HELP! Beardie Possible Broken Arm, Possible MBD?

[SephyrasMom]

I have a 2 1/2 year old male bearded dragon. He keeps injuring his arms and legs almost constantly. He gets them stuck in his logs, etc and likes to squeeze himself into tight spaces. Right now, his right arm seems broken. It is swollen in the forearm, and the elbow is very swollen and looks like it may be broken. He won't put weight on it and it just hangs limp. He tries to pull away when I touch it, and black-beards when he is in pain. I recently discovered the UV lights are only good for 12 months, I've had mine 2 1/2 years. It is a 40 gallon terrarium with the long Zoo Med 10.0 T5 UV light, a 150 watt heat lamp on the right side, and a red 100 watt bulb near the left side. Warm side temps 95-100 and cool side temps 83-85. He won't eat crickets or roaches due to having cocchdyia when he was little. Just mealworms and waxworms dusted in calcium. He is given greens and other veggies daily dusted with calcium and multivitamins. He doesn't eat much veggies, though. He is misted a lot, and drinks water by mouth a couple times a day. How long will it take to heal? Could he have Metabolic Bone Disease? What should I do? Thanks!

 

[radams713]

Take him to a vet now. Not replacing your light probably gave him MBD, causing his bones to weaken and break. Also you don't need a red light. In fact, they are pretty bad for the beardie. If you need to keep him warm at night get a ceramic heat emitting bulb.

 

[SephyrasMom]

I live in an area with no exotic animal vets. The closest would be 2 hours away in Indianapolis. There really isn't a feasible option. If he did develop MBD, what can I do to reverse it? Is it terminal? As far as the red light, what is so bad about it? I have used one for his nighttime light since he was 3 months old. I use it now also for extra heat during the day. Not sure why the 150 watt basking bulb does not heat the 40 gallon tank by itself.

 

[ancapper]

Liquid calcium, obviously a new bulb, Phoenix worms are all good sources of calcium, but not a vet replacement . The red light affects sleep as well as vision supposedly i went safe over sorry, i have a dimmed halogen flood, a 75w and 100w che keeping up my winter 40 gal tank temps

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Mbd is not reversible. All you can do is make sure it doesn't get worse. Like get the liquid calcium and new bulb. The red light distorts how they see things. You know how things look when its dusk? That is exactly how they see things with the red bulb. Also at night beardies need it completely dark and a cool down period. If your house doesn't get below 65 at night then he's fine. If it does then you want a ceremic heat emitter that puts off heat and no light. How are you taking the temps? Are those the temps on the basking spot?

 

[SephyrasMom]

The bulb is being delivered tomorrow. I am going to get him a ceramic emitter as soon as I can. I will het liquid calcium tomorrow. How is that used? Is it stronger than the powder? I usually use the calcium powder with D3 plus a powder multi-vitamin. I have 2 stick on digital round thermometers, one on the cool side and one on the warm side. Warm side is on back wall close to the corner. There is a stick on hygrometer in the middle. The cool side one stopped working correctly so I am going to get new ones anyway. He really doesnt have a basking spot. He usually is on his tree on the warm side of the tank. He is full grown, about 18-19 inches, and the 40 gallon he is in is small for him.

 

[destiny1998]

Thanks for answering. The liquid calcium is absorbed better than the powder. I'd order from bug delite. One of the mods on here that is her site and she is very knowledgeable in beardies. Yeah those stick on thermometers are very inaccurate. A temp gun or digital is the way to go. Can you post a picture of him? Just to see if he has signs of mbd.

 

[SephyrasMom]

These are a couple weeks old. I will take some new ones tomorrow. He has been having injury issues for several months now.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry your dragon has developed metabolic bone disease.
Which UVB light is being delivered to you tomorrow?
For now, I would lower the basking platform & anything else that is relatively high or that he can get himself wedged in between to avoid more injuries.
You will need to get a bright white light for basking/heating during the daytime. A nice halogen flood light would be perfect, but as suggested you will need to get either a temp gun or a digital probe for better accuracy on the temperatures.
How is his appetite?

Tracie

 

[SephyrasMom]

Thank you. I pray he doesn't actually have MBD, but signs are pointing in that direction.
For UV he has the long tube light that goes across the whole length of the tank. Zoo Med 10.0 T5 bulb. His heating/basking light is a 150 watt Zoo Med basking spot lamp. The red light is a 100 watt Zoo Med nighttime bulb.
He is a picky eater. Loves waxworms and will eat them on his own if you put them in front of him. Mealworms we have to put in his mouth but he does eat them. He used to eat a lot of veggies but he barely does now. He is free-fed greens and other veggies every day.

 

[destiny1998]

He actually looks pretty good. He looks like my Daizy. Definitely a handsome fellow . Keep us posted on how he's doing.