Need help with beardie recovering from mbd

[adalibaba03]

Hello, I am brand new to this group, I have been in search of answers for a while. There is so much bad information out there that I am nervous to even post this. With so much bad information out there our beardie had the wrong light, our now 3 yr beardie has had the correct uv lighting for almost 4 months now (Arcadia T5 12% bulb). He has always been a calmer beardie and tends to just need a little more love then some. I kept him alive with he completely stopped eating by force feeding him baby meat and veggie food with his supplements mixed in. Several weeks after his new light came in he started doing better and it has only been up from there. Since he doesn't always eat good he gets dehydrated sometimes, will bath help hydrate him and help with that or do I need to make sure to get fluids in him? He is starting to get excited for his salad and eats some more by me getting him to open his mouth by running his gum with the food to get him to open his mouth. He eats crickets at times (but will stop trying after missing). To get him to get protein since he doesn't eat lots of crickets and this point he wants no other bugs, I make him a fresh scrambled egg every night that he enjoys eating and eats it well some days. He bites his tongue sometimes since he wasn't eating right for a while but it has been getting better. He is getting strength back him his body to try to walk again. I am just looking for advice to keep him moving forward and to recover faster. Plus just advice from anyone who has been through this because I am just doing everything I can think of and I can find online (which is much when it comes to this) to get our little boy doing better. He does have an outside enclosure that he loves so he normally gets at least 15 mins of natural sunlight. He is a very happy and spoiled boy. I appreciate any help or advice.

 

[KarrieRee]

Rinse the salad before serving --- http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder --- pull the legs off the crickets or daze them - shake them up in container then place in front of him---- make sure your Arcadia UVB is correctly placed- where is it ? And what type of screen are you using fine mesh or a wide hole type?

 

[adalibaba03]

Rinse the salad before serving --- http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder --- pull the legs off the crickets or daze them - shake them up in container then place in front of him---- make sure your Arcadia UVB is correctly placed- where is it ? And what type of screen are you using fine mesh or a wide hole type?

Thanks for the link, that's is helpful information. I will have to try that with the crickets, he does like to randomly grab a dying cricket that moves just a little when it's in his cage. I did a lot of looking on the Arcadia website to make sure I had the right uv percentage for his tank and distance (standard 40 gal) he also has the ability to climb up higher when he wants, which he does. He has the wider holes. I have attached picture of his cage.

 

[KarrieRee]

If you can I would try and get the UVB so its not sitting on the screen and unobstructed - that is going to make the rays for him better and have it around 12 inches or so directly above him- is he able to move and get to his lights as needed?

 

[adalibaba03]

Yes, he's able to climb into the other hammock and get up closer to the light. He is up there all the time. It's one of his favorite spots. If he is getting in that hammock so he is much closer to the light and can get away when he wants is that good enough?

 

[KarrieRee]

Are you talking about the basking light or the UVB? The temp needs to be taken w/a digital probe thermometer on the hammock for basking and I would get a temp on your other hammock under the UVB too --- it might be more healthful for his UVB to be unobstructed w/ his MBD issues for your UVB --- if you can do it get the screen so its not obstructing it --- then you can have the distance 12 inches above him- but you need to have your temps taken w/ a probe - set it on the spot where he basks for like 10 min or so then get the temp - the UVB can be placed on the end where the basking light is having it go width wise if you like that way hes getting both at the same time - set your screen butted up the to the fixture on one end and take the basking bulb and place next to it on the screen - its up to you but that is a thought - they will go back and forth to the light they need but it might be more beneficial to him -- you want basking temps 95-100 for him and that cool side of the tank 80's during the day --- I would also invest in a digital probe hygrometer as well -- take the probe place on the back wall center of the tank -- humidity optimal is 30-50% nothing lower than 20 and nothing higher than 70% --

 

[adalibaba03]

I was referring to his uv light. He is able to move around and get into both hammocks and get where he wants to go. Do you have experience with mbd, he is getting stronger every day and he comes out of his cage to run around on the floor. He can't walk normally yet but he is almosy there. I'm just wondering if there is anything I can do to help him get there faster or if it will just take time. I see what your saying. I do check his temps with a digital temperature and they are always spot on where they need to be. I live in arizona so we don't have high humidity plus I have ac but I definitely need to get one to keep an eye on it. Thanks for all our advice, I really appreciate it!

 

[KarrieRee]

I dont have a lot of experience w/ MBD but have been on here long enough to learn --- it is not reversible but you can stop it from getting worse --- that is the UVB that is helping - are you giving calcium? Its good to know hes getting around better and improving that is a plus its going to take time but he is improving from the way it sounds - if you have more questions about the MBD I can have you PM Drache613 / Tracie shes the vet tech mod on here and she would be able to answer more or specific questions about the MBD -- find her name on the board and click on it her profile will come up left side of the page find PM ---

 

[adalibaba03]

Yes I do give him calcuim with d3 5 days a week and the other 2 days he gets his multi vitamin with prebiotic. I put it on his egg every day since he doesn't always eat crickets. I learned about doing physical therapy to loosen tight arms. And after doing it every day for over a month he has full range of motion in his arms again and that has definitely helped him get around better. He is definitely improving and getting stronger every day. Awesome, thank you so much! I really truly appreciate everything and I will reach out to her.

 

[KarrieRee]

You might want to try some dubia roaches for her www.dubiaroaches.com they are a better staple feeder than the crickets and better able to care for - they dont die off as fast and they dont stink

 

[adalibaba03]

I have some, he wants nothing to do with them at this point or super worms, I've even tried the solider fly larva. He was starting to eat a couple crickets like every day or every other day but then he went through a lot of shedding at the same time, followed by more major shedding and it screwed up him really eating any crickets. He finally seemed to be done with all the shedding so I'm hoping he will start eating more crickets again and start eating dubia roaches. I learned the trick too that you put the roaches on their back so they move around and he can grab them without them running away.