My Bearded Dragon Is Sick

[MiniMiniMe]

My bearded dragon is 4 yrs old I started finding him on his back and he could not turn over. Eventually he became so weak that he barely moved. I took him to the vet and he stayed a week in the hospital. They were treating him for metabolic bone disease even though I had the proper lighting and nutrition. They thought my light was bad even though it was new. I bought another uva/uvb light. He never exhibited signs like rubbery bones, just these seizure like episodes Since he has been on oxbow critical care and glucose/ calcium. He is eating on his own and it has been 6 weeks since the vet. He is still not himself although he is stronger. We still find him on his back and he has these episodes where he has a seizure like shaking of the head and he is so uncomfortable he climbs the walls frantically and falls over. During these seizures he becomes so pale, almost to the color of sand. Once he calms down his color comes back. He opens his mouth during these episodes and his right front leg and his left back leg are weak although he uses them. For the most part he sleeps soundly at night. I have 3 new thermometers and the temps are ok according to the vet and have been the same since his birth. i noticed that after he eats and is digesting his food, he has more seizures. He did this more on the critical care and slightly less now that he is on solid food again.

Please help me. I have tried to contact everyone we know. We love him and he is a big part of our family. Thank you so much for this website!!!!! Awaiting your reply!

 

[Rachella]

Hello and welcome to bearded dragon.org!

I'm sorry to hear about your beardie and really hope this guy gets better. This thread will probably get moved to the ER forum once an administrator sees it where it will get more attention but in the meantime could you answer a few questions? The answers will help the more experienced and knowledgeable members of the community to be more able to figure out what's going on and give you some good advice to follow.

What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?

I know it sounds like a lot of questions but believe me they're all extremely important and will help to pin-point potential problems and ways to figure out how to make him better!

 

[vickson420]

Topic moved to ER for better exposure

 

[MiniMiniMe]

A sixty gallon Zero Neo glass tank.

I have Bearded dragon carpet.

Yes.

A coil.

It's a Zila 20 Watt Desert 50.

Around 6 weeks old.

He can probably get up to 9 inches away.

yes and Reptisun 100 Watt.

Between 85 and 97.

Between 67 and 76

A stick on thermometer

2 inches above the floor and 10 inches above the floor.

Spring-Mix Lettuce, Peas, Orange pieces, Gut-Loaded Crickets covered with Calcium powder, and Water.

Once a day around 1 PM.

Yes, He is.

 

[beardie parents]

First off, most every thing looks good except for a few items. First, turn off the coil bulb as that's probably part of his MBD problems. They give out very bad uvb. change it to a reptisun 10. The cheapest place to get it is http://www.petmountain.com. They charge under $20 for one, they do add shipping. Just make sure you get the long tube, none of the coil's are any good, even the reptisun 10's. Due to the size of your tank, you can get a t-rex or a mega ray, these bulb give off both really good uvb and heat. I would try the 100 watt. Make sure you get a drop light that is ceramic and rated for at least 250 to 300 watts as the mega ray's and t-rex's get really hot.

The basking temps need to be at LEAST 95 and at his age it should probably be closer to 110. I suggest you go to Walmart (assuming you are in the US) and get an accurite digital with probe, the one that costs $12. This gives you 2 temps and a humidity reading. I have 2 and the housing is on the cool side and the probe is laying on the basking spot. This gives better temp readings than the stick on's, which some have said that they are 20 degrees off.

I would cut down on the orange pieces as citrus is not good for beardies.

Here is a good place to look for what to feed and what not to feed beardies.
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

 

[dna14]

How is he doing?