MBD? Beardie can barely walk, not eating.

[Littleleno]

I think my beardie has this. Over the last several weeks he has stopped eating. Looks thin, lower jaw is swollen and seems to not shut right. Also his legs are boney. I found a picture online that described what mbd was and provided a picture and it looks just like my dragon. My dragon is less than a yr old.

How do I help him? We live in a small remote town with only a vet that sees large livestock and dogs/cats.

His cage temps are 100 at the basking spot. He has water at all times and I see him lapping it up. Diet consists of fresh veggies every day which he never eats other than tomatoes which I give sparingly because I read they were not good for him. And gut loaded crickets. As of now, he won't eat anything. He doesn't move from his basking rock.

Thanks.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Can you post a picture? Does he have a uvb light? If so what kind? Tube/ oil or compact? What brand? Do you dust his feeders with calcium?

 

[Littleleno]

I do have one. Not sure brand. He never sits under it. He only sits under his basking light. Never thought it was a problem, until now...

i don't know how to post a picture of him.

 

[Littleleno]

Compact fluorescent, Exo terra reptile glo 10.0 uvb

 

[Katiema10]

You're going to want to either get a reptisun 10.0 t5 tube uvb or a mercury vapor bulb. We rescued a male with severe mbd and he has perked up after the mvb. We froze his crickets for a couple minutes and coated them in calcium before giving them to him. You can also try hand feeding. Give him a bath every night to keep him hydrated and if he still won't eat, try feeding him baby food. Have him lick it off his nose. As for greens, make sure you're feeding him collard greens, because of the calcium in it. If he won't move towards your current uvb light, move it to him. And if it's at all possible, take him outside to bask in real uvb, because it's much better for him.

 

[Littleleno]

Where do I get that kind of ubv and what's wrong with the one I have? I feed collard greens and an array of carrots, celery, squash etc. he won't touch it. He won't even touch crickets which he used to eat like there was no tomorrow. They are dusted with calcium powder too. I try and feed him each day now. And he doesn't eat. Just sits there with crickets crawling All over him. Also, he doesn't move from his little rock unless I move him. I've been missing him with water and he seems to like that. He licks up the water. But that's it.

 

[Katiema10]

You should be able to find either bulb at a pet store or possibly a place like Wal-Mart. You could find them online, too. The reptisun is long and powerful, so it will give uvb to every part of the tank, and the mercury vapor is extremely powerful and gives off a ton of uvb. It's recommended for reptiles with mbd. You'd have to make sure it was over him, though, because it's a bulb like what you currently have. The only problem with your current bulb is that it only focuses on one spot of the tank. And you may have to force feed if he refuses to eat for days. Try a meat baby food mixed with vegetable baby food if you have to. Because if he'll lick up water, he should lick that too.

 

[Littleleno]

Okay, so spot the uvb over him till I get the tube one. Then just try and force feed him baby food. Anything else? Should I mix calcium in with the baby food? I can't figure out how to post a pic from my iPad otherwise I would. I think this is what is going on with him

 

[Littleleno]

He devoured several human sized bites of baby food. He just doesn't look good. Can someone tell me how to post a picture?

 

[Littleleno]

Lets see if these pictures show up. This was while i was trying to feed him. He ate some sweet potatoes w/ chicken. See how swollen and dark his neck is? Also in one of the photos you can see how his foot is under turned. He tried walking away...most like slithering and kept his foot like that.

 

[Katiema10]

He looks the same way ours did, minus the throat. Is he just flaring or is his beard stuck that way? It's good he ate some, though. That will help. And is he usually walking on his wrists?

 

[Littleleno]

I posted this in the health topic, but thinking it's more emergent. My dragon hasn't eaten in a week or so, has drank some water, sleeps, doesn't move. He is very thin, and also I can't recall the last time he pooped....so easily two weeks. His throat is getting dark and very swollen. Doesn't seem to have trouble breathing. I did get him to scarf down some baby food today. other than that, he doesn't eat a thing. Basking area last i got the temp was 105. I do have a UVB bulb, but was told it wasn't good enough, so I ordered a new one for him today. A reptisun 10.0 florescent bulb. Will put that over his cage immediately when it comes. Here are a few pictures, i took this while seeing if he would eat some baby food today. His little foot is under turned and he tried walking when he was done and just kinda slithered with his foot like that. Also you can see his huge neck. And the orange on his mouth is sweet potato baby food. his little jaw also doesn't seem to shut all the way. Thanks

 

[Littleleno]

This is how his throat looks 24/7 now. He isn't flaring it at all at me. I don't know how to describe it, but it seems to be getting bigger and bigger. It's like it's full of food or something. He also hasn't pooped in s couple weeks.

 

[Littleleno]

As far as walking on his wrist, he just started doing that. If you can call it walking. it seems like a huge struggle for him to even walk.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....poor lil' guy, he does have MBD and some other issues, but with some better uvb exposure and calcium rich foods you can probably help him a good deal and improve his condition. I saw your other thread in health forum, maybe one of the mods. can merge them. Katiema gave you some good advice on getting a better uvb bulb , but for now make sure that his Exoterra bulb is over his basking spot. He needs the uvb so his body can utilize the calcium, without uvb the calcium doesn't benefit him.

It's great that he liked the baby food, try chicken, squash, green bean and if you can make a smoothie with insects in it. Do you have calcium powder with D3 ? That should added to his baby food. You can also squish a few crickets until the guts come out and rub them on his snout to see if he'll eat that would get some protein in him.

If it's sunny + above 65 F where you live you can sit in the sun with him on your lap,[ being on your lap he'll keep warm from your body heat ] At that temp. you can even put him in a plastic tote in the sun, the plastic will absorb heat + be warm enough. If it's over 75 you can set him in the grass since he can't get away from you. Others will offer advice , but if you can correct the uvb, calcium and food intake he will start doing better.