Need help with extremely unhealthy bearded dragon.

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Baconbuts272

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I got a bearded dragon back in the end of September. And I will be the first to say I was 100% neglectful as an owner and should have done more research before getting one. However I am trying to do what I can to help him recover, and any advice would be appreciated.
The I first noticed the symptoms about a month or 2 after getting him. He appeared to have trouble moving his back legs. I was able to take him to the vet and was given a oral calcium supplements.
He appeared to be doing a little better after the vet visit. While he was still unable to use his back legs. He was eating more.
Fast forward 2 months, and his condition seemed to be getting slowly worse, and was now losing control of his front legs aswell.
I have also noticed he appears to be malnourished. Before I was just putting his dubia roaches in front of him 2 or 3 times a day to see how many he would eat. Needless to say it was not enough.
Right now i am making sure to give him water with a syringe daily, am being more persistent in his feeding, and giving him daily baths.
For financial reasons I will not be able to take him to the vet again until sometime next month. So in the mean time what should I do?
His tank set up has changed since the picture was taken. The uvb bulb was moved to under the mesh and I swapped his basking spots as the original was too high for him with his condition
 

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Jupitertheking

Hatchling Member
I got a bearded dragon back in the end of September. And I will be the first to say I was 100% neglectful as an owner and should have done more research before getting one. However I am trying to do what I can to help him recover, and any advice would be appreciated.
The I first noticed the symptoms about a month or 2 after getting him. He appeared to have trouble moving his back legs. I was able to take him to the vet and was given a oral calcium supplements.
He appeared to be doing a little better after the vet visit. While he was still unable to use his back legs. He was eating more.
Fast forward 2 months, and his condition seemed to be getting slowly worse, and was now losing control of his front legs aswell.
I have also noticed he appears to be malnourished. Before I was just putting his dubia roaches in front of him 2 or 3 times a day to see how many he would eat. Needless to say it was not enough.
Right now i am making sure to give him water with a syringe daily, am being more persistent in his feeding, and giving him daily baths.
For financial reasons I will not be able to take him to the vet again until sometime next month. So in the mean time what should I do?
His tank set up has changed since the picture was taken. The uvb bulb was moved to under the mesh and I swapped his basking spots as the original was too high for him with his condition
He definitely has MBD can he walk or move I don’t have any experience with beardies with MBD
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

So sorry your boy is having trouble. I do have a few questions on the tank setup & lighting. It appears you are using a
long tube bulb for UVB, correct? Do you know the brand offhand?
Which oral calcium supplement did the vet give, & what is the percentage/strength of it & his dose?
It looks like the UVB tube is taking up a good portion of his tank so that is good. How far is it from him now that you have
moved it underneath of the screen?
Based on his physical appearance, he may have metabolic bone disease but, the swelling is indicative of gout. Do you
have an estimated age?
What other protein or insect sources do you give?
At the moment, try to get him started on some black or tart cherry juice extract to help flush out his kidneys. Did the vet
do a blood test or not? I would think that he should have noticed the swelling on the feet & toes, etc. Metabolic bone
disease can cause swelling but not like what is seen here.
I will PM you for more information on treating gout.

Tracie
 

Baconbuts272

New member
Original Poster
Hello,

So sorry your boy is having trouble. I do have a few questions on the tank setup & lighting. It appears you are using a
long tube bulb for UVB, correct? Do you know the brand offhand?
Which oral calcium supplement did the vet give, & what is the percentage/strength of it & his dose?
It looks like the UVB tube is taking up a good portion of his tank so that is good. How far is it from him now that you have
moved it underneath of the screen?
Based on his physical appearance, he may have metabolic bone disease but, the swelling is indicative of gout. Do you
have an estimated age?
What other protein or insect sources do you give?
At the moment, try to get him started on some black or tart cherry juice extract to help flush out his kidneys. Did the vet
do a blood test or not? I would think that he should have noticed the swelling on the feet & toes, etc. Metabolic bone
disease can cause swelling but not like what is seen here.
I will PM you for more information on treating gout.

Tracie
The uvb bulb is a reptisun 10.0.
He is currently only eating dubias for protein.
I got him in September but do not know how old he was when I got him. So I would say he is 4-5 months old
The vet did not do a bloodtest, and I was given calcium Gluconate to be given to him twice a day at 0.02ml
How much black cherry extract do you suggest I give him
 

Badwolfe

Hatchling Member
How big is he because he looks quite tiny for a Beardie of that age (but that might just be the photograph)
 

Baconbuts272

New member
Original Poster
He is definitely very small for his age. Which is why I said in my post I have been more persistent with his feedings. I don't have exact measurements though
 
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