metabolic bone disease help!!

[Drache613]

Hello,

He is a cute guy! Sometimes going outside can stress them if they are not used to the noises & surroundings.
That is good his eyes are doing a little better now. I am sure it was the lack of brightness with using the red lamp which caused eye sensitivity. Are you using a bright white light now for basking?
How is his strength doing now, can he support himself very well while he is walking or climbing?
How is his appetite doing, has he eaten very much? If he isn't eating a lot but losing weight, you can try getting some chicken or turkey baby food & some squash baby food to feed to him to help with weight gain.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[JulieGeek]

Well, that does qualify as "perking up", I suppose...

In all seriousness, I'd say his reaction was a good thing. As an alternative to the dreaded leash, you might consider putting Mort in a plastic tote with a nice towel in the bottom to take him outside. That might help him feel safer. Don't use a glass tank because it'll get too hot (think of your car in the summer).

You're doing great. Keep up the good work.

Loiosh & Princess' Mom

 

[adammarshall1992]

He's eating around the same amount 10 crickets and salad.

He always could support himself, he was just twitching when he moved a lot and having seizures. He still is going that but I've noticed how happy he is outside and how bright his colors get. He loves basking in the sun. I have a temporary enclosure for him now. Just a little cardboard box with rocks and branches in it. Even when I get the UVB bulb I might still take him outside , he's really starting to love it!

Thank you everyone for the advice and help! It has really helped me a lot

 

[adammarshall1992]

I do have one last question. Should I up his calcium take for now or keep it at normal levels?

 

[JulieGeek]

Based in your description of how you're feeding him, I'd say he's probably getting enough calcium--he just needs the UVB to metabolize it.

To help him along, though, you might try getting some liquid calcium with vit D3 from BeardedDragon.co (http://www.beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=203) My dragons and I recommend the banana flavor.

Loiosh & Princess' Mom

 

[lbiskup]

I am no expert at caring for beardies but I recently had to bring Spike, my 8 month old dragon, to the vet so I thought I would let you know my story. He was displaying a lot of the same symptoms you described in your post. He was more lethargic than usual, staying away from the lights and a decrease in his bowel movements. Spike never did loose his appetite. I have done a ton of research (mainly on this site) and I thought I was taking exceptional care of my little guy. But come to find out, Spike was diagnosed with metabolic bone disease. Originally, the vet thought it was my uvb light (Reptisun 10) was the cause. He gave me another uv lamp (a Phillips something or other), some liquid calcium and reglan to be given twice a day. I brought in a fecal today and he also has coccidia and bacteria. So it probably wasn't a lighting issue but probably the parasites and bacteria robbing him of his nutrients. So now he is also on some other meds for that. Let me tell you, it is not much fun trying to get these liquid meds in my dragon. He is stubborn and won't open his mouth. Lucky for him, I am way more stubborn and I kept at it until I figured out how to get the meds in him.

I looked at your pics (cute little guy) but I can't believe he is 9 months. My beardie is 8 months (my guess since we got him from a pet store (gasp!) Dec 28th and he was tiny). He is probably double the size of your dragon. Spike eats ALOT of crickets and phoenix worms, and a little greens (trying to work on that). In fact, he probably eats almost 50-100 a day. The girl at Petsmart implied that I am overfeeding him. I recently started ordering in bulk online from Pet Mountain. Anyways, at the vet, he told me dark leafy greens. No lettuce, cabbage or spinach. I see you feed your beardie Spring mix which I believe contains a lot of lettuce. At Walmart, they have a greens mix that contains collard, mustard and turnip? greens. I think you would be better off with that.

I (in my extremely novice opinion) believe it is the absence of uvb light that is causing the problems. You can give your dragon all the calcium in the world but if he doesn't have the uvb light, it will not be absorbed. Calcium needs Vitamin D in order to be absorbed. The uvb supplies the Vit D.

This site and the people on it are great. I originally bought Spike for my son for Christmas and didn't know much about dragons. I bought the bearded dragon set from Petsmart. After researching on this site, I found that it wasn't the best route and I have replaced just about everything that came with the original set. My son lost interest a couple weeks after getting him but I cannot bring myself to get rid of Spike. I can't believe I got so darn attached to a reptile!!

Anyway, the vet told me this condition is reversible. Hang in there and keep us posted on Mordici's progress.

 

[Sheena]

Metabolic bone disease isn't reversible you can only stop it from getting worse.