Just checking in to see how he's doing...Did you get the new T5
UVB light on him yet? I think you'll see a marked improvement after just a week being under proper UVB, along with using the liquid Calcium. I wanted to ask, I had originally recommended Calcivet as a liquid Calcium, as someone else just did, but you said you bought Flukers liquid Calcium. I'm just wondering if the Flukers liquid Calcium contains anything else in it, like vitamin D3? As already mentioned by someone else, if he's under the Reptisun 10.0 T5 High-Output tube he'll be able to make plenty of vitamin D3 on his own, so his Calcium supplement doesn't need it. If you haven't yet received the new T5 UVB then continue to use the powder with the D3 that you were, but as soon as you put the new T5 UVB over him, that's when you need to switch to a liquid Calcium without any D3. I'm not familiar with the liquid Flukers Calcium, so I have no idea whether it contains D3 or not. Just wanted to make sure.
Has the swelling gone down at all? You had mentioned that he was "puffing up" quite a bit, and it seemed to be pretty constant, is that still happening? If so, can you post a photo of him "puffed up" so we can see what he's doing? I'm not sure what you mean, they puff up or inflate themselves on purpose sometimes for different reasons. Has he had a
black beard at all?
If his legs are still so swollen and he seems like he's sore and not able to move, there are a few things you can try that may not only help the swelling go down some and the pain lessen, but it might also give a clue as to whether or not gout is a possibility or not. I'm really just thinking of him being so sore first, just like you are, I know you want to make him feel better, and the new
UVB light will, trust me that is the best
UVB light for bearded dragons that is made, hands down. But the constant swelling of his limbs is worrisome if it's continuing. If it has stopped then disregard this...
The first thing you can do is try to find some silkworms online to order for him, or maybe you're one of the lucky people who have a great local pet shop that sells silkworms, I wish I did, all I have is a Petco, they have nothing. Anyway, silkworms are a fantastic staple feeder insect anyway, very nutritious, high protein, high fluid amount, low fat. But they also contain Serrapeptase, which is an enzyme that is naturally derived from a certain type of bacteria, and is known to help quite a bit with muscular swelling and pain. It's an effective antiinflammatory for bearded dragons with gout or other causes of muscle swelling and pain. It's found naturally in the intestines of silkworms, so feeding him silkworms will likely help bring down the swelling a bit and also ease his pain. If you can't find silkworms locally or online for sale (I've had trouble finding them to order before, most places were sold out the last time I looked, but it's been quite a while since I've looked), you can actually just order Serrapeptase online as a supplement. So if you can't find live silkworms you can just order the Serrapeptase and we can help you with the dosage.
The other thing that often helps get rid of muscular swelling and pain associated with gout is Black Cherry Juice/Extract, or Tart Cherry Juice/Extract. You can usually find either the Black Cherry Juice or Tart Cherry Juice at health food stores or at grocery stores like Wegmans, Harris Teeter, and Whole Foods. I actually looked for some and found it in the organic/health food aisle at my local Giant grocery store. If you can find some of that and give it to him with an eyedropper by dripping it on his snout to lick off it can help quite a bit.
The other thing to keep in mind is that whether or not he has gout or just the MBD, he needs to stay extremely well
hydrated in order to lower the stress on his kidneys and liver. Unflavored Pedialyte is a very good option to mix in with any slurries or baby food mixed you're giving him. I buy the Walmart brand unflavored Pedialyte often for not only my beardies but also my parrots and my dogs when they get sick. If he's regularly eating the baby food for you, just add a pinch of Calcium powder and a pinch of multivitamin powder to it, then add some of the unflavored Pedialyte in and mix it up well. It's a great way to not only get some nutrition in him, but also some direct Calcium, vitamins, and
hydration and electrolytes from the Pedialyte.
I noticed that you said you feed him the freeze-dried veggies/insects in that Omnivore bearded dragon food. Actually, I'm not sure if that stuff has freeze-dried insects in it or if it's just greens and veggies, but either way I'd highly advise against feeding that to him at all. I know that you said you "rehydrate" it, but even if you add moisture to it, it already lost most of its nutritional value long ago, and honestly there really is no point to feeding it to him, while if you feed only fresh greens and veggies he's getting both ample
hydration (quite a bit more than rehydrated freeze-dried greens or veggies) and ample nutrition. The greens, veggies, and fruits lose most if not all of their vitamins, minerals, and nutrition during the processing of that stuff by the manufacturer.
So most people recommend not feeding any of those commercially available freeze-dried foods for reptiles, and especially not freeze-dried insects. Never ever feed him any freeze-dried insects, they have absolutely no value to your beardie and will only cause impactions and upset his gastrointestinal system. There was just someone else on Monday I believe that ran out of live crickets and was waiting for their bulk order of them, so he fed his adult beardie that Zilla brand beardie food that has red pellets and freeze-dried mealworms in it. His beardie immediately started eating the freeze-dried mealworms, then he quickly vomited up all of them, threw a
black beard, and started twitching and was really very upset. He ended up with a small impaction from the few freeze-dried mealworms he didn't vomit back up. I don't know why all of these reputable reptile supplies companies sell that stuff, but try to stick with only fresh greens like collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, arugula (rocket), endive, escarole, chards, and bok choy, those are the best ones. Try to not feed him much kale, romaine lettuce (or any type of lettuce at all), or spinach, as they both contain a high amount of oxalates, which bind to the Calcium he eats and this prevents him from being able to absorb the calcium. This is also what causes the most common type of kidney stones in people. Since your beardie has the start of MBD, he needs to absorb all the Calcium he can, and kale as well as spinach can prevent him from doing that. It's a shame too because kale, spinach, and Romaine lettuce have very high Calcium content, but unfortunately they also have high oxalate levels...
Keep us updated on how he's looking, and again, if he's still doing the "puffing up", try to post a photo of him doing it so we can see what you're talking about.
