MBD question

[rottnbull02]

I guess mine isn't an emergency more of a question. I aquired a very very sick baby beardie from Craigslist (swore my husband off that darn thing we keep rescuing sick pets!). She had advanced stages of mbd (not vet checked as I dont have the $$ for a reptile vet bill). Spine was very crooked, hips almost looked out of alignment, tail crooked, head shrunken in and her eyes were buggy. It was very sad. She was bone thin, I doubt they had fed her in weeks. They said she was 6 months old. Her bones just looked terrible. She didn't have the strenght to lift her weight off the bottom of the tank, head was barley off the bottom. If she were straight and not crooked I would say she is about 11 inches. You can tell by the size of her head (even though it is shrunken in) that she is not a baby.

Stats:
uvb: reptiglow 10.0 she can get withing 10 inches (reptisun on order, waiting for megarays to be available again)
temp: basking 105-115, cool end 82 (75w spot light checked daily with a temp gun)
sub: newspaper, cleaned once a day as she poops so much it is necessary
calcium: liquid once a day and dusting crickets

That was 2 weeks ago. She has since put on weight. Just started lifting her weight off the bottom of the cage. Is trying to jump. Chases crickets to feed (eats about 10-12 now at a time!). Is eating greens voraciosly now. Basks between warm and cool side. Her spine looks as thought it is straightening out, and so is her tail. Her head is filling in and her eyes now look clear. I gave her a bath last week and she loved it. She is very active, and loves attention. Oh and her chin just shed! Her colors are amazing...reds and golds and we can finally see some blue tiger stripes on her sides now that she is filling out.

My question is are we out of the woods? Obviously I will continue to do what we are doing, but I really want someone to say what we are doing is the right thing. Also, how long do we continue with the liquid calcium? I sort of thought since it has been 2 weeks we should start to ween her off and just do the dusting. Is that right? I know we can overdose her and surely dont want to do that either. I am terrified of handling her too much as I read her bones are fragile and will break easy, but she loves being held. She runs to the side of the cage, well hobbles to the side of the cage when we enter the room. How often should I bath her? She really enjoyed it the last time.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Congratulations on rescuing a dragon in need of a good home. It looks like you have done a great job in helping her recover. GREAT you already have a Reptisun 10 on order, also. That will help her alot more than the Reptiglo 10 will. Good job getting it ordered already.
How much calcium are you giving? Which liquid calcium are you using, is it from beautiful dragons site? I will dose it for you if you need, I just need her weight in grams. Please continue to give liquid calcium for at least another month or so. If it is given correctly, liquid calcium can be given for life.
Obviously what you are doing is working well. Her appetite sounds like it has really improved as well as her physical appearances have too. Handling her should be done carefully of course, but as long as you are careful you can handle her daily. If she enjoyed her baths that much then there is no reason why she can't have a bath daily if it doesn't appear to be stressing her any.
That is great her spine looks like it could be starting to straighten out a little bit as well as her tail. You can gently work on that more while she is in the bath by laying her on an incline & gently massaging her body while straightening out her body as much as she will tolerate.
Very good job on helping her. As far as her being out of the woods, well, there is always that chance of a relapse so the first few months are the most important in ensuring you reverse as much damage as possible. We do not know how much damage her organs & bones took but you definitely have given her a much better chance than she would have had otherwise.
She may always have a tendency to have a little bit of calcium absorption trouble. So, you might want to consider keeping her on liquid calcium for life as it absorbs much more efficiently than powdered does. Right now you can give her calcium 5 times per week. After 1 month, reassess the situation, & then you could probably decrease the calcium down to 3 times per week.
Keep us posted on her.
Maybe you could post some pictures?

Tracie

 

[rottnbull02]

If I did this right I think she weighs close to 70 grams now. She was 2.5 oz on my kitchen scale. Eventually we will have a digital scale. I took quite a few pictures. I wanted to make sure I got good pictures of all of her. She is tired and ready for bed you can tell because her eyes are half mast! The calcium I have is T-Rex Bone Aid Liquid Calcium. I purchased it at my local pet store. Is the calcium from Beautiful Dragons better? She is starting to go into shed, her under jaw has shed and her tail and back are just getting ready. She started trying to dig today. I feel so bad because she just keeps trying and gets no where. I told my husband today is the first day her beard isn't some shade of black!

I will start giving her baths more regularly now that I know it is ok. She definitly looks much better then she did 2 weeks ago! Thank you for your help.

Stephanie

 

[Drache613]

Hello Stephanie,

Those pics are phenomenal. She is a cutie!
The T-rex bone aid calcium is fine, no problem. I am not sure the concentration of it. I would do .5 cc, twice daily, for one month.
Then you can adjust it according to her weight & give just once daily.
If she is going into shed, she is definitely improving quickly. Hopefully you caught her in time before it stunted her too badly. Perhaps most of her deformities will straighten out with her still growing.
If her beard is not black, then she is obviously feeling much better. Super job. I would love to get weekly updates, or more often as you want to. Thanks!


Tracie

 

[rottnbull02]

Thank you. I think she is beautiful.

I never knew we could give that much of the calcium! I can't wait to get the reptisun on her. I just want her to get better and be healthy. With the bone aid do we still need to dust her food and crix's? We have only been dusting (for her) occasionally. She is eating voraciously about 10-12 a day. How many should she be eating? She is also eating her greens. She has without a doubt put on a lot of weight since we brought her home. I wish we had thought to get pictures then. She has been with us 2 weeks today! I am very happy that she is improving.

Thank you for the help. I will try to post weekly updates on her.

Stephanie

 

[Drache613]

Hello Stephanie,

Yes, right now, since she is so calcium deficient, her body will soak all of the calcium up especially with the UVB lighting. So, we will reassess her after 1 month, & then we can decrease it down to daily, & possibly 3 times per week for maintenance after awhile.
Alot will depend on her urates, & how her body is excreting it. We will be able to tell alot as to how she is metabolizing it through her urates.
No, she does not need any additional dustings right now of calcium, while she is on the bone aid liquid calcium, that would likely be too much. She can eat as many crickets per day as she wants. Great that she is eating her greens too! You are doing a super job with her. I am sure that she is very happy now.
Great, I am looking forward to updates on her. Thanks!

Tracie