Slight MBD in rescue

[MCHRKiller]

I adopted a "adult" male beardie from a reptile rescue group last week. He is 17" however is literally half the size of my other guys which mind you is still not a terrible body mass especially considering the condition it was in when the rescue took him in which was skeletal. He required force feedings and wasn't able to ambulate for a few weeks upon getting him. Now "Skittles" is rather sassy and working on getting to be a plump well muscled dragon.

Upon getting him I have noted some signs of MBD...he has a slight underbite...his skull isnt quite as elongated as my other 2 dragons and he has a few toe joints which are prominent than the others. He is a very active feeder and eats basically whatever he is given. I am dusting his bugs with Calscium with D3 and a weekly vitamin supplement. He eats a salad 6x per week consisting of a base of whatever green I have on hand with 1-2 add ins of carrots/bell pepper/berries/squash each day. I fast my lizards 1 day per week and they eat either Dubia or Supers 4-5 feedings per week. He has gained weight in a week on this feeding schedule. I am curious on others success in reversing or improving MBD...this is a mild case and he is still a young lizard at around a year old. He also has a 100watt MVB along with a supplemental UVB on the viv which is a 40B.

 

[Claudiusx]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

You likely won't be able to reverse what has already been done, but you will at least stop it with proper husbandry and diet. Great that he is eating well!

Could you post a picture up of him?

-Brandon

 

[MCHRKiller]

 

[Claudiusx]

Oh good, he really doesn't look too bad.

I think you got him right in time, and he should have a long happy life with you

-Brandon

 

[MCHRKiller]

No he isnt bad...just some slight signs and he is a bit scrawny. I had just heard of people correcting mild MBD in young dragons...and since Skittles has a pretty mild case was wondering what methods people had used with success.

 

[Claudiusx]

Typically once the damage is there, it's gonna stay there. Except rare cases where the dragon is still growing, sometimes the bones can reshape, but not very often. That's why you often seen MBD dragons with crooked tails, or spines. Once the bones start growing a certain way, they tend to stay/continue to grow that way.

The main thing is keeping him healthy from this point on.
If his outwardly symptoms reverse, great! But we don't typically see that.

-Brandon

 

[KevinsMom33]

My Kevin was a rescue also -about a year and a half when I got him - with MBD - could not turn around what was already done, but with calcium, good variety of food and correct lighting (including natural sunlight) we were able to stop the progression. Kevin's hands are twisted inward, so he walks on his wrists, and he cant lift his tail - but he's string, solid, healthy and the God King of the Castle. Nona was a rescue also, she was malnourished, dehydrated and had no strength at all - syringe fed her with baby food, vitamins, calcium, lights and sunshine, she got stronger, went to solid food and live dubai's - she was younger than Kevin, so she was able to recover without any MBD lasting effects - but she did not large, she is very petite - she's on the small side of the spectrum for a female. They do compensate for whatever "deformities" they are left with once they recover. Kevin is 6 now and Nona is almost 2 - so keep doing what you're doing, if you can give him some natural sunshine - about an hour a day - fresh air and sunshine are the best curatives.
you can see Kevins hands in this pic - he's got Popeye arms now, and how small Nona still is.

But they are healthy and happy.