is this calcium deficiency? Home from the vets

[NightmareDisco]

Hello all,

I have a baby silkback, Nachtmahr, I have had him for almost a month so he is about 10 weeks old. When I got home from Uni today, I noticed he was a bit off, he was hanging out on the cool side (not a big deal there though he rarely does it) and he was looking a bit wrinkly (anyone who has had a silkie knows what I mean) so I took him for his soak. I notice he is seeming to have some on and off balancing issues. One moment he will sit and stare with his nose slanted downwards (which he also never does, head is always held high) and when he jumps from his furniture he looks really wobbly and he even rolled over on his back for like half a second before correcting himself (well, he didn't roll, he just kinda went down in that direction) He does NOT wanna eat today, won't even acknowledge his food. When he was in the bath, he cocked his head to the side and then kept tilting and tilting until I had to stop him. And now, he is laying on his hammock alert (not nearly as alert as normal) and keeps closing his eyes like he wants to take a nap.

This is all very strange as this kid is normally a ball of energy. He is going through a full body shed if that matter.

I was just considering that it may be calcium deficiency because he does not eat very much (seems to be growing normally, has shed twice in my possession) I do dust his food but he isn't really intaking that much. If this is the case, I will buy some liquid calcium and give it to him that way, I was just wondering if anyone had any other thoughts or suggestions?

Some specs: he has a 60 g glass viv, reptisun 5.0 UVB (to avoid burns on his fragile skin) he can and often does get withing 6-7 inches of this light, his basking spot is at 100 F and his substrate is paper towels.

All thoughts and suggestion greatly appreciated

 

[NightmareDisco]

He's really weirding me out here. I got him to eat 2 crickets, one moment he will jump down and run around like a madman (normal) except he was glass dancing and almost fell backwards. But then all of a sudden he'll point his nose to the ground and stare again and act like he's not feeling well.

Anyone??

 

[Jess]

Could he have gotten water in his ear during a bath? An ear infection would mess with his balance.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That "could" be calcium issues. There are reports of them having issues due to them not being able to withstand very strong of UVB exposure.
How often does he get calcium powder? How much food is he eating right now?
Do you have any pictures of him, he sounds very cute.

Tracie

 

[NightmareDisco]

Hey guys, I have plenty of pics of him I will share tomorrow as I am on my mobile atm. The past week or so, he has had 1" hornworms and crickets with his occasional bok choy or collards. I dust the food daily, although he usually only eats 3-8 crickets a day no matter how much I offer. He is much more responsive to worms, I have a shipment of butters coming in in the next couple days.
I ordered some raspberry calcium from you, Tracie. I also read that this could be D3 overdose (doubt it cuz of how little he eats) or a neurological issue. In which case I would be terrified and have no idea what to do.
It is definitely possible that he could have gotten water in his ear also.

Tracie, if you could tell me some things to look for to differentiate, I would be most grateful.

Thanks for your time, guys

 

[Gail]

The only other thing I can think of is a possible RI. I had a little rescue baby with a RI, she was really wobbly and had trouble holding her hear correctly. A few days on baytril cleared it right up.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Your calcium was sent out today, so you should receive it in a few days!
It is very difficult to differentiate between a calcium deficiency & other neurological issues since a lot of times, they can be related.
Trial & error a lot of times is the only way to determine, other than a blood test to see what the calcium & 25 Hydroxy levels are at.
How is he doing today, has he eaten pretty well?

Tracie

 

[NightmareDisco]

Ok, well, he ate 6 crickets today (medium sized) which is on the better side of average for him. I am hoping and assuming he will eat more when the butter worms get here. So, he is keeping his head up today. He is very alert, watches everything I do. He runs around like normal. All seems normal today except for 2 things:
1) his stress marks
2) his random balance issue.
I took him out to run around just to see how he did, and he ran around fine, except when he jumps on something to climb, in this case, my bed sheet balled up, he tumbles off. I almost get the impression that he may have somehow hurt his lower back.

:!: And what was really scary, I was holding him and about to put him back into his viv, well, he went to slide off of my hand and then tried to hold onto me, and somehow he rolled over and for a split second (seemed like a lifetime to me) he arched his back backwards like a U and his beard puffed out and he, idk, shook? until he corrected himself. WTF was that? It was almost like a nerve just shot through his body. Was terrifying

So, here's some pics I took of him about an hour ago, note the stress marks

and here's him last week (his colouring is different because of shed)

So, IF he hurt his back, how do I react to this? And other thoughts on what the issue may be?

 

[NightmareDisco]

Ok, so he was seeming normal ish until I turned his lights out for bed and then he started rubbing his face on things again and the he flipped over :shock: I don't even know what one would look like but its almost like he's having super short, like second long seizures???
HELP

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, that sounds terrifying indeed! I hope that he didn't hurt his back though, that would be terrible.
If he is shedding could he be trying to get the skin off possibly?
I sure hope he is not having seizures this early on right now.


Tracie

 

[NightmareDisco]

The shed is all off of his back. He keeps flipping over

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

He is still flipping himself over, but has finished shedding? It is either an injury, or calcium deficiency, but hopefully not an injury.

Tracie

 

[NightmareDisco]

Welp,

He's here with us today still and holding his head up (but looks sleepy) I talked to one breeder that thinks the problem is calcium deficiency and one that thinks the problem is neurological. Both have seen babies with these symptoms and both were correct for their specific cases. However, the one with the neurological issues lost the babies in question
I am awaiting a call from my vet, no one carries liquid calcium (was gonna go out and buy some just to have it right now until Tracie's got here) so I'm literally helpless.

I'm just so upset. He was PERFECT 3 days ago (or so it seemed). And I have raised one dragon from underfed and dehydrated petstore disaster to giant, fat and spoiled picture of health. So I feel like I know what I am doing.

I have yet to feed him today but I am going to give him some water first. I'm still not ruling out dehydration as a possible cause.(he drinks on his own, just not very much)

 

[NightmareDisco]

Got 1.6 ml of water/critical care mix into him and he pooped on me to say thanks :roll:

 

[NightmareDisco]

He is spending the night at the vets. He was given calcium and vitamin injections. So I guess if that doesn't work then its neurological. So, if that is the case, is that basically a death sentence? I just wanna know what I am up against.