Hello everyone!
I purchased a baby bearded dragon (Spyro) for my teenage son in late November 2014 from PetSmart. Admittedly, it was on a whim and with minimal research. Along with the dragon, I bought a Reptihabitat, which I assumed (wrongly) had all the proper items for a bearded dragon. I fell in love with Spryo instantly. I had NO IDEA what to expect, and honestly I just assumed it would be like owning a hamster. Boy was I wrong.
Everything was going well for awhile, I was learning more and more about beardies, and then at the end of December I started to notice that Spyro was not acting right. He was lethargic, his legs seem paralyzed at times, and he just seemed off. I took him to the vet, and she diagnosed him with MBD. She also told me that he was a lot smaller than he should be. I was shocked, because I had no idea how that could have happened so quickly. He had been eating tons of crickets (not a lot of greens) and seemed happy. She told me that he probably had it when I bought him due to bad conditions at breeder. She put him on a food/vitamin supplement, a calcium supplement, and an antibiotic.
After two weeks on the meds/supplements, we went for a follow up. The good news was that he gained 2 grams, but now his joints were swollen. She x-rayed him and confirmed that there were no fractures. She changed his antibiotic and said that he might have a bone infection? She told us to continue calcium and oral food supplements.
It is now two weeks later (four weeks on meds), and some days he seems like he is improving, other days not so much. I am not giving up on him.
After finding this site, I learned that we had the wrong UVB lighting. (We had the coil lighting that came with the kit, with a 5.0 UVB bulb.) Yesterday, based on the recommendations of this site, I went out and purchased the 30-inch ZooMed Terrarium Hood and a 10.0 UVB bulb. I am so upset, because I feel like I have played a role in his MBD. It's so frustrating that this lighting was included in a kit marketed for Bearded Dragons, when it is not the correct lighting not to mention the sand substrate! Thankfully, I knew NOT to use the sand.
That's my intro in a (large) nutshell. I am thrilled to have finally found a reliable resource to turn to for help and advice with Spryo. I never thought of myself as a "reptile person" before but I definitely am now. I look forward to "meeting" everyone and learning all there is to learn about bearded dragons.
I purchased a baby bearded dragon (Spyro) for my teenage son in late November 2014 from PetSmart. Admittedly, it was on a whim and with minimal research. Along with the dragon, I bought a Reptihabitat, which I assumed (wrongly) had all the proper items for a bearded dragon. I fell in love with Spryo instantly. I had NO IDEA what to expect, and honestly I just assumed it would be like owning a hamster. Boy was I wrong.
Everything was going well for awhile, I was learning more and more about beardies, and then at the end of December I started to notice that Spyro was not acting right. He was lethargic, his legs seem paralyzed at times, and he just seemed off. I took him to the vet, and she diagnosed him with MBD. She also told me that he was a lot smaller than he should be. I was shocked, because I had no idea how that could have happened so quickly. He had been eating tons of crickets (not a lot of greens) and seemed happy. She told me that he probably had it when I bought him due to bad conditions at breeder. She put him on a food/vitamin supplement, a calcium supplement, and an antibiotic.
After two weeks on the meds/supplements, we went for a follow up. The good news was that he gained 2 grams, but now his joints were swollen. She x-rayed him and confirmed that there were no fractures. She changed his antibiotic and said that he might have a bone infection? She told us to continue calcium and oral food supplements.
It is now two weeks later (four weeks on meds), and some days he seems like he is improving, other days not so much. I am not giving up on him.
After finding this site, I learned that we had the wrong UVB lighting. (We had the coil lighting that came with the kit, with a 5.0 UVB bulb.) Yesterday, based on the recommendations of this site, I went out and purchased the 30-inch ZooMed Terrarium Hood and a 10.0 UVB bulb. I am so upset, because I feel like I have played a role in his MBD. It's so frustrating that this lighting was included in a kit marketed for Bearded Dragons, when it is not the correct lighting not to mention the sand substrate! Thankfully, I knew NOT to use the sand.
That's my intro in a (large) nutshell. I am thrilled to have finally found a reliable resource to turn to for help and advice with Spryo. I never thought of myself as a "reptile person" before but I definitely am now. I look forward to "meeting" everyone and learning all there is to learn about bearded dragons.