HELP PLEASE!

[spgargano]

Calvin just yesterday was running all about. Earlier today I realized he was less active and after I had him swim around in his bath around 630 now he cannot move at all. I called every single vet in the area and not in the area and non of them were reptile vets and I cant get him anywhere until the morning. I am assuming he has MBD but I think it is from too much calcium because I fed him the calcium with D3 and phosphorus free at least once out of the two feedings a day because the ***** petsmart employee told me to "sprinkle it on his crickets or he will die." I read that you are only supposed to do it 5 times a week and think that was too much and led to this. It just started today and now he just can't move. Every time he tries to move he starts twitching his arms and legs. At first(this has only been going on for about 2 hours, only his back leg was twitching and he was prictically pulling himself while dragging his stomach. Now his right arm is bent backwards and when i picked him up the way i picked him upput his arm back in place. He stayed in place and looked good while I was hand feeding him crickets with the new multivitamin powder i just picked up for him today but then I dropped one while i was hand feeding and he tried to go get it and he just started twitching up and his arm went back around and is staying there. I am afraid to pet him because I dont want to hurt him and he was liked it when I was initially, but then i think he wanted to perch up and his arms and legs started twitching. I have a 150w heat bulb that keeps his warm side from 100-105, I also have a hammock and log type thing that I am assuming is a higher temp if he needs it because it is higher up in the viv. So I am not sure exactly where I could have went wrong besides the calcium. I just cannot stop worrying that tomorrow at 8am when the vet opens will be too late. I have him in the same spot with a blanket over his head so he can sleep and stay calm and rest until then without feeling like he has to move or anything. Has anyone encountered this before, If anyone can reassure me with a similar scenario that ended up okay or that he has more time than the time window I have to get him treated that would help me a lot because I'm beyond upset because it's my fault that he's suffering right now. The first time I realized he was off today was when I fed him his first meal around 1. I know thats late and its very rare I would do deed him that late but I overslept this morning and when I woke him up I wanted him to have some heat before I fed him, usually when I put crickets in his viv he goes crazy and sprints after to attack but he was at first but then he slowed down... I thought it was because he ate a bunch last night but when i pushed them towards him he would snatch em up or take a few steps and grab them but I didn't think much of it because there was no weird movement. Anything people can tell me would help because I probably wont be sleeping tonight.

 

[Savora]

You mentioned having a basking bulb that keeps his temperatures up, but what kind of UVB bulb do you have? Is it a coil or a flourescent tube?

https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/newbies-guide-lighting-help/

Without a flourescent tube UVB bulb, your beardie has developed MBD. This is only a death sentence if you don't get your beardie under some quality UVB. Some time out in the sunshine is a great source of UVB until you're able to get their tank set up properly.

Most pet stores should sell flourescent tube fixtures for terrariums, but it's important that your UVB bulb is either a Reptisun 10.0 or an Arcadia 12%. The Reptisun 10.0 tube is sold at my local Petco, so it might be sold at yours, but it's cheaper to buy it off of Amazon or off of Drs. Foster & Smith.

 

[spgargano]

Should I leave his UVB on overnight?? both his legs are backwards now I am so worried what could I do for him in the 12 hours until the vet in the morning.

 

[Savora]

Is your UVB a coiled bulb or a fluorescent tube? What is its brand?

 

[spgargano]

Is your UVB a coiled bulb or a fluorescent tube? What is its brand?

I saw your first comment and just ran to petsmart because it closes at 9 but all they had was the reptisun that goes in a dome that isnt spiral because I had the spiral before because again, the ***** at petsmart told me to get the spiral one, so i have the repti buld 10 uvb right on him and soaked him in warm water while rubbing under his stomach with it on him also because I talked to someone there who said something similar happend to their bearded dragon when he fed it too many crickets, and last night was the most crickets ive ever fed him... probably around 25 when i usually feed him 15-20 because i read on this form you should feed your bearded dragons as much as they can eat in 15 minutes. This is how he is set up right now while I am writing this, also after that and the uvb on him he was actually able to move his arms around while still dragging again, still not right movement at all but it was more than he could do before i left.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. How big are the crickets? If they are too big they can cause impaction which has some of the issues you are talking about. You might want to try prune baby food, or plain apple sauce to help get him to poop. That might help. Good luck! I hope he gets better.

 

[spgargano]

Hi. How big are the crickets? If they are too big they can cause impaction which has some of the issues you are talking about. You might want to try prune baby food, or plain apple sauce to help get him to poop. That might help. Good luck! I hope he gets better.

I think it had something to do with impaction in part to the coil uvb. Earlier he pooped so i didn't think that he had a problem with impaction. After thinking about it, it was a much smaller one than he normally makes and I also fed him more crickets than I ever had last night. After realizing that he was likely still impacted I had him in warm water under the uvb and rubber his stomach from around from 10-11 and nothing came out. I couldn't sleep thinking about it and kept researching so I took him back from his sleeping spot and into warm water. I put a few drops of olive oil on a spoon and dropped it on the tip of his snout. He didnt lick it up but then I took a cue tip and dipped it in gatorade and he was licking that. Then i used the other side of the cue tip and rubbed the little olive oil he never touched off his snout and dipped it in gatorade again and he took a few licks of it. After about 30 minutes of stomach rubbing he finally pooped. It wasn't enormous but definitely bigger than the ones he usually takes. I have him back to sleep now still under the repti uvb bulb about 10 inches from him and we will be at the vet in about 5 hours. Is it likely he is still impacted even after the poop? Or is a big one usually a good sign that he should be walking normal in the morning? Thanks for all the help I'm praying that he comes out of this one and back to normal. If he does I have thank the original post for telling me about the repti uvb and how the coil is bad because even if its not MBD, I would never have ran into the people I met at the pet store who told me about their experience with overfeeding and impaction and all the advise i got from everyone at the pet store. Ill update tomorrow hopefully on Calvins awesome revovery.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, it probably is impaction , never feed them a lot of insects late at night ! But it's good that he poo'd and you don't really need a vet. Once he's pooing regularly he should be fine as long as your heat + uvb are all good. For impaction get some baby food squash, sweet potato or prune. Canned pumpkin can also help. Beardies generally like the taste of those but you can add a few drops of raw honey which they really like. All of those are natural laxatives and will help as much as the synthetic stuff that the vet may give you.

 

[spgargano]

Hi there, it probably is impaction , never feed them a lot of insects late at night ! But it's good that he poo'd and you don't really need a vet. Once he's pooing regularly he should be fine as long as your heat + uvb are all good. For impaction get some baby food squash, sweet potato or prune. Canned pumpkin can also help. Beardies generally like the taste of those but you can add a few drops of raw honey which they really like. All of those are natural laxatives and will help as much as the synthetic stuff that the vet may give you.

This morning I brought him in because he still couldnt walk right, he still can't now. The vet didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with him... because when he did leg and arm test he could move them... but they are still irregular and he is still not moving much at all. I found out though that he has a parasite from a sample i brought in... I also kept rubbing his stomach on the ride to the vet and he had a small but really runny poop, like clear runny fluid. The vet said it was probably from the parasite. He seems to be alert right now but he hasnt move from the spot I have him in... he is also shedding all over his face so mabey that has something to do with the lack of movement? But the vet really didnt seem very concerned and said he should be back to normal in a few days. Could it possibly have been from impaction last night that I got out and he still hasn't fully wore off the impaction effects? Thanks again.

 

[AHBD]

It's actually possible that he's trying to poo but only a bit of liquid is coming out. And if the vet doesn't understand that your beardie is partially paralyzed [ hopefully only temporarily ] then he's not a very good vet. Can you post pics of your beardie along with pics of the crickets you're feeding him ? Here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

And if your uvb is a compact it needs to be within about 8" of him, best unpobstructed by the screen. So add some pics of his set up as well. Have you gotten any of the foods I mentioned that are natural laxatives ?