Concerned about an occasional back leg twitch

[tayloranne]

Hey all! I’ve had my beardie, Hawke, for almost a year and a half now, and he seems like a super healthy little guy. He’s active, he eats a good combination of greens/veggies and bugs, and he doesn’t seem to have any trouble going to the bathroom. A few days ago, though, he passed just urates with no poop. The urates looked normal and healthy so I wasn’t too concerned. I gave him a warm bath the next day, and as he was soaking, I noticed that one of his back legs started twitching. It lasted for a few seconds, stopped, and would occasionally start up again. He pooped in the bath and I took him out. After that, the twitching back leg was much less frequent, but I have still seen it happen every now and again. I’m really confused as to what could be causing this, and would love some second opinions!

I was banking on it being a sign of a minor impaction, but he has pooped twice since I first noticed the leg twitching, and like I said, it’s less frequent but still happening — so I’m not sure if impaction could really be the answer here.

I know twitching can also point to MBD, which has me panicking just a little bit — but from what I’ve read, it seems like he would seem far less healthy than he does if MBD were the issue.

To help you all answer my question, some additional info about him and his setup:
40 gallon tank, tile for substrate, temperatures measured with a thermometer/probe combination. His temps range from mid to high 90s on the basking side and mid 80s on the cool side. he’s got a halogen bulb on a dimmer for heat and a reptisun 10.0 tube light for uvbs. that light is about 4 months old at this point. his diet is either collard greens, bok choy, or mustard greens with some variety of squash. he eats mostly super worms as far as bugs go, and i dust with calcium 2x a week and multivitamins 1x a week.

I can gladly answer any other questions, and will include a few pictures of him as well. Thanks for any advice you guys can offer! I really want to make sure my boy is okay.

 

[Klub708]

As you said, Twitching is usually a sign of moderate to severe MBD but from the pictures your beardie looks very healthy and that doesnt seem to be the case at all. Also your setup sounds good but the cool side should be a little bit cooler IMO.You should probably switch off of Superworms because they are fatty and hard for your beardie to digest which may be part of your problem. Is he still walking normal? Also, how often do the twitches occur?

 

[Chanza]

He doesn't look malnourished for one thing and seems to be holding himself up just fine. However he does look a little pale, so he may be shedding. When was his last shed? What bulbs do you use? Does he recieve calcium supplements?

 

[Chanza]

You could change your feeders if you liked, as some like dubias and solider fly larva and very high in nutrients. Superworms are okay, as their shells are softer than mealworms but if you are looking for more nutrients dubias or soldier flies are your way to go. It may help prevent MBD. Make sure you dust your feeders with calcium.

 

[tayloranne]

Thanks for all the opinions, guys! I was pretty sure he wasn't malnourished, I always joke about him being a pudgy little dude, so it's good to hear that isn't a concern.

His strip uvb light is 18", which has always looked a little short for the tank. Last night I ordered a 24" (reptisun 10.0 again) and a new fixture for it. I didn't mention this before but the bulb is mounted inside the tank. Even if getting enough uvb isn't the problem I'm hoping the longer bulb will be better for him.

In regards to feeders, I used to feed him mostly dubias, they were his staple for about a year. When he tried supers for the first time he got a little picky about bugs and now tends to ignore dubias and go crazy for supers. I'll see if I can't convince him to go for more variety though!

Also in response to how often the twitching occurs: that first time I noticed it, in the bath, it happened quite a lot in just the 20 or so minutes he spent in the bath. Since then it's not been nearly as frequent. Maybe just once or twice a day (at least that I've noticed. Of course there could be instances when I'm at work or something that I don't see).

Thanks again for all the opinions! I'm very over protective and paranoid about my boy, I just adore him so much.

 

[Chanza]

Sounds to me like he's just having a little trouble with a shed. Be sure to keep up the bathing and he should be good in no time. Beardies have such funny ways of breaking their sheds. I got freaked out aswell when mine started puffing up, turns out it was just a shed. :lol: funny little things

 

[tayloranne]

Fingers crossed that that's all it is!
My only concern with it maybe being something else is that I've seen him twitch his back leg out of annoyance before, and it always looks more like a deliberate little kick to me. What's happening now seems more involuntary. He'll just be sitting somewhere, completely still, and then that back leg will start trembling a little.

 

[Mysty]

One of mine is crazy over supers too. It may be worth offering them only once other livefood has been taken. If beardie is especially fussy and you're mean like me, you might even swap a super out at the last moment for a roach or locust. It works most of the time.

 

[tayloranne]

Thanks again for all the advice! I've not seen the leg twitch at all in the past two days, thankfully! It's been really hot here so I've been taking him outside and the natural sunlight seems to be doing him a lot of good. I've also got the longer reptisun 10.0 in his tank, and have ordered eggs and supplies to start hatching silkworms to hopefully replace the supers.