BONE INFECTION!!

[LadyRenegade]

Hey everyone, I am new on this site, but have found it to be very helpful for me. I recently purchased a baby beardie from Petco. He is about 3 months old now, and about a week ago, we noticed that his tail was starting to get a little crooked. We brought him to a breeder who said it was MBD, so we got new lights that night. Since then, it has gotten worse. We took the lil guy to a vet, who did an xray and said he was diagnosed with a rare Bone Infection. We are now giving him antibiotic shots every other day. Since then he is not really using his back legs (infection is in his tail, with a small fracture), and he has since began to not use his front. I am not sure if its because his arms are sore from the shots? It just seems like he is not getting better. Has anyone dealt with this? We are terribly worried that he is going to pass, and we are desperately trying to save him. he used to love crickets, now he hardly moves and waits for them to get by his mouth, and tries to get them. He seems just very blah now.. he used to be an active little guy. :? :?

 

[AHBD]

Hi Lady.....I commented on your other thread in the health forum. Those are classic MBD symptoms and yes, the shots hurt, are almost certainly useless and can cause atrophy + reluctance to use the arms. I would not return to that vet. Get him some calcium + sunshine....hopefully he'll bounce back .Poor little sweetie. Best wishes for him.

 

[LadyRenegade]

HE makes Me a Nervous Wreck!!!! Me & My Boyfriend Panicked & Rushed To An ER For Lizards

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry your little one is having so much trouble!
Which UVB light do you have for him, is it a tube bulb or a compact/coil light?
Do you have any pictures of him you could post for us?
Which antibiotic shots is he receiving? I am wondering how the vet determined he had a bone infection, a blood test?
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[AHBD]

Pics are in the other thread in the health forum Tracie. Here it is:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=227244

 

[LadyRenegade]

She did an xray thats how she determined it... i dont know off the top of my head but the antibiotic starts with a t i believe. I am taking him for a second opinion today.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Bless him, he is such a sweet little thing. How is he doing today?
Let us know how the vet visit goes & what they say.
Did he eat anything today?
Maybe Tetracycline? I worry about him getting too much medication if he doesn't need it.
Be sure to give a probiotic also, so he doesn't completely lose his appetite also.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[LadyRenegade]

Took him for his second opinion, he referred me to a herpetologist who specializes in beardies. Poor baby hasnt eaten at all today has about a dozen crickets and he wont eat. Just lays in one spot alllllll day :\ we let him play outside a little today he moved a little, if he doesnt start eating were extremely worried hell pass....

 

[AHBD]

Poor little one. Get some baby food squash, chicken + green beans. Any or all of those... put a pinch of calcium +D3 powder in and offer it via syringe. You can also drip water on his snout for a drink. You might also try this....smash a cricket until the guts come out the back end, then rub that lightly on his snout. I know it sounds gross but it sometimes gets them to eat. Best wishes to the little guy !

 

[LadyRenegade]

We Have Tried EVERYTHING ): I'm so thankful for your advice. We think he is trying to just pass :\ he hasnt moved in days, nor eaten, or defecated .... if you hold him he just sleeps :|

 

[AHBD]

Poor little guy...I'm so sorry. The treatment was just too much on him. It may be too late, but try the baby food or plain water every couple of hours to see if he'll take a lick at some point. It may be that his arms are so sore from the shots that he's not wanting to move them. I really feel for you.

 

[TheCoreyHall]

My first beardie developed a bone infection as well. His back legs swelled up to almost twice their size. When I took him to the vet they did an xray and said the infection was basically disintegrating his leg bones. She said there was a treatment of shots over 6 months that might heal him but it would require a lot of intensive care for him, mouth feeding, and he wouldn't be active and able to move his back legs at all. It sounds an awful lot like what you are experiencing.

I opted to have him euthanized. It was a hard decision but the quality of life he would have been left with plus odds of even surviving did not seem good. You might have to accept a similar decision if the doctors cant find a cure.

 

[AHBD]

This is not a bone infection. Infections are not determined by an X-ray. The baby has MBD, Google it and reasearch and the pics are all of dragons with lumps + deformities of the spine /tail/legs. I can't speak for your baby [ Corey ] and am sorry to hear about it, but there are many vets that do not diagnose symptoms properly, this forum has quite a few threads of misdiagnosis .This dragon has MBD and is being given painful and probably useless shots. All he needed from the beginning was calcium, D3 and proper uvb.

 

[TheCoreyHall]

This is the picture I took of mine way back when: http://imgur.com/a/AosnF

It looks different than images of MBD ive seen so Im not sure if it was really that or not. I gave him plenty of UV and calcium and in fact he lived in the same terrarium that my current healthy dragon lives in so I don't see anyway he could have gotten less. Comparing my image to the OPs however, it definitely looks like hers has MBD compared to an infection

 

[LadyRenegade]

omg Corey, I am so sorry! That poor beardie looks so pained ): Mine has lost weight, he does not have swollen limbs at all. He only started acting this way, when we took him and began injections, I honestly regret ever taking him. Before taking him, he was eating, and everything just walked funny. I should have stuck with my gut, because we are so scared he is going to pass now, because we gave him injections. We took the plastic off his UVB per your statement earlier in the forum, and we have been giving him calcium drops. His head is shedding at the moment, so that may have something to do with not eating maybe? he uses his limbs when he wants, for example I let him play on our patio and he was darting around like nobodies business!! Since he is not eating, are there any other ways to give calcium besides force shoving a syrnge full down his throat? we have exhausted over $250 on vets, and we just cannot afford another vet, or calcium shot. we need home remedies ): :?