Does MBD always show in x-ray?

[Namipulla]

Hello,

I wonder if you could help me. I'd like to know if the MBD is always shown in the x-ray. I have a 6-year-old male beardie who has overly flexible joints. He has had them since he was a baby but later it's starting to cause problems. He bends his front legs inward and sometimes his wrists "upside down". I've taken him to a vet couple of times and they've always said it's not MBD. Last time they finally took x-ray and said it was okay. Although he is showing a signs of arthrosis on his right front leg. His bones look "well calciumed". I want to believe my vet but what other condition could he have? He has been this way for a couple of years now. He can hold himself up very well, is very active, runs around like crazy now the summer is here. He is not twisting or dropping food or anything like that. The vets I've taken him to should be reptile experts but I live in Finland and bearded dragons are still relatively new pets. Vets don't eg. measure calcium levels from the blood, they rely solely on the x-ray and visible symptoms.

My beardie's tank should be okay. For UVB I use Zoomed Reptisun 10.0 tube. I dust all the crickets and worms he gets in the calcium powder and sometimes add calcium on the vegs as well. He gets his vitamin 1-2 times a week, sometimes I give a little extra D3. His basking place holds a temperature of around 40-43 degrees Celcius (104+ Fahrenheit, I used converter), other tank is around 25 C (77 Fahrenheit). He is a bit on the smaller side and has always been kinda ugly duckling case but not really ill by any means. This leg bending is what worries me. I love this little guy and I'd like to have him around for another 6 years.

I apologize my English. I'm not a native speaker and some measurements etc. are difficult for me since we use metric system. I hope I've given enough information!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is a great question!
Normally if they do have metabolic bone disease, it should reveal in one way or another, on x-rays. It should show decreased brightness or fanning on the hipbone area, the spinal column may appear blurred instead of bright white, or other calcification areas that should not be there.
They are not able to do a blood test at all to measure calcium levels?
How far is the Reptisun 10 tube bulb from him & is there plastic or screen in between him & the light? How old is the tube bulb?
Do you have any pictures of him?
How often do you use calcium powder?
Does he climb with no problems either? Has he had any trouble with twitching at all, intermittently?

He has been very flexible in this manner for awhile since he was a youngster?
What foods do you feed him?

Tracie

 

[Namipulla]

Thank you very much for your answer, Tracie!

I could always ask the vet if they have equipment to measure the calcium levels from blood. The thing is I feel kinda frustrated to take my beardie to the vet and hear that nothing is wrong and pay huge amount of money. I usually tend to know more of beardies than my vets. But of course I take him there always when needed. I saw the x-ray myself and also to me his bones appeared normal white and not blurred. His tail is slightly crooked at the end.

The UV tube is about 11-12 inches from my beardie's basking place. I replace the tube yearly (I've read that Zoomed lasts for a year) usually in the spring. I use wide-eyed net as a cover so the rays should pierce through. It's similar to this picture: http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/anssiu/IMG_8215.jpg. I feed him mainly crickets and superworms and sometimes mealworms. During the summer I also give him some insects from outside. For veggies he gets mainly arugola, parsley, carrot (he's very picky but carrot tricks him to eat greens), mung sprouts, wheatgrass, pea sprouts and watercress. I use calcium powder 4-5 times a week.

And yes, he's always had this flexibility. When he was younger, one of his toes got it's top joint dislocated. The toe is still that way, I just kept my eye on it so that it didn't get swollen. He climbs okay, and he bit me last summer and literally broke my nail in two so there must be some force in his jaws! He doesn't twist in that MBD manner but this spring he has had some kind of sudden "shudders" in the same manner people get sometimes when they see something gross (sorry, cannot describe this better). He does them only when he's running around the house and to me they seem to be related to his enthusiasm, he gets like overly excited. Although when I hold him, he's kinda limp (or very very relaxed). I must say my other beardie feels much firmer when I hold him.

I've raised two other beardies in the same conditions and they are just fine (or the other one is, female died couple of years ago but not from MBD). I think this little guy's case might be genetical. It's like he's got some MBD symptoms but we cannot diagnose him!

I've actually got a video of him. Here he is running around and in one point you can see him keeping his wrist twisted. Please let me know if you can't see the video. Thanks!
http://s497.photobucket.com/albums/rr334/Namipulla/Orli/?action=view&current=P1020540.mp4