Disoriented-- isn't walking right *Pics & vid - All Better?

[jacqui778]

I've been making too many posts like this one lately.

I'm really not sure where this post belongs. It doesn't seem life-or-death or I'd have put it in the ER section. I guess it's her behaviour. If a mod comes along and decides it belongs somewhere else, feel free to relocate it.

This morning, I woke up and MoMo had her beard puffed up. It wasn't black (she has never had a black beard) but it was puffed. Sometimes she does this when I'm not awake soon enough for her, so I wasn't concerned.
However, soon after that, her eyes had a milky film over them. It seemed to be her second eyelid, the one on the inside, but it didn't go back right away. When it did, she actually looked a bit cross-eyed, but just for a brief moment.

However, when she tried to walk after she warmed up, it was more like a headfirst sprawl. Her limbs seemed stiff and she pretty much did a head dive, and then just laid there. That was 3 hours ago. She's tried to move a few times since then, but otherwise, has been still.

I can't think of anything unusual that's happened. Yesterday, she was great. She woke up, had her liquid calcium, ate some scrambled eggs (since I'm currently low on feeders and have nothing else for her to eat except salad), basked in natural sunlight, then came down and went to sleep.

I do have a few pictures to show what's going on.... I also have a video but I have to figure out how to make it work, since I took it on my phone and it compressed it in some strange way.

These are all after she tried to walk and totally just gave up after sprawling headfirst. The third is a blurry pic of how her eye looked. I'll get the video up when I can.

Does anyone know what's going on?

Jacqui

 

[jacqui778]

Okay, here's the video, then.

 

[ATLBeardedDragons]

Man that is some strange stuff! WHAT KIND AND TYPES OF BULBS DO YOU HAVE ON HIM/HER?!?!?!?

Ive seen the NON USE of back legs during MBD but this is different. How weird! Is she/he eating atleast after this morning?


[email protected]

www.AtlantaBeardedDragons.com


sincerely,
ABD

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hi Jacqui,

That definitely does not look good. Poor MoMo! How is she doing now?
I think it would be a good idea to have Tracie take a look at the pics and video of MoMo. I would think she will also want to move your thread to the Health or ER forum. I will go ahead and send her a pm now.

 

[ATLBeardedDragons]

Yes good idea. Post this exact message under HEALTH/ER.

You may want to bring her to an exotic VET asap!


[email protected]

www.AtlantaBeardedDragons.com

sincerely,
ABD

 

[Drache613]

Hello Jacqui!

Oh good grief, poor Momo!
Did you dose the calcium according to the chart? I wouldn't think that the liquid calcium would do that just overnight.
What type of problems has she been having, metabolic bone disease or other issues, right? Has she ever walked like that previously?
You are using the Reptisun 10 tube, right?
Was that the first time you have used scrambled eggs?

Tracie

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from Behavior to ER

 

[jacqui778]

Man that is some strange stuff! WHAT KIND AND TYPES OF BULBS DO YOU HAVE ON HIM/HER?!?!?!?

Ive seen the NON USE of back legs during MBD but this is different. How weird! Is she/he eating atleast after this morning?

I had a SolarGlo, until I learned it was bad. The ReptiSuns got here today, but I need to hook them up to the fixtures. So far, she's been getting at least 3 hours of natural sunlight per day (not enough, but it's some UVB, which is better than none).

No, she wouldn't eat this morning. I don't think she can see right. She's been very territorial all day, especially toward Gem. She's been headbobbing slowly most of the day.


Tracie:

I followed the chart as close as I could. I also gave the calcium to Gem, the same times and everything, but she's as happy as can be. Could it be that I overdosed? I had to give her less than .1ml according to your chart, but the syringe doesn't let me get *too* accurate with that.

I've fed her scrambled eggs previously, yes, but it's a rare thing. I give them to her once weekly, IF that. I don't have any feeders currently, and neither eat salads with much enthusiasm. She also ate around 2 bites of banana. Gem had the same meal; again, she's great.

So far as I know, the only other problems she's having is the slight MBD. I've never seen her do anything like this. I've never even seen Gem do anything like this, and she had the worst MBD I've ever seen.


I figured she'd need a vet appt. Sigh. I solve one problem that may have needed a vet, only to back myself into another.


Dawn:

Yeah, it's not too great looking. I've never seen anything like this before. I've never even seen someone else post about something like this, in my 2 years of forum-dom. That's what freaks me out. She's okay now. She seems intent on taking a nap, but all she's managing to do is burrow in circles. :?

I'm so confused, mainly because she seemed so happy yesterday! And now, she's the complete opposite. I can tell she's trying to be her spunky self, but just can't.

Tracie, should I hold off on the calcium for a few days, and see if it has an effect? Now that I think of it, she outright refused to take it this morning. :|

Jacqui

 

[jeritta]

wow, Sorry to hear you are having problems with MoMo. I hope she is okay. Please let us know.
Hugs.

 

[jacqui778]

Her limbs are twitching again. It looks like something is crawling under her skin, or bubbling. And she keeps making weird movements with her mouth, like she's trying to chew on her tongue.

She still can't walk right. She keeps falling over or taking one step before her forearms fold behind her in the palm-up position and she belly flops.

Her eyes are going cross-eyed more often now.

Could she be lacking some vitamin? She doesn't seem able to see right, or walk right. She hasn't twitched in days, and the one day she doesn't get calcium, it starts again. Unless the twitching and calcium are completely unrelated, and it's something totally different.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Jacqui,

How is Momo doing this evening?
I think she needs to get a blood test to see what else could be going on.
How much does she weigh?
I have never seen this type of reaction to the calcium. A little bit more on the amount, would not affect her that quickly. The only thing I can think of is if she is having another nutritional problem, that is why I think she needs a blood test to see what else it could be.
What vitamins do you give? She might not be able to absorb the calcium very well without the proper UVB lighting which "could" cause some problems.
I would discontinue using the calcium for the moment, until we can figure this out. Then, we can determine whether it is the calcium & it is too strong, or it is something else. This is why I don't mix it full strength, so overdosing doesn't occur.
This is a strange case, but she needs to get to the vet to get her stabilized.
She sure liked it the first day, right? Did she have this reaction the first day she took it, or the next day?
How long has it been since she has gotten good UVB exposure, other than the sunlight?
How much has she twitched in the past, & did the calcium seem to stop the twitching?
Try giving some oral fluids, say, 3-4mls of water to see if maybe she is dehydrated possibly. Which calcium were you previously using, & was she having any problems with that?
****EDIT: Some other thoughts are how often do you feed eggs? They have a tendency to be a factor in inhibiting calcium absorption due to the higher protein in them. It causes excess calcium to be excreted because of higher protein & sodium content in protein. I would avoid the eggs, just to make sure that is not a factor. Their bodies cannot process high protein very easily & too high of protein in reptiles with metabolic bone disease interrupts the calcium absorption. Does she eat collard greens? They contain oxalates too so I usually recommend cases like this, to avoid them, also.

Please let me know how she is doing!

Tracie

 

[articwolfgirl]

best of luck with momo

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hi Jacqui! How is MoMo doing today? Don't forget to answer all of Tracie's questions.
I am glad you got new lights for the girls. Hopefully that will help some.
Please let us know what is going on with MoMo. It is quite puzzling, for sure.

 

[jacqui778]

Hello Jacqui,

How is Momo doing this evening?
I think she needs to get a blood test to see what else could be going on.
How much does she weigh?
I have never seen this type of reaction to the calcium. A little bit more on the amount, would not affect her that quickly. The only thing I can think of is if she is having another nutritional problem, that is why I think she needs a blood test to see what else it could be.
What vitamins do you give? She might not be able to absorb the calcium very well without the proper UVB lighting which "could" cause some problems.
I would discontinue using the calcium for the moment, until we can figure this out. Then, we can determine whether it is the calcium & it is too strong, or it is something else. This is why I don't mix it full strength, so overdosing doesn't occur.
This is a strange case, but she needs to get to the vet to get her stabilized.
She sure liked it the first day, right? Did she have this reaction the first day she took it, or the next day?
How long has it been since she has gotten good UVB exposure, other than the sunlight?
How much has she twitched in the past, & did the calcium seem to stop the twitching?
Try giving some oral fluids, say, 3-4mls of water to see if maybe she is dehydrated possibly. Which calcium were you previously using, & was she having any problems with that?
****EDIT: Some other thoughts are how often do you feed eggs? They have a tendency to be a factor in inhibiting calcium absorption due to the higher protein in them. It causes excess calcium to be excreted because of higher protein & sodium content in protein. I would avoid the eggs, just to make sure that is not a factor. Their bodies cannot process high protein very easily & too high of protein in reptiles with metabolic bone disease interrupts the calcium absorption. Does she eat collard greens? They contain oxalates too so I usually recommend cases like this, to avoid them, also.

Please let me know how she is doing!

Tracie

Tracie,

She's doing okay, for now. She always used to run around in the mornings, and I think it's confusing her as to why she can't.

I'm going to have my mother call the vet today and see how soon they can get us in. I'll ask about a blood test.

I'm not really sure how much she weighs. I currently don't have a scale. With the calcium, I made an educated guess. She's very small for her age (like, very small) so I guessed she was maybe 200g, perhaps less. I gave her about .05ml of the calcium, which was pretty much a drop.

The vitamins I give are Zoo Med's ReptiVite. Now that I look at it, it has D3 in it.

I will discontinue the calcium, then. It's ok if Gem takes it, though? MoMo loved it the first day, like I said before, she tried to eat the syringe. :laughing6: I got the calcium last Thursday, and she started her weird problem yesterday. She was doing very well every other day before that. She seemed pretty normal.

As for the UVB exposure, it depends on whether or not you count the SolarGlo. :x I got the SolarGlo in late June, and before that I had a PowerSun. She's never twitched before or after I made that one thread about all her limbs twitching.... that lasted only a day. It never happened after I got the calcium.

I gave her 2 baths yesterday, and she drank both times. I figured that the water would help her joints, since swimming is what they recommend for my arthritis. She tried to swim, but that didn't work out too well. I was using the fine-powdered JurassiCal, and she didn't seem to mind that too much. I can't say there were any problems, honestly.

The eggs are a very rare treat. Once a week at most. She eats home-grown Collard Greens, Lemon Basil, and Summer Squash mostly. Should I only feed her Basil and Summer Squash now? :?

She's just as curious and ecclectic as usual. Only issue is her eyes and her inability to walk.

Jacqui

Oh, and thanks for your concern, arcticwolfgirl and Dawn (you sounded a bit like my mom in that post :laughing6: ). I've no doubt that we'll get this cleared up.

 

[jacqui778]

The vet can only get me in at the end of September. We told the secretary it was serious so, since we know my vet personally, she promised to have her give us a call. This is ridiculous.