Head tremors/vibrations

[Ozzie3]

Hi, a couple of weeks ago we noticed that our 4-year-old beardie was exhibiting minor but noticeable head tremors. Almost like a vibration. He also seemed to lose energy, appetite and weight. We took him to the vet last week and the vet was stumped. He initially suspected MBD but said that it would normally exhibit throughout his body, not just his head. He ended up doing blood work, an x-ray, and a fecal scan and all came back normal (with the exception of a very few pinworms). We talked about his care and the vet felt that we needed to warm up the tank (the UVB bulb was fine). He ended up giving Ozzie a vitamin shot and sent us home with a calcium/vitamin powder to give him daily. He also suggested that he thought there might be an inbred neurological problem Since then, we warmed up the tank and the tremors reduced although not completely (this happened almost immediately). He's also gained some weight with the vitamin powder but still shows little interest in eating. Today he was extremely agitated for a number of hours. I ended up letting him out of the tank for a short while to run around. His beard was quite dark. Unfortunately, when we tried to feed him the vitamin mixture he bit my finger--my fault for trying to do this while he was clearly upset. My kids are quite upset and we're all at a loss as to what to do next. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, I'm sorry to hear about poor Ozzie. I'm sure it's all pretty upsetting to all of you. I can't think of anything else aside from what your vet already mentioned, he covered the main possibilities. Inner ear infections can cause certain symptoms, but I'm not sure it would be tremors, more of a loss of balance, and toxins can cause neuro problems as well. As for his black beard and aggressiveness, I'm pretty sure it's just the male spring time ritual, even if he hasn't done it in the past. Tell the kids that many male dragons act like that in the breeding season. They may not be interested in food at this time, either. Do you have a picture of him ? You say he's gaining weight ? Hopefully he will be fine.

 

[Ozzie3]

Thanks for your encouraging words. The vet said that all we can really do now is wait and see. Because he is quite aggressive right now (as my thumb can attest to!), he doesn't want me to feed him the liquid vitamins at this point. Ozzie has clearly gotten stronger, and the vet's feeling is that he needs to be able to eat on his own. Lots of fresh salad and worms. We're all cautiously optimistic. I didn't ask about your suggestion regarding the inner ear infection. The symptoms didn't really seem to match. I appreciate your feedback!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Which UVB light are you using now & how old is it?
The blood test came back normal, correct?
It could be a neurological issue, there is a lot of inbreeding going on with bearded dragons now. How often do you use calcium for him?

Tracie

 

[Ozzie3]

I replaced the UVB last July. The vet checked it out and said it was fine. Yes, all of the blood work was normal. I generally use calcium powder on his food 5x a week and vitamin powder the other two days. The vet does think that it could be neurological, although the tremors subsided when I substantially increased the temp in the tank, so I wonder if that would be the case if it were neurological? Right now, he's fixated on his reflection which could be another sign of mating behavior. I'm just leaving him be for now, with fresh food and water each day. Thanks, Tracie.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The UVB light is almost a year old? That is most likely the problem then. The UVB lights decrease in intensity over time so it likely is not putting out any UVB emissions at all. Which one is it, a tube bulb or a compact/coil light?
Do you happen to have a copy of the blood tests? Do you know if an ionized calcium test was done as well to test bone density?
When they are suffering from metabolic bone disease or early signs & symptoms, a lot of times the immediate blood calcium appears normal. It is due to the bones being leached to maintain the blood levels for homeostasis. Were any x-rays done on him to see the density of the bones?
He may not be properly absorbing his calcium, as there really aren't too many reasons that he should have a neurological problem unless he has been injured somehow. Nutritional deficiencies can mimic neurological disorders.

Tracie

 

[Ozzie3]

Hi Tracie,

The vet tested the UVB tube and said the emissions were fine. Didn't get a copy of the blood work, but the vet did an x-ray and said bone density was fine. With the warmer tank, Ozzie seems much improved and had a big "dump" last night (the first normal one in a few weeks), which suggests that he's taking in more calories. The vet said to keep an eye on him this week and bring him back next week for a check up and weigh-in. Hopefully he's on the mend.

 

[kaykay87]

im glad to hear ozzie is on the mend, i am going through EXACTLY the same thing as you, head shaking loss of weight and appetite, ive been hand feedingg zuko for the last 6 months, the vet has said on numerous occasions he is fine but i just dont believe it, i would send off a fecal, if he would actually go to the toilet, the last poop he done was 2 weeks ago and my silly boyfriend cleaned it up before that it was months before he went, and he hasnt been since, our uvb is 4 months old, temp at basking end 105f so i relly dont know :/

 

[swohletz]

I have seen the tremors/shaking as a symptoms of neurological disorders. In these cases though, the shaking starts at a very young age and continues though-out their whole life. I have rarely seen it begin as adults, but that doesn't mean it is not possible. With the neurological disorders the lizards seem to be generally healthy and do okay, they often grow at a slower rate and may have difficulties eating due to the tremors at times. It is kind of like the early stages of Parkinson's disease, in that they do not shake all they time. Tremors may be instigated by your touch or their movement. These tremors are small and short lived. (I have seen violent shakes, almost seizure like, but this I believe to be a different disorder/illness, one that usually is fatal.)
The shaking and the loss of appetite and energy may also be explained by constipation. When the beardies get constipated their visible health rapidly declines. I have seen constipation cause sudden on-set tremors in adults...especially when they are trying to poop. However, I would think your vet would have recognized that. If this continues to be a problem and your not seeing much poop, a warm bath or some mineral oil may get things moving. A week or more without pooping is usually a sign of constipation/impaction. My lizards poop daily...but they eat a lot! haha.
Fortunately, it sounds like the vet gave Ozzie a clean bill of health. If this is the start of a neurological disorder, then most likely your lizard can still live a happy/healthy life, he'll just have a like more character.
Hope this helps,
Sarah

 

[Ozzie3]

Thanks, Sarah. I'm not sure that Ozzie is completely out of the woods yet, but he's much improved and seems to most definitely be in heat! The tremors have subsided but haven't completely go away, and they are very much as you have described. It's good to know that lizards can still live a happy life with them. I hope that the other lizard shows improvement, as well. Ellen

 

[kaykay87]

sarah as you said, it can be triggered by our touch or thier movement, we thought maybe because we have to force feed him that it could be him being scared of us, and shaking because of that, im glad ozzie is gettin better ellen, am so worried about our little zuko, can i just ask what u mean by neroligical? wat does that mean? (blonde moment) ellen does ozzie shake even when hes on you? zuko does, so sarah if i mix a bit of olive oil with water and drip it on the end of his nose so he licks it off will that help? he has no belly on him watsoever so i really dont think its because of impaction... :/

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Just curious which UVB light you are using & what the uW/cm2 & UVI readings of the bulb were? Can you find out for me from the vet?
What do you feed him on a regular basis, which worms does he like? How much greens does he eat?
If he is constipated, it is usually caused by either too large of prey, dehydration, oversupplementation & inadequate UVB which causes weakened muscles & Gi tract issues.

How is he doing today?

Tracie

 

[Ozzie3]

Hi, I thought I'd throw one more question out there. Overall, Ozzie is much stronger and his appetite is back for his greens and small worms. While he's had a couple of normal poops, he's had a number of instances where there have been small "droppings" that are orange/red in color. I brought in a sample to the vet and he said it was normal, but it's definitely not something that we saw before Ozzie's other issues started. Does this sound familiar to anyone? fyi, in his follow up visit yesterday, the vet seemed quite surprised at his recovery. While he doesn't think that the tremors will go away completely (he called them attention tremors or something of the sort--brought on when he's focused on something like live food), he definitely saw improvement. At this point, we've done all of the testing that we can (including an ultrasound, which the vet said he did on his own out of curiosity) and clinically Ozzie is completely healthy, so we're going to just see how he does over time. I hope Zuko is feeling better, as well. Ellen

 

[Ozzie3]

He's had calcium all along. MBD is not the issue.

 

[kaykay87]

Hiya, oh thats really good news that hes healthy, hope it meams that zuko is too, just waitin for him to poop so we can send it off unfortunutley tho zuko is still not eating by himself