It's been a long time, but we're back...

[clearlyjoyful]

and Itchy isn't doing too well. I don't expect anyone to remember us, but when I began coming here, I had just "rescued" Itchy from my mom's house as I had moved out a few years prior sort of unofficially and we had made it official, so I went back and got Itchy. He moved in with us in April 2012 and I had so many questions that I posted here constantly, and I became reacquainted with anything I wasn't 100% sure of regarding bearded dragon care. Now, it's almost 3 years later, and while Itchy has been doing reasonably well all this time, the fact still remains that he's had MBD for a long time, possibly longer than his first vet visit in May 2012. He's now 8 years old and my question, I guess, is how do I know that his being unwell isn't caused by just plain old age and natural causes?

As far as I know, my husbandry is good, he's always been a finicky eater, but he's now stopped eating worms altogether. His temps are good, his UVB bulb is only (not even) 3 months old. He's been getting adequate calcium and multivitamin (when he does eat and through liquid calcium supplement). I can't fathom what would be wrong at this point other than old age and it's hard to watch him go through this. It's only yesterday that I really noticed he's barely moving. I took him to have a bath yesterday, put him in the water and he just sat there, breathing, holding his head up fine, but not moving at all. Usually he'd be having a blast, having a looong drink, etc. I took him out today to cuddle and put him down on the couch where he'd usually instantly be up and exploring but today he just splayed out.

He's currently on his basking spot, eyes closed, beard black... I don't know what to do. I obviously can make a vet appointment but the last few times he's gone, they've said he's doing well for a beardie with his "level" of MBD and there's been no concerns, no parasites, nothing... so how do you know? How can I tell? What can I do? Help.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....I do remember you + Itchy [ although not specifics about his health ] A black beard is def. a sign of discomfort/pain....has he poo'd in a while ? Is he thin ? There are a number of things it could be....blood tests could reveal something majorly wrong, and if you decided to get that done you could post them here for Tracie's [ Drache613 ] input. At his age + with his previous problems it may be some organ failure happening....but that's just a guess. I'm really sorry that he's in this condition and hope for the best outcome.

 

[clearlyjoyful]

It makes me happy that Itchy and I are remembered. His major health issue was being diagnosed with MBD in May 2012. He pooped not yesterday, but the day before, and before then, his pooping schedule seemed pretty normal. He is thin, but he has a habit of fluctuating to be thin and then being pretty fat due to his eating. He goes through periods where he'll eat 1-3 worms during a feeding and then periods where he'll eat upwards of 12-20 in a single feeding. His veggie-eating is pretty much limited to baby food. He gets offered mustard and collard greens a couple times a week and never ever touches it, so I learned a few years ago to feed him baby food through a syringe to keep his veggie intake relatively stabilized. His favourite is butternut squash and he had MAYBE .25 mL today. He's currently lying on the floor of his tank with his head completely on the ground, his eyes closed, but his back end still elevated off the ground which leads me to believe his MBD in his legs won't allow him to lie flat. I guess the only real option is to make a vet appointment... if he makes it to one. I think you're right in your assumption of organ failure, and that was my thought too, but I of course am not a vet and don't know for sure.

All we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best. The earliest the vet will likely be able to get him in is Saturday, especially since my work schedule is pretty inflexible this week (I work at a daycare and I'm pretty much 100% required as my coworker is on vacation this week). Sigh... I wish I could do more for his obvious pain.

 

[clearlyjoyful]

Here's a picture I took today of him sitting on my shoulder. Everybody on Facebook is worried about him because he's been in my life so long!