His Head Is Trembling!

[Johnnyboy]

For a week now, I've notice his head tremble which has not occured before until recently. Every now and then when I put my hand near him, he does this for a few seconds then stops. He is about 2 years old. I don't know the cause of this, could it be metabolic bone disease in the head? Am I not dusting the crickets enough? Can I fix this or can it be ignored?

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Can you tell us about your setup? As in what type of UVB do you have and how old it is also what is the diet like and what type of supplements are you using and what schedule they are on? How old is the dragon and what are the temps and how are you measuring them?

 

[Johnnyboy]

I have been using a repti glo 10.0 UVB fluorescent tube for about a year and a zoo med focused basking light lamp which was replaced recently in a 55 gallon tank with tiles as the substrate. My lights are on an automatic timer that switches the lights on for cycles of 11 hours then off for 13.

The basking spot where the basking light is pointed at is about 98 degrees, the other cooler side is about 78 degrees.
I got these readings through the a digital thermometer's probe attachment.
The Hydrometer measures around 35 in the day and 50 at night.

My bearded dragon is approaching 2 years old, I recently fed him silk works, but I normally feed him a bag of crickets (about 50 mediums but he probably only eats 70% of that) every week dusted with:
Fluker CALCIUM-PHOSPHORUS 2:1 Mix 4 oz.
Fluker Labs REPTA-VITAMIN 1.5 oz

I have a worm dish with large mealworms which are also dusted with the above, but he rarely eats these.

I also put various dark green vegetable leaves every other day but he doesn't eat a lot of that, just a leaf or two.

I mist him daily and give him baths every week and a half, his poo looks fine, not runny or anything, makes a nice swirl sometimes.

There was a long period where he didn't shed at all, about half a year. When he does shed, it's only random body parts. Now there is some shed in his ear hole that I'm reluctant to touch because I read it might cause a great deal of pain.

Any idea what is causing the head trembles???

 

[Twobeardieguy]

The first thing I would do is change out the UVB light and get the Reptisun 10.0 UVB. Those tube lights are only good for about 6 months. The next thing I would do is not feed the mealworms and stop the misting. Start to bathe every other day to help hydrate him some more for a few weeks. You could also give the Liquid Calcium a try instead of using the calcium dust. You can get it here, http://www.bug-de-lite.com/Products%20Page.html . Also when you order it ask her to help dose it for you. It seems as he may need the better UVB source and a stronger calcium source. I hope this helps...

 

[Johnnyboy]

I just purchased the liquid calcium in banana flavor which is neat, probably a more efficient way of getting him his calcium. Currently looking for a place to buy the repti sun uvb 10.0 18 inch fluorescent tube at a good price. Thank you very much for your help. Extremely helpful!

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Very welcome.

 

[ashlee1228]

I pray that he gets better, my 8-ish year old Puff-O got a clean bill of health (other than being a little on the tubby side), about a month or so later her head started trembling and she started losing her balance which resulted in her falling off her perch and breaking half her beautiful tail off. My first thought was MBD but the vet confirmed that it wasn't MBD and from all the tests she ran Puff was in perfect health, most likely it was a brain tumor; her health declined rapidly and in the end she couldn't walk without flipping over, she had seizures, she couldn't eat so i fed her organic chicken and green bean baby food with calcium and vitamins mixed in it, sometimes as a treat I blended wax worms with the green beans. She passed away December 2, 2009 in her sleep.

I'm not trying to scare you but you should know that there are other possibilities. Please keep us updated on his progress, he is in my prayers.

 

[pudden318]

sorry to hear your baby isnt feeling well. you can get a reptisun on petmountin.com for 20 bucks they have the best prices.

 

[ashlee1228]

i just got an e-mail from www.petmountain.com/ they are having a sale for mothers day and shipping for only $1.99 with orders over $50.