Not sure whats going on?

[EvilYoul]

I'm not sure whats going on with my baby bearded dragon but the other day he started sitting with his feet pointing upward but he seems to walk fine at times but then other times i worry about it and sometimes he stretches his legs out on his log when he's laying down. Now my biggest concern at the moment is weather or not he was getting enough light from his uvb? I'm using a reptisun 10.0 with a zoo med hood with a built in reflector and the closes he could get to his uvb was 8 inches tops and that was while basking because i have the uvb right next to the basking light and then while he wasn't basking he was 11 to 12 inches from it so now I went out and bought a new log for him to bask and climb on and that puts him 5 1/2 to 6 inches away from his uvb. Oh and btw he just started shedding the day he started acting this way as well! But yesterday he managed to get the skin completely off his entire body. Today he's still acting the same way he's holding his feet straight up and pretty much resting them on his wrists occasionally he's shaking his back legs. Also today he's been holding his mouth open a lot on his log and i've never seen him do this now i'm just curious is it normal for all this stuff to happen during a shed? I mean i've seen him shed on his front legs once before but this is the first time i've seen him do a full shed..

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

If you could run over your tank setup with us such as the type & brand of UVB you are using, a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?
How often do you dust the food for him?
It is fairly normal for them to twitch & move in strange ways when they are shedding. Was he doing this before he started shedding?
How is his appetite doing?
Stretching the leg out while laying or basking on their branches is very normal behavior though!


Tracie

 

[EvilYoul]

Thanks for replying to my question!
Okay here's his setup

Right now I'm running a repti glo 10.0 fluorescent I just now realized it was glo and not sun eh! .. Previously I had him 8 to 10 inches away from his repti glo when I noticed the twitching I moved him upward to 5 to 6 inches to the bulb this was before I read around on the site that it can cause blindness and problems with the eyes if its not a reptisun 10.0 and yesterday he was closing his eyes alot .. As a matter of fact I left work today and went straight to the pet store they don't carry any zoo med bulbs what so ever! I am planning to order it online at petmountain.com but I'm very worried and I'm puzzled and unsure of what to do for the time being! should I keep this light over him? can he go a couple days this way? if so I will definitely pay extra for overnight shipment I just want my little guy to remain healthy! Other then lighting he's eating about 100 crickets a day even during his huge shed haha I also offer veggies everyday as well and supplementing crickets with calcium with d3 daily every other feeding so he's definitely a heathly little guy and btw no he didn't start twitching until the first day of his shed.. Oh and also a guy at a pet store said he had flukers repta sun 5.0 but I said im unsure of that bulb as well and would much rather wait and buy a reptisun 10.0 by zoo med

His basking spot is 100 to 105 degrees and cool side being 80 to 90 degrees.. As of right now I have him in a 20 gallon tank but I purchased a 5 foot wooden cage off of craigslist which i'm in the process of doing a switch over to that and of course with a reptisun 10.0 that i'll have to order online as well...

But It would be very highly appreciated if you could help me by giving me some suggestions until my reptisun 10.0 arrives! And again thanks a lot for stopping by and replying I thought I was being ignored :|

 

[Monkey]

I would kill the reptiglo for now.... thats better than keep on subjecting him to it.
Also as long as the appetite is good, its a good sign, oh and the hot area is a tad too hot, it should be more around the 80 than the 90. It might not sound like much but some dragons don't like it too hot. When some warm summer days my room hit thats high my dragon turn rather lethargic and flat and dont wanna move until Ive cooled her off meanwhile my other one don't care. Yours might have a preference too. since you are saying around I am guessing you dont have exact temp.

Wallmart has an awesome thermometer that measures humidity high and lows, its only 12 dollars and amazing. It was something rite as a name, get that... I use it for mine, check them all on a weekly basis esp since I have one lizard who requries a bit more in humidity to be happy.

 

[Monkey]

uh oh I saw something you said calcium WITH d3 your drgon might be overdosing on D3, I would recomend to use calcium WITHOUT D3..


The UVB is there to help the dragon produce D3, you do not use UVB thats when you need the D3 vitamins (this is something I learned in the savannah forums) IF You give too much I would suspect you can get these issues.

if he eats a 100 cricks a day plus UVB light I would suspect this could be the culprit,,
Im trying to find a good link on it to read for sure...

 

[Monkey]

yeah I am suspecting that you are seeing the first stage of hypercalcemia..
http://hubpages.com/hub/Ultraviolet-Light--Vitamin-D--and-Reptile-Health

Withhold the D3 calcium and give calcium without d3 and I think you will be good.

I use UVB on my monitor AND I give D3 and without D3 but the D3 is only once a week due to his growthrate, the beardies get without D3..

If I were you I would likely call your vet and have a blood sample done to see if his kidney functions is affected..

 

[EvilYoul]

Ok well I withheld his calcium with d3 all day yesterday and didn't give him any calcium what so ever. His uvb reptisun 10.0 will arive today im still not sure if I want to supplement any calcium today however because last night he went to **** and only put out the white stuff and if his kidneys are affected I just don't see how any supplement would be a good thing for a couple of days.. but what do you guys think? Im planning to just run reptisun over him today and just not give calcium today either but im still pretty unsure about it

 

[Monkey]

someone told me that when you use a fluroescent and not a MVB that they need the d3 so that cant be the issue...
It has to be something else, but now when you change it should not be with d3 vitamins so good that you found out anyhow...

with normal calcium, and being able to be close to the repti sun he might come around, he might also be constipated do you soak him daily in lukewarm water?

 

[EvilYoul]

Will it work ok without the d3 if he's 5 to 6 inches away from the bulb.. and then ocassionally give him d3? Maybe he's having problems from being to far away from it for along time like I said he could get 8 inches to it only while basking at the tip of the log otherwise. It was 11 inches away from him then I moved him up recently and yeah I give him bathes and he poops on his own all the time twice a day

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Yes, if you are using a fluorescent tube bulb, they are "ok" lights, but do degrade rather quickly so it is a good idea to use calcium with D3 a few times a week anyway. The small amounts in the dusting should not cause hypercalcemia. The main time that happens is when you are not using a UVB light, they are not able to absorb the calcium & it can cause oversupplementation in some cases due to an imbalance of the calcium to phosphorus ratios.
How is your dragon doing, did you get the Reptisun 10 tube bulb yet?


Tracie

 

[beardies9910]

i dont mean to steal this forum, but i am using calcium powder with D3 in it. I have a repti 10.0uvb bulb. The closet my beardie can get to it is about 9 inches. The uvb has to go through mesh so idk how much is being blocked. Anyways is it bad to give the calcium dust with d3 and have uv. i usually dust each cricket he eats. Hes a bit random on his eating. somtimes he eats 10,5,16. Pretty random, i usually dust every cricket. Is that okay that i dust every cricket lightly? im also seeing his foot is somtimes bent upwards when hes just chilling, Hes been running around normal.

 

[EvilYoul]

That's sort of what's going on with my bearded dragon as well when he sits he also holds his feet upward and you shouldn't powder every cricket he eats and powdering with d3 is ok with the fluorescent but he has to be close enough to his uvb to absorb the calcium.. raise him up to the uvb somehow and don't powder any crickets for awhile give him time to clear that out of his system you want to avoid hypocalciema

 

[beardies9910]

OH haha ill go easy on the dusting then. Its kinda weird. I just saw him run normal but when he stopped his feet were pointed up and resting on his ankle. But when he went to run again he runs normal.