Rescued baby with MBD - really getting weak

[Kalec]

Hey folks, just looking for some advice with a little rescue I picked up this afternoon. The PetSmart on the other side of town apparently should not be trusted with reptiles as my operations manager in my store took a crested gecko, two leopards, and a tiny 9 week old beardie from them and to a herp vet. One leopard sadly didn't make it, but I now have the little male beardie, Jacoby, home with me.

My manager gave me the liquid calcium the vet supplied after Jacoby was diagnosed with MBD, but I'm wondering how I should start him off. He's severely underweight and has trouble walking. He does the MBD shake when he tries to lift his head, but is currently trying to bask. His eyes are alert and I gave him a warm bath and some squash baby food this evening when I got home. Should I just keep him on the squash for now? I have some phoenix worms I can pick up, but wondering if the protein would shock his system too much at this point.

He's in a 20 gallon for now, with a Reptisun 10 tube bulb, temps are 85ish cool side 109 basking. Temps taken with a digital thermometre with a probe. I ground up some of Kalec's collards and left them in a dish, but not expecting him to really go for them. Substrate is paper towel with an old shirt of mine that Kalec used to sleep on when she was little.

Anything I should do differently or add?

 

[Kalyn876]

UVB? what brand? compact coil or tube? and how close can he get to it?

 

[Kalec]

ReptiSUN 10.0 fluorescent tube. He can get about 7ish inches away.

 

[Kalyn876]

Well everything so far sounds great to me! The most important thing is that he can get within 6-8 inches.. I just rescued a little one from petsmart 4 weeks ago he was the size of a hatchling in with 6 week olds and suffered from MBD. Hes doing great now though I hope everything goes perfect for you guys!

Oh and I personally think the protien would do him wonders just make sure they are smaller than the space between his eyes

 

[Kalec]

Thanks. I'll pick him up some phoenix worms tomorrow and see if I can get him interested in some food. Little guy is pooped for now and big sister Kalec is not thrilled to share her room with another dragon tank.

 

[oldfossiltree]

stupid question: what's MBD?

 

[Gail]

Metabolic bone disease. It when the bones get soft or rubbery and can get deformed, it from a lack of calcium or UVB to properly utilize the calcium. Early symptoms involve muscles twitching and the shakes. Left untreated it can lead to death.

 

[beardie parents]

Kalec, I would pm drache613 with your questions. You are doing really good and the liquid calcium is great for that little one, especially with his problems. I don't know how to dose it, I know you do it based on his weight but Tracie will be able to tell you how much to give him, and whether you should feed him a lot of protein. I'm not sure about that. The phoenix worms are good for them they have a lot of calcium in them. Babies love them, our girls did until they grew and quit noticing them as they are very, very small, even the large ones.

 

[Kalec]

I will do that! He's much more active this morning, just breaks my heart with how thin he is and his head wobbling. Eating like a horse though, so all is well there.

 

[EmilyRussom]

No advice to offer, but I am thinking of the little guy. Sounds like he's getting amazing treatment! Best of luck to you and Jacoby!

 

[Kalec]

Just an update: Jacoby ate about 6 or 7 phoenix worms yesterday, but still not showing much interest in food. I've left most of them in his bowl so he can pick at them as he pleases along with his veggies (still not touched). Today though, he seems to be having trouble with his eyes - constantly shutting one eye, then the other. I know the typical solution for this is to shut off the UVB until his eyes heal, but would that not be a good thing to do with his MBD?

 

[Kalec]

Got home this evening and Jacoby's not basking at all, rarely lifting his head, both eyes shutting. Getting really worried about him, managed to force feed him some phoenix worm slurry, but not much. Beard is black, going to see if he'll eat the squash baby food with the liquid calcium. He's far worse than yesterday and I'm just getting nervous.