My concerns, PLEASE READ ALL ! Thank you.

[freddiesrock]

BASIC INFO[/u]
Name Freddie:
DOB: 10/31/18
Date acquired: 12/30/18
Approximate age: 1 year and seven months
Length: 15 inches
Enclosure: 40 gallon 36Lx18W Exo Terra
Substrate: Reptile carpet or paper towel
UVB: Arcadia 12% D3 + 18” T8 mounted inside enclosure
Things in his enclosure: Plastic (??) cave, fake greenery, rocks washed in boiling water from outside, very small water dish, small food dish, hammock (at night), another rock platform under UVB.

Temperatures:When he is on his basking rock, the temps are 105-112 F and the cool side is in the 80’s, at night temps are 75 with CHE on.
Humidity: 20-40%
Food: Hornworms (occasionally), Superworms (occasionally), Waxworms, Dubia Roaches, BSFL. Collard Greens/Mustard Greens/Butternut Squash blended into a baby food consistency and fed via syringe because he spits out greens and I have tried EVERYTHING. He has aten Repashy Veggie Burger before and Repashy Grub Pie in slurries but that hasn’t been recent. Recently, I have noticed he has been reluctant or stubborn (again, LOL) so I have given him some organic baby foods and now only Critical Care/Carnivore care starting a couple days ago because it usually helps him to get back on track, his poops have been a little watery but he doesn’t have parasites because he was tested for them a while back.
Food intake: As for when I feed him insects, he will take about 8-10 at a time and then about 5 ML of a

slurry or critical care.
Supplements: I used to use Fluker’s Calcium w/D3, Calcium w/o, and Multi-vitamin with Beto Carotone. I have since taken the D3 supplement out of his diet because it was recommended to do so since he has the D3 UVB. When I am feeding slurries, I will add a pinch of the supplements.



My concern is he has had a wagging/shaking in his tail for awhile now, I did not see it as concerning since he runs/walks fine in my opinion but then my anxiety has taken over and I wonder if I have been jeopardizing his health. He doesn’t wag his tail 24/7 but sometimes it is more rapid than others. Is he stressed by being held in a way he doesn’t like? I got the lighting, or the correct one about a month or two ago. It has been a journey to get there. I have been sitting here crying because I have felt like I have not given him a very god life, I love him so much. More than I can explain..I don’t know if that is weird but I have a very deep connection with him. What is your advice on my feeding regimen? Is the shaking (video in link below) concerning? Is it early onset MBD? Have I given too many supplements? Have I messed up his health? He He also seems bloated? Am I feeding too much? What am I doing wrong? Or what should be the next step?

LINK BELOW....watch video (PLEASE)
https://imgur.com/gallery/JNFN5xW

 

[Claudiusx]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

Can you post a picture of him so we can see his general body composition, and a picture of his setup?

The tail wagging looks more like involuntary little twitches to me. Or a general shakiness which could be caused by a calcium or other nutritional deficiency.

So you just got the arcadia a month ago? What were you using before that?
What is the distance of the bulb to the basking site?

-Brandon

 

[freddiesrock]

Hi there,

Can you post a picture of him so we can see his general body composition, and a picture of his setup?

The tail wagging looks more like involuntary little twitches to me. Or a general shakiness which could be caused by a calcium or other nutritional deficiency.

So you just got the arcadia a month ago? What were you using before that?
What is the distance of the bulb to the basking site?

-Brandon

Yes, here’s a picture of him and his set up. He tends to stay on the warm side so I worry he isn’t getting enough UVB. It’s about 6” away from where he would sit.
Pictures in link below
https://imgur.com/gallery/4t7WMC7

 

[neilkd21]

He looks generally fine but a bit overweight, what is his weight? The setup sounds fine. In terms of the supplement I would cut out the Critical Care as it's not needed unless ill and not eating anything at all. Might be why he is seeming bloated.

How many times a week are you feeding livefood and the slurries and adding supplements?

At his age you only need calcium 2 or 3 times a week and multi vitamin once or twice a week. It is possible to over supplement especially if feeding the slurries too often, as those will have plenty of vitamins in. What flavor of the baby foods are you using?

The tail twitching, how often does it happen, is it just when he is in certain positions etc? No twitching anywhere else?

 

[freddiesrock]

He looks generally fine but a bit overweight, what is his weight? The setup sounds fine. In terms of the supplement I would cut out the Critical Care as it's not needed unless ill and not eating anything at all. Might be why he is seeming bloated.

How many times a week are you feeding livefood and the slurries and adding supplements?

At his age you only need calcium 2 or 3 times a week and multi vitamin once or twice a week. It is possible to over supplement especially if feeding the slurries too often, as those will have plenty of vitamins in. What flavor of the baby foods are you using?

The tail twitching, how often does it happen, is it just when he is in certain positions etc? No twitching anywhere else?

Thank you for answering. So, at his age what would be a good schedule for feeding. I would feed him the slurry (veggies only) everyday but since he’s been on critical care I haven’t fed it. I will cut that out starting tomorrow. What would be a good supplement schedule? I am not sure how to weigh him if I am honest, what kind of scale would I need to get? I try to offer him live food every day but he’s not seemed too interested in it as of late, he’s stubborn and gets picky very easily. The only thing he wants to eat is hornworms for some reason but I don’t want to feed too much of that. The flavour of baby food would be squash or mango. The only ingredients would be mango and water or butternut squash and water, no chemicals or anything. He just doesn’t want any greens normally at all. I’ve tried everything for a year! The bee pollen doesn’t seem to catch his eye. He also went poop and seemed less bloated after that.

 

[freddiesrock]

Thank you for answering. So, at his age what would be a good schedule for feeding. I would feed him the slurry (veggies only) everyday but since he’s been on critical care I haven’t fed it. I will cut that out starting tomorrow. What would be a good supplement schedule? I am not sure how to weigh him if I am honest, what kind of scale would I need to get? I try to offer him live food every day but he’s not seemed too interested in it as of late, he’s stubborn and gets picky very easily. The only thing he wants to eat is hornworms for some reason but I don’t want to feed too much of that. The flavour of baby food would be squash or mango. The only ingredients would be mango and water or butternut squash and water, no chemicals or anything. He just doesn’t want any greens normally at all. I’ve tried everything for a year! The bee pollen doesn’t seem to catch his eye. He also went poop and seemed less bloated after that.

@neilkd21

 

[neilkd21]

Mine at that age started to slow down with his eating and not wanting as much as used to. They dont need as much as when they were younger so it's normal for them to slow down as get older. so unless stops eating completely for a while I wouldn't worry at this stage.

We switched to offering livefood every 2nd day at that age so maybe try that. Ours is fussy too, the only livefood he eats is locusts as was never a fan or crickets or roaches. Am not familiar with horn worms as we can't get them in England as they banned. If you can get silk worms where you live they are meant to be a good staple feeder. I would cut out the wax worms completely, they very high in fat and also very addictive, they have been called beardy candy. We gave ours them once and he loved them but then refused anything else for a week as just wanted them.

We also had a battle with veg as he was a rescue so don't think he was given it as a baby. It might sound cruel but go 3 or 4 days without offering livefood and just offer veg, that worked with ours at that age so he started eating it as he wasn't getting anything else. Now he still doesn't love veg but eats it better. At that age it won't do any harm going a few days without food. If it doesn't work then fine to carry on with the veg slurries. Have you tried fresh fruit? Ours gets apple, melon or grape once a week and loves them. Just make sure to remove any skin or seeds and avoid any citrus fruit.

In terms of supplements do calcium 2 or 3 times a week and multivitamin once a week. Don't need the vitamin any more than that. I wouldn't be using the baby food every day, although it's organic it will still have natural sugar in it, especially the mango.

We just use an ordinary digital kitchen scale, pop a plate on and pop him on the plate. You can also but reptile scales but we already had kitchen ones.

With the UV are you able to hang it from the top of the tank? It's better if it's above them and not on the side as can cause eye issues. You could also maybe move it over so covers the warm side if he spends most time there. Ours is setup like that, the UV covers two thirds of the tank including the basking spot.

How's the tail twitching, Is it everyday? Could he have injured it at all or does it seem to hurt him if you touch the tail?