Hello, I've been trying to find out if my juvenile beardie has a leg problem. Her 2 front legs go inward and when she walks she she doesnt lift herself up she slides and thumps her legs onto the ground its like she walks on her arms not her feet. As a baby she was perfectly fine. Im now worried that im a bad beardie owner. I have a 2 year old male that is perfectly healthy. Is it just how she was born or is it something serious
Sorry to hear your girl isn't doing well. That sounds like classic signs of metabolic bone disease.
How long has she not been able to use her legs?
What type/brand of UVB lighting are you using for her & how old are the lights?
Do you supplement her regularly with calcium?
The UVB lighting is very important & some have more trouble with maintaining their levels of
their 25 hydroxyl levels & calcium levels.
If you can, post some pictures of her along with her tank setup too.
I just looked up MBD and that's exactly it. She gets tremors in her front legs and tail time to time. Im in tears right now. Is she in pain? I give the crickets Fluckers cricket water supplement mixed with calcium and also have the crickets dusted. The bulb is Zilla and 100watt. Shes in a slight smaller tank then i would like her to be in. I believe its a 25 gallon but its perfect for her size right now. shes still small and enjoys herself and has climbing and hiding places. I was gonna move her into a bigger tank once she grew more. I also wrap her in her favorite towel at night to make her comfy. I tried posting a picture but it wont upload but ill keep trying. Im taking her to the vet on Friday.
Take pics of the entire set up as well as the baby and include pics of the lights. When you say a 100 watt and Zilla, is the Zilla bulb the long tube ? Or is it just a heat bulb ? Are there 2 bulbs, a heat bulb AND a long tube uvb ? If so check to see if the fixture has plastic covering it.
Its the basking light i turn off their lights at night. Im getting the feeling I'm a bad beardie owner now. Which makes no sense i raised 2 from babys just like her. Im so sorry ? I'll go to the pet store tonight and get one for her. Shes going to the vet tomorrow.
You aren't a bad owner. You care enough to come here and ask for help, and to immediately fix the issue once you learn about it. Make sure you get the long florescent tube style UVB light, and get either zoomed reptisun or arcadia bulb at least a 10.0 strength. A t5 bulb is best and produces the optimal UVB even over a screen cover at 10 inches or so. If you can only get a t8, that needs to be mounted under the screen, 6-8 inches from the dragon. Avoid coil bulbs all together. There is only one specific high output coil bulb that puts out sufficient UVB, and even then its only in a very limited area. All beardies should have this kind of UVB daily for about 14 hours.
My damn pet store didn't have the bulb ill have to go tomorrow after the vet appt. I got her a hammock to make her as comfortable as possible and got calcium powder to sprinkle on her food and alittle in her water. Will giving her a luke warm bath help with the tremors?
So your light is just a basking light, 100 watt Zilla, or do you have a long tube bulb also?
As suggested, the T5 high output tube bulbs are great. Either Arcadia or Reptisun brands
are good. The petstore likely wont carry them either. You can order them online though
for a pretty good price. You will need to get a high output light fixture also.
Here is a site that has the Arcadia light you can check out:
I just got it last night. The bulb and also powdered calcium. Right now she is fluffing her beard out and in every couple mins. Does she have something in her throat? Or is this normal. Because my other beardies never did this
I got everything I needed for her and even now dripping water with calcium in it out of a syringe for her i also mist her but this is direct. I got super worms for her my older beardie got jealous but he thoight i wasnt gonna give him any. Thank you guys so much for helping sjes more active now
How is she doing today?
That's great you got your new light & calcium in. Does she like her new light? I'm sure it will
really help her improve now.
They love pushing their beards out, to stretch so that is very normal! It sounds like she is
happy.
Your other dragon was jealous of her getting something that he wasn't getting? Yeah, that
sounds about right, ours do that also, get jealous of each other sometimes.
I hope she is recovering well. Let us know how she is doing.
She's doing good! Moving around more but still hides every now and then in her favorite spots. Shes even catching crickets on her own but not really walking but moving unlike before where she didnt. She loves super worms and Cosmo cant get enough of them but i only give him 4 and frankie like 2 and a half. She seems to be putting on weight. My vet wants me to bring a fecal sample in to see if she has parasites so i have to do that but other than that thinhs are okay
That's great her appetite has picked up & so has her activity, too. It sounds like she is
feeling a bit better now I hope!
That is a good sign she is putting on some weight too. Let us know how her fecal exam turns
out too. Keep us posted on her progress.
Havent yet got the chance to bring the fecal. Her tremors have gone down alot and she doesnt hide as much as she did. And she always is happy to eat anything i twezer to her but I want her to move to get the veggies but ive been leaving some on her hammock and she eats it there by herself
That is good news to hear she isn't hiding as much & her tremors are not as bad. I hope that
she is feeling better. At least she is eating also. That is cute she is eating her veggies & greens
when you leave them on her hammock.
I hope she continues to improve for you!