a few and see if he'll take them that way, or make a slurry for him.Smaller crickets would be easier to chew as well. I hope he does well for you.

 

[AHBD]

Oh, I forgot to mention, 75 is fine for a night time temp.

 

[KDK241]

I was already planning on giving him some baby dubias instead. I feel bad for giving him the larger ones the other day before I knew (not that he had any problems eating them). Now I just want it to be time for him to wake up so I can check on him. I'm so worried now.

Its going to be in the 90s and sunny here today, would taking him outside for some sun be a good idea or bad? I like to give natural sun as much as possible but I don't want to stress him out too much either since he's only been here a couple days now.

I wrapped him in a towel after his bath last night (which he kept climbing out of) and laid him on my chest and he immediately went to sleep. I know he wasn't handled very much so I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing now Since he will eat greens is there any that would be better to give him right now? He's currently getting turnip, collard and mustard greens and will eat all of them. Any other veggies that would be more beneficial for him right now? Should I get some liquid calcium instead of the rep-cal? (Don't know if one is easier to absorb than the other)

I'm trying to look on the positive side and not worry TOO much. Sure he needed some help pooping but he did poop after me only rubbing his tummy twice and it was all digested and white urates. He ate most of his greens yesterday (I gave him a lot) and was basking with his mouth open in the afternoon. (I checked his temps and they were fine). He isn't very active and did sleep quite a bit yesterday but it could be from adjusting right? I know Emerson did nothing but eat and lay around and sleep the first few days I had him and now he's always on the go. Ali was definitely active when I first saw him and was running around trying to catch crickets while we were carrying him to my car

Sorry for the long post...sometimes it helps if I "talk" things out a bit

 

[AHBD]

So he was running around trying to eat while on the ride home ? Lol, you couldn't ask for a more relaxed rescue. Can you post a pic ? If it's not severe [ his jaw] I would give him medium feeder insects, not too large but enough to give him a decent meal but without stuffing him. If he's not afraid to go outside [ you'll know if he gets terrified ] you can take him out for a while, but if you feel better waiting for a few weeks, that's O.K. too, as long as he has a good UVB bulb. Never take him out in a glass tank though, heat goes up to lethal in a short time. And for baths, if you can give that earlier in the day, and just every other day since he doesn't seem to like it right now, that might be better for him. He'll get hydrated from the baths and all the veggies he's eating so well, which you listed were the good ones. Another thing about baths, remember that reptiles cannot generate their own heat, so whenever a person baths than wraps in a towel, you are basically wrapping a cold blooded animal in a cold, wet towel. The best thing to do is bathe earlier, then pit right back in the heat after patting him dry. Somertimes I wonder if this contributes to the high number of respiratory infections that are posted in the forums. Anyway....it sounds like you'll give him a good home and a quality life.

 

[KDK241]

Yep, while we were carrying him to my car he was trying to eat and then the whole ride home he was trying to catch his crickets and managed to get one Now that I think about it though he might have been so hungry that he didn't care what was going on.

This is the best pic I have of his jaw

Here is an overall pic of him

I will try and take him outside and see how he does. He has a Reptisun 10.0 but nothing beats natural. If he seems too stressed I'll bring him right back in. I waited 24 hours for him to poop and when he hadn't I gave him the bath. He ate a lot the day before and I took him out as soon as he did. He also had a little retained shed on his bottom jaw that fell off after the bath. He doesn't drink water from the bath or when I drip it on his snout but I mist the salad a couple times a day so he gets some water from that.

Here is a link to the thread on his previous care viewtopic.php?f=3&t=176152 I re-did his basking area and gave him a gradient from 95-110* and also made it so he can get closer (6" away) to his UVB if he wants.

 

[AHBD]

He doesn't look bad at all !! He's should be just fine. I don't see the classic swollen, rounded shape, so it's not really rubber jaw....just a very slight underbite. I think he'll do fine with regular food....just slightly smaller than normal insects, and feed him twice a day. Keep him on the veggies, you might just skip the baby food because they can get picky and just want more of it...but he sounds as if he has a good appetite, a good attitude and probably comes from strong stock since he is in remarkably good condition considering his past neglect. You don't have to be too stressed, I think he'll do just fine ! And some liquid calcium would be great, that way you'll see him get it without worrying if he's getting enough powdered calcium.

 

[KDK241]

I didn't think about an underbite, lol. Is his jaw supposed to be a little squishy? I just barely touched it with my fingernail and it felt like rubber right under his bottom lip. I've never felt a normal beardie jaw and there's no way Emerson will let me do it, lol. It would figure that I'd be freaking out and worrying over nothing He looks a lot better this morning, no wrinkly skin and not as sleepy as yesterday. The first thing he does when he gets up is eats some salad, even before basking. I'll get the liquid calcium. Fingers crossed that its nothing to worry about and that he poops on his own today

I have to say thank you too. I feel a lot better now and won't worry myself sick until he gets to the vet next week.

*UPDATE* He ate dusted dubias! I think there is something wrong with his eyes though. The dubia was on the other side of the tank from him and he's sticking his tongue out running in circles trying to catch it like it was in front of him. Then when I held the tongs in front of his face he was missing the roach by about an inch. Unless it was really wiggling he had a hard time seeing it at all and even when it was wriggling it took about a minute for him to actually see it and get it. He ate about 6 1/2-3/4" dubias and I'm going to try and give him some more later tonight.

 

[KDK241]

My vet called last night and had me email some pictures (the best vet ever!) and he said he doesn't think he has MBD either He said the soft jaw could be because of the deformity and basically the skin has nothing underneath it to make it feel firm. Of course we won't know for sure until he sees him next week but he didn't sound too concerned. His main concern was his weight and he said I should weigh him a couple times a week mainly to make sure he doesn't lose too much (and hopefully gains).

He didn't poop yesterday and I didn't give him a bath. He also didn't eat any of his greens but I think that's because I got him a food dish and he didn't seem to fond of it, lol. He went over like he wanted to have some but then walked away. If he doesn't eat them again today I'm going to throw them back on the floor like I did before. He slept most of the afternoon after eating his dubias but it was really hot in here (89* WITH the AC on) and I noticed Emerson took a nap too.