Made a huge mistake with D3, please help.

[lwilson3]

I was not aware that I could overdose my beardie on D3. He is my first one, and I had not dusted until two days ago. I've had him since the end of February and he was recently hatched. I researched (I thought ) everything for his tank. He has a 10.0 reptisun tube and a 100 watt flood light. The Reptisun tube is fairly new, because I did not know about coils when we purchased him. It came about a week later than he did.

His right side (cool side) temp is around 88 degrees. His warm side is 100-105 and his basking is 110-115. He loves his greens and we have been feeding him small dubia roaches and crickets 2x a day. He is bathed once a day or once every other day. He just finished a shed yesterday. He had been turning in his feet (not while walking, just sometimes when he was lying down) and so I asked the pet store if I should be dusting, and he said yes. He told me to dust 5x a week but nothing about dosing. I had read similar but again nothing about dosing, so I didn't even think of it. I think I used way too much when I dusted the crickets. They were coated with it and he ate 5 or 6.

I can't find anywhere what the symptoms of a D3 overdose are. I can only find that it is very bad and that dust should be calcium without D3 to prevent it from happening.

When I woke up today he was lying between his hidey rock and his wall in a very uncomfortable looking position. His hind legs look like they are dragging, but he can still use them. He didn't eat any greens until after his dinner feeding (usually he eats them 3x a day), and he has been licking things in his viv all day.

He seems very lethargic and sleepy. I don't know what to do, because I can't get the right combination of Google words to pop up a forum on this. I feel terrible and I should have known better.

I forgot to mention he has a carpet mat and no substrate.

 

[lwilson3]

Also, he never goes into his hidey rock and today he spent a lot of time in it. My husband also moved the UVB light from off the screen on top to inside the viv, but not facing down because he couldn't get the hooks to hang the light.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....first off I'd like to mention that your little guy sounds possibly dehydrated. Your cool side should be about 80, no more than 83, and your basking side should be 105 - 110 at the most. Give him some shallow lukewarm baths,[ stay with him, drip water on his nose] but you can also try giving water orally, via syringe, spray bottle [ a very gentle stream ] or eyedropper. He may perk up a bit after that. I didn't see if you mentioned whether or not he's on sand, but that wuill be dangerous if he's licking at things and can easily cause impaction . Calcium sand is notorious , so is walnut bedding. The prey items need to be small as well, to reduce risk of impaction, they should be no longer than the space between his eyes.

 

[AHBD]

Please excuse my " duh" moment, I see that you use no loose substrate, and you do bathe. He should not get overdosed by just a few powdered crickets really, beardies do need the D3 + calcium....but I just wondered, how close can he get to the Repti - sun bulb ? He should be able to get within 8 - 10 inches, otherwise he may not absorb the calcium. This will affect his health, wobbly weak legs, dragging legs, twitching toes are some beginning symptoms. But I still think it's too hot, so try adjusting the temps.

 

[lwilson3]

The light is an inch too far away, unless he goes to the very top of his basking spot. We knew this was bad and have been trying to figure out how to hang it from the top, and yesterday my husband moved it to the back wall of the viv and then today he was acting sick so we moved it back. They were completely white when I fed them to him.

 

[lwilson3]

And I will adjust my temps now, the flood light is thankfully on a dimmer switch. Thank you

 

[lwilson3]

Ok it was 95 on the hot side, 115 in the basking,and 90 on the cool side. We turned off his night heat lamp. I didn't consider it was warmer in the house, so the tank might be warmer. We were still measuring for the wrong ones anyway, so thank you for correcting me on that.

 

[AHBD]

O.K., your'e welcome ! Definitely get the temps. down ASAP, and no night heat is needed at all if your house temp. doesn't go below 65. Never use lights at night, it disrupts their sleep. He may have some heat exhaustion right now.Try the extra hydration orally.

 

[lwilson3]

He actually drinks off the leaves daily in his bath and again with each feeding. I spray them and then drip it by his mouth until he stops drinking.

My husband just told me that this morning he turned on the flood light before the uvb light and it was on for 2-3 hours before he realized he did them backwards. Is it possible he disrupted his schedule somehow? He is hiding in his rock again. I don't think I've ever seen him in it before today.

He also pooped a very long poop. It had about half urates and half regular poop, but it looked like it also had some mucus. Do you think he could be impacted?? He poops every day.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How large are the crickets, smaller than the space between the eyes?
It usually takes a little longer for D3 supplementation t become toxic.
Are you using a digital probe or temp gun to measure the temperatures with?
I would give some extra oral fluids right now since he may be dehydrated. Were the urates hard or soft?


Tracie

 

[lwilson3]

They are smaller than the space between his eyes, and the roaches are too when we use those. Should I switch him back to nymphs for now, just to be safe? Or take him off live food completely?

He is much worse today. It happened overnight yesterday after giving him the d3. Is it possible I somehow put him into brumation? What do they look like when they are in brumation (do they lay completely flat?) He hasn't come out of his house all day. I'm tempted to feed him to see if he's stillg ot energy to eat, but I'm worried if he is impacted that I will cause him to get more impacted by feeding live food. His stool has been very loose the past three or four days, with little urates (hence the start of dusting,as per repti-shops ideas). i'm calling my vet but I doubt he'll be available until after Sunday. Is it possible to take the stool sample to any vet to see if there are parasites?

Also are there any ideas on how to hang an under the cabinet strip light in the tank, facing down? I have 3m strips and his top is a screen top.

 

[lwilson3]

His beard is black today too and I'm pretty sure he's broken his left leg. It's likely the MBD, I thought he had it so I dusted and now he is much worse. I have a vet appt at 4 if i can come up with the vet fee (waiting on my husband to call back, he's got the car and the money with him).

 

[AHBD]

I'm sorry your little guy is sick, and I sure hope he doesn't have a broken leg. I still think the high temps. caused the distress, it would definitely cause him to hide,but of course no one can know for sure. I doubt the D3 overdose, but the info about it from several sources is that the vet might look for calcification of the kidney. X-rays + complete blood count would be used to determine this. Generally the drugs that may be used could include prednisolone and calcitonin. This would all be very pricey, but hopefully the vet can rule that out. Will he still drink ? That's VERY important of course, so I'm glad to read that your little one drinks regularly. I hope he turns out O.K.

 

[lwilson3]

he isn't drinking or eating his leaves.
the way he is laying looks like photos of brumation, BUT he's not sleeping and he's still young and I read they skip their first brumation anyway.

the heat could be it, i lowered the temps last night though and it's been 80 since then and he's still hiding out. his beard is definitely black and his feet are turning in some. theres a little kink in his tail also. i have a stool sample for yesterday and i realllly hope it's not the kidney thing, as I only have 40$ overage for meds right now.

going at 4pm, he seemed to be acting a little better and was out that's why i fed him, but then he went back into his house again. he looks raggedy, if that makes any sense.

 

[lwilson3]

oh and he was hissing at me today, and i used the opportunity to offer drops of water from a dropper and he took them. should i do that frequently while waiting for vet time to roll around or should I leave him alone?