i came home tonight and spike had thrown EVERYTHING up that he had the day before. so i put him in the bath and cleaned his tank out while my sister watched him soak. i came back and picked him up and almost burst into tears as he started shaking and his back legs were twitching.
he is my rescue i dont know how they took care of him before and im hoping its not to late.its heart breaking having him get this sick right when we were having real progress
i guess ill run over my setup
UVB:reptisun 10
Temps: hot side is usually 100-98
cool side: usually in the high 80s stays about 87-88
Substrate:Shelf liner they did have him on crushed walnut that was gone the next day
Food: he gets fed dubia roaches but the last few days i had to feed him supers with their heads cut off
Baths: Daily bath
i am almost certin that he has some sort of parasite his poop is runny and smells worse than my others but that wouldent cause him to shake would it?
Shaking can have various causes. The most common leg twitching cause is MBD. Then there are neurological stuff as well.
Has he had calcium before you got him? If not it could be MBD and Ive heard it can not be completely corrected BUT with correct care and sufficient calcium it can be stopped from getting worse, some dragons have even shown slight improvement.
For the possible parasites youll need to have a faecal done. Better safe than sorry I say.
he is my rescue i dont know how they took care of him before and im hoping its not to late.its heart breaking having him get this sick right when we were having real progress
If he was eating still a while back I think there is time still. Just get him checked by a good vet ASAP. I know how it feels when rescues gets sick. Mine was a rescue too and 1st it was every parasite/worm and bad thing tht we had to erradicate and now her liver is enlarged due to growing stress and she hasnt eaten in a week.
It is terrible when your babies are sick (No matter what their age ) You feel helpless and want to climb the walls till theyre better.
Youre in my thoughts and I hope its nothing serious.
i know its probly not MBD he had a reptisun 10 and calcium when i got him.
he seems more alert today and i managed to get some pumpkin/soy yogurt into him im just waiting for him to poop so i can take it to the vet
the poor guy looks so sad though
Morgan, did the shaking stop for a while and now it has started again? Where exactly is he shaking? Is his tail and/or beard dark? How is he walking today, is he still dragging his back leg? How do his eyes look? Is there a log or something in his tank that he could have fallen from?
How old is your Repti-Sun bulb? It is the strip fluorescent, right? What is the distance of it? How often have you been dusting with calcium? What brand is it?
he does have a log in there but iv never seen him fall
it didnt stop but it seemed like it was getting better but now its bad again but its his back legs and his head that will shake.
he had a black beard last night and he never has black beards so i knew he was sick
hes walking better
his eyes look a little sunken he looks so sad
i managed to get some food into him and hes basking now
the bulb is only 2 months old and he can get withing 5-6 in of it
i have some calcium i got as a sample at a reptile show it has D3
he gets calcium 5x and vitamins 2x/week
Morgan, it's possible that he may be getting too much calcium. At almost 2 yrs old, his live food should be dusted 3 days a wk with calcium and 1 days a wk with vitamins so I would cut that back. Sometimes if they are getting too much calcium, their bodies aren't able to synthesize it correctly so it can actually cause some of the same symptoms of hypocalcemia (not enough). I would try to get oral fluids into him, water or diluted Pedialyte would be a good idea.
Is the Repti-Sun a strip fluorescent or coil/compact bulb? Can you move the bulb a little further away so that it is at a distance of 6 to 8 inches?
Could you give us the brand name of the calcium and vitamins? Is the calcium phosphorus-free?
dont their Urates turn a funny color if they are getting too much calcium his are still nice and white when i got him he was only getting calcium once a week so i slowly upped the amount i can cut back
the light is the strip light one not the compact
Calcium:Reptile calcium by zoo med with D3 and i dont think it has phosphorus
Vitamins: went MIA at the moment
Their urates can turn yellow from too much calcium but I don't think it always does. Good that you're using the strip UVB. That calcium looks like a good brand.
Did he finally poop for you? Is he still shaking? It would be a good idea to have him tested for parasites since you've noticed some changes in his poop.
he threw everything up so when he did poop it was not enough to take to the vet. i have the test tube and i fed him the pumpkin so im just waiting.
his legs were still shaking and hes really dark. i talked to my vet and he said to get the sample first
Oh, poor thing. Good that you called the vet. Perhaps he has some type of internal infection that an antibiotic will help. This must all be so scary for you, hope you can get some answers very soon. Keeping him well hydrated is a good idea. Be sure to keep us updated.
so i took him to the vet today he finally pooped but he had thrown up again this morning. she felt his belly and looked in his mouth she said she really wont know untill the sample came back. she said he looked good other wise he was a good weight and he tried to bite her