Tips for a dragon who just developed MBD!

[DaveW]

Hey guys its been a while since I posted. Since then I have bought another juvenile bearded dragon. This one which I call "little guy" has a special story. I bought him from a pet store in my local town a few weeks ago. They were not taking very good care of him. They were only providing a 60 watt light bulb for heating and nothing else (i.e no uvb). At this pet store, they would just dump crickets in his tank and let them crawl all over him. He did have some initial energy when i first brought him home and no noticeable problems except that he was unusually skinny probably due to the lack of a proper diet.

This weekend little guy developed some severe symptoms. Lethargy and twitching of the back legs being the noticeable. I believe I have caught MBD in its early stages. I have taken some drastic changes and switched out his uvb light with a fresh 10.0 uvb reptisun tube. Also I have been trying to get him to eat some collard greens since they are nutritious with calcium but he has barely eaten what I am providing to him. Also I have given him a warm bath. Additionally and more importantly I have been force feeding him a mixture of calcium powder and water which he has been lapping up. I am keeping him under close observation. If his situation does not improve by Thursday I am going to schedule an emergency appointment with a herpetologist. Other than that there is not much else that can be done.

I have a soft spot for animals so it kills me to see an animal suffer just because of ignorance/incompetence. I would rather have this bearded dragon die in my care then continue to let him suffer at that pet store. I will keep you guys posted. If anyone has anyone other tips, recommendations, comments, please reply. I am very concern about this dragon and I hope his condition improves.

 

[Gail]

Can you get any repti worms or butter for him? both are quite high in calcium. Make sure he can get at least 8 inches from the UVB and keep him hydrated.