Gravid, MBD and underweight??

[zonkey]

So, I have a maybe 3 or 4 year old female beardie (as the vet guessed) with MBD. Got her about two weeks ago now. She’s also rather underweight and maybe dehydrated too, judging by how wrinkly and dry she feels. Also is missing 4 toes, though that’s not terribly relevant I guess lol. Anyways, before me, for a couple of weeks she was in the care of the girl who initially found her in a dumpster. She was eating her greens, veggies and bugs just fine it seemed. When I first got her, she ate her greens immediately as soon as I put her in her tank. And she would go crazy for dubia. That’s how it was going for a few days. Then as you may remember from my other post lol; I realized unfortunately I was giving her too many bugs and she started not caring about greens at all. I was going to just “wait it out,” but others encouraged me to just to keep on giving her gutloaded bugs given she’s underweight and I was told I can worry about getting her on a regular diet once she’s up to a healthy weight. So I gave her some more dubias, which I have been gutloading with veggies and greens. Was also giving her some wax worms here and there. But primarily dubia. Anyway, then all of a sudden she didn’t really want to eat anything at all, and has sometimes been pooping multiple times a day (usually very small or just urate) whereas before she’s pooped maybe, 2 times in the time I’ve had her, but then this week since this has all been unfolding, she’s pooping ALL the time. And she would get major zoomies and just run frantically and climb and just very restless, which I thought at first was maybe just the poop (I cleaned it as soon as I could) but then this behavior has continued regardless of poop or not. At first it was just very restless running around and climbing, but now she is also glass surfing as well on top of that. And she doesn’t want to eat anything, not even her fav dubia or a hornworm treat. She basks, then she’ll start going crazy again, poops several times a day now usually, even if it’s just a very tiny amount or only urate. I’m starting to suspect she’s gravid, but obviously, this has concerned me, because she’s already underweight and dehydrated, and now she doesn’t wanna eat anything. I give her baths so she can soak usually everyday, in hopes of getting her to drink or whatever, but I’ve only seen her drink water maybe 3 times the whole time I’ve had her these last 2 or so weeks. I sprinkle water on top of her head (she drank it the first time when I first got her) and she drank when I gave her her first bath, and I think she even took one lick out of her little water bowl once too. But I haven’t seen her drink anymore besides that, unless I just haven’t seen it. I know they get hydration from their veggies and stuff too, but she’s not eating right now so that’s tricky. But regardless, given I’ve just barely got her, and just want to help the poor thing get back to better health, you guys can probably understand my frustrations and worries about it all. Just an inconvenient time to be gravid LOL. But I guess I just wanted to ask if this does indeed seem to be gravid symptoms, and what I should be doing? I have made her a dig/lay box. And any time she gapes while basking, I have been trying to sneak veggies, greens and bugs in her mouth. It’s only worked a few times. But from what I understand loss of appetite is normal when gravid.. but it’s just concerning me given her condition— I mean she’s not like deathly horribly underweight, but she is underweight, and with her MBD too, it’s frustrating with her not eating since that’s where she gets her calcium powder (she does have a good UVB bulb, at least). So yeah, just any advice, information, help etc would be so very appreciated. I just wanna help this poor girl.
I’ll attach some pics of Martha <3 She is pretty spunky (especially now LOL) and despite her MBD and missing toes, she really does a good job getting around and climbing, even if it takes her a minute sometimes, she’s very determined.

PS. You guys see that darker bit on her beard?? It’s very similar to a chunk on her tail— is that shed?? Cos it’s always like that. She had part of this darker she’d come off her tail, but there’s some more still, and it kinda looks like she’s got some on her beard too? Idk lol, but like I said I have been giving her a lot of soaks.

Thank you guys sm. I really appreciate you al and I really love this forum. Everybody is very nice and helpful here and you guys don’t make me feel stupid when I ask all these weird questions

 

[xp29]

Please not so many soaks. It isn't good for them and you run the risk of her aspirating on the water.
For hydration use an eyedropper to drip it on her snout. Use plastic in case she bites it.
Contrary to much misinformed popular myth they will not hydrate from soaking, they have to actually drink the water.
As for calcium you can add some liquid calcium to her water. Taste it yourself some of it taste horrible. Also after it ages it can become rancid.
If she is gravid she will be very hungry after she lays. She will also be depleted of calcium. Be sure to give it to her daily for a week or two after she lays. Stay on top of the hydration as the calcium may constipate her otherwise.
When you administrator water go slow and at her pace, don't try to force it or get in a hurry, doing that can aspirate them as well. Use an eyedropper in stead of a syringe because it's easier to control how much your giving.

 

[zonkey]

Please not so many soaks. It isn't good for them and you run the risk of her aspirating on the water.
For hydration use an eyedropper to drip it on her snout. Use plastic in case she bites it.
Contrary to much misinformed popular myth they will not hydrate from soaking, they have to actually drink the water.
As for calcium you can add some liquid calcium to her water. Taste it yourself some of it taste horrible. Also after it ages it can become rancid.
If she is gravid she will be very hungry after she lays. She will also be depleted of calcium. Be sure to give it to her daily for a week or two after she lays. Stay on top of the hydration as the calcium may constipate her otherwise.
When you administrator water go slow and at her pace, don't try to force it or get in a hurry, doing that can aspirate them as well. Use an eyedropper in stead of a syringe because it's easier to control how much your giving.

I see— how long does it take them to lay when they are gravid? She’s just started being wild the past 3 days, if that’s when it “started” ???
I have been trying to drip water on her snout but she has only drank it that one time :[

 

[Chris.]

I see— how long does it take them to lay when they are gravid? She’s just started being wild the past 3 days, if that’s when it “started” ???
I have been trying to drip water on her snout but she has only drank it that one time :[

It can take some time for her to get used to the eyedropper. You can hold her on your Hand, put a little drop on her snout and wait for her to open her mouth and sip it up. She should be starting to lick into the air after that and you can keep the eyedropper close to her mouth with a drop ready to go.
Worked for me like that and Luis now knows the eyedropper means it's time to drink and he will start licking into the air if I take him out. He'll also turn and look at me if I deliver his eyedropper to slowly

 

[xp29]

I see— how long does it take them to lay when they are gravid? She’s just started being wild the past 3 days, if that’s when it “started” ???
I have been trying to drip water on her snout but she has only drank it that one time :[

It takes Ruby about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks to lay after she starts going bonkers. It took Sweet Pea longer but she doesn't get as restless as Ruby.

 

[zonkey]

Understood! I will keep trying to get her to drink water. Definitely will be trying this method more too. How often should I be getting her to drink water, especially in her likely dehydrated state?

And what about the food aspect? I know it’s normal for them not to really eat when they’re gravid, but it just concerns me with her being underweight. I’m just curious how I should handle it.

 

[Chris.]

I'd offer water at least every other day.
Why do you think she's dehydrated by the way? Judging by the fatpads at the back of the head she doesn't look too bad. The tail is round, not flat, the hip bones are not visible....

 

[xp29]

I'd offer water at least every other day.
Why do you think she's dehydrated by the way? Judging by the fatpads at the back of the head she doesn't look too bad. The tail is round, not flat, the hip bones are not visible....

I agree, every other day and if she doesn't want it adjust it to her.

 

[AHBD]

I see— how long does it take them to lay when they are gravid? She’s just started being wild the past 3 days, if that’s when it “started” ???
I have been trying to drip water on her snout but she has only drank it that one time :[

My girls usually laid within 4-5 days of being restless + digging but it can vary. As far as her possibly being dehydrated, it sounds like she drank well enough on her own during her eating phase so she should be O.K.
A 5 minute supervised soak once a week is fine if she drinks like she already has but the syringe is always a good idea.

 

[zonkey]

Okay, thank you guys! Yeah I guess just on the dehydrated thing I wasn’t sure if she was just cos how wrinkly and dry she feels. But maybe that’s just cos of her being underweight and having all the loose skin

I’m trying to make a digbox but am having trouble finding playsand. Is there a way I can make it the proper burrowing consistency for her using something else, or etc? Or how necessary is it? I’ve heard some beardies will just lay their eggs anywhere while others are picky and want to dig. I have a big ole box full of soil and some of the Jurassic natural sand as of now. Do I need to add some water to it or anything? It’s primarily soil.

 

[AHBD]

It's always best to have a digbox so that's good. You do have to dampen it so that she can dig an actual cave. How much Jurassic sand do you have compared to the soil ? Can you post a pic of the box ?

 

[zonkey]

It's always best to have a digbox so that's good. You do have to dampen it so that she can dig an actual cave. How much Jurassic sand do you have compared to the soil ? Can you post a pic of the box ?

Okay! How do you dampen it/how much water would you add?
I used a whole bag of Reptisoil (10 qt I believe) and 10lb bag of Jurassic Natural Australian desert sand. I’ll take a pic when I get home here in a moment

 

[zonkey]

 

[AHBD]

It's usually better to have about 2-3 X as much substrate if you can get more. You can use another bag of the sand. When you add warm water just slowly pour + mix it until it's like cookie dough, moist enough to hold shape. You don't want the light beaming in on her though, just have this in a warm room, use a small heater if you need to heat the room . Or you can use something like this, I used for all my girls for years. It's about 22 long, 12 wide and 8 deep. that can fit in your beardie's enclosure.

 

[zonkey]

Okay! That makes sense. I’m going to try to find that sand today, hopefully.
I did dampen what I have so far and got it to that cookie dough consistency. I put her in it a bit ago (since she was going wild in her tank) and she just wants out, doesn’t dig so far, just tries to get out. Is it just cos she isn’t ready?