shaking legs and not moving around

[etowe]

my bearded dragon has been real weak and not moving with his legs shaking a little and tucked close to his body. This just started on the friday and he is usually moving around alot. Now he is just laying there real limp not wanting to move. I have a zoo med basking spot lamp in a 30 gallon tank. he eats crickets and i will throw in greens about once a week. I dont know wat else to do now. I had one a few years ago and it died from tumors the vet said. what can I do.

Thankyou,
shaking legs

 

[doe222]

some more detailed info if you please? help us help you
basking spot temperature
do you have a UVB light and if so what kind
what substrate do you use
cool side temperature?
a picture of your enclosure would also help.

 

[Beardednoob]

No mention of a UV, do you have one? Shaking limbs is often a sign of MBD (metabolic bone disease), lack of UV and proper calcium intake is the main cause(s) for MBD.

 

[etowe]

yes I have a uv light, 75 watt zoo med basking spot lamp. it says it provides bneficial uva rays. I moved it to a bigger tank from 10 to a 30 gallon, and now it has a 150 watt lamp. I got it crickets on thursday night and friday while I was at work the lamp went out. So it could have spent most of the day without the lamp after eating on thursday night

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

UVA is not UVB. You need a bulb that provides UVB to your dragon. Do you have one?

Can you please answer all of Amandas questions?

-Brandon

 

[doe222]

sounds to me like you are not providing the right lighting for your beardie and now has metabolic bone disease. you need to make sure you have a UVB light not just a zoo med basking light which only offers UVA. beardie 101. and you should be dusting your crickets with a calcium+d3 supplement 5/7 days a week. and he should be eating crickets everyday along with a salad. id recomend getting a UVB light asap or else your beadie will suffer the consequences as he already has. at least take him out into the sunlight. untill you get one. also the 30gallon should go. 55gallong is the minimum recomended size for a bearded dragon. be very carefull while handling him as his bones will be frail. how long have you owned this bearded dragon? calling your dragon an "it" explains quite a bit.

 

[etowe]

I have this bearded dragon for about six months, I have one in the past that lived for a couple years and he passed from tumors. I have gotten on here for some advise on him. I have gotten him some baby food squash with calcium in it and have been feeding him a little at a time. He had some blood in his stool last night. Now he is moving a little bit better than he did on friday and saturday. I am giving him the calcium powder for his food with the d3 in it.

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi,

Really, can you please answer ALL the questions. I promise you we won't ask you a question that we don't need to hear the answer to.

Are you using a uvb bulb or not? Uva is not uvb.

-Brandon

 

[etowe]

i am using a uva lite. It says uva is important for the well being of the reptile

 

[Beardednoob]

i am using a uva lite. It says uva is important for the well being of the reptile

Correct it is but, UVB is vital to the health of the reptile. Without UVB the dragon cannot absorb calcium in adequate levels, during growth the dragons skeletal structure becomes soft and grows in abnormal formations, this is very painful to the reptile and can cause death in severe cases.

 

[doe222]

to quote myself from earlier you need to do more research on your dragon. what it boils down too. if you dont have UVB your dragon will be very bad off and 9/10 will die at a very young age. if you get him UVB and not just UVA that is "vital to a reptiles health" which im sure you read on the box along with everything else a store will sell you, he will hopefully make a recovery. get a uvb bulb asap or witness your dragon's slow and painfull death. 2 options

 

[jkeeney1]

Get a UVB light right away. I made the same mistake for my beardie and he suffered from my stupidity. I had no UVB light for the first 8 months i had him and although i was very lucky he never got mbd, it stunted his growth and he is now full grown but nowhere as large as he should be. Hopefully its not to late for you also, take all of the advice and get a uvb light. Even a cheap one is better than having none at all.

 

[etowe]

I would like to thank everyone for the input and I am going to get a uvb lamp asap for my bearded dragon. I was unaware of the uvb lite. I hope its not to late for my dragon. I will keep you all up to date on how things are going with him.

Thankyou
etowe

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi etowe,

Make sure you get either the reptisun 10.0, or the arcadia 12%.

And don't get the coil versions of either of those bulbs. Bad uvb is just as dangerous as no uvb, and unfortunately most bulbs (besides those two) on the market are dangerous to dragons.

-Brandon