Tremors an kinks in her tail... MBD?? What should I do??

[jklass]

Hi everyone,

I just adopted Lizzie a few weeks ago. She is my first beardie. The longer I care for her, the more I realize what rough shape she was in before I adopted her. Now I've started to notice tremors in her front arms sometimes when she moves them, and occasionally twitching muscles along her sides. She seems to be able to walk fine, but her back legs just kinda lay there... she doesn't actually stand on them if she doesn't have to. She has a couple of small kinks in her tail (see photos). Is any of this normal? Do you think she has MBD?

She was kept outside in a shed/greenhouse that hardly got any sun, had no heat lamp or UVB bulb, and was eating only unsupplemented crickets and superworms. She was underweight and inactive but she's gained plenty of weight and become quite a bit more active since I adopted her. She still doesn't seem as active as other beardies I've met. I have her under an Exo Terra Solar Glo 160W. Basking temps are around 95-103F and the cool side is 80-81F. I'm feeding her a wide variety of recommended veggies and 6-7 crickets per day, with occasional butterworms and hornworns. I've been dusting the insects with calcium + d3 3x/week and a multivitamin 1x/week.

What should I do? I'd like to avoid a costly vet visit if possible.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....good for you for taking her in. Her tail is not in bad condition at all, just a very slight ripple . Her twitching + her semi paralysis of the back legs is a real problem though. It may be that your mercury vapor bulb is not producing enough UVB for some reason, possibly defective. Can you take her out in the sun for 40 -60 minutes a day ? That may be the best thing right now to hopefully reverse or at least keep her symptoms from getting worse. Then you can look in to getting some better lighting. Check the article at the right side of this page called " newbies guide: lighting help".
Hopefully she'll improve with better UVB exposure.

 

[jklass]

Hi there....good for you for taking her in. Her tail is not in bad condition at all, just a very slight ripple . Her twitching + her semi paralysis of the back legs is a real problem though. It may be that your mercury vapor bulb is not producing enough UVB for some reason, possibly defective. Can you take her out in the sun for 40 -60 minutes a day ? That may be the best thing right now to hopefully reverse or at least keep her symptoms from getting worse. Then you can look in to getting some better lighting. Check the article at the right side of this page called " newbies guide: lighting help".
Hopefully she'll improve with better UVB exposure.

I think you may be right. However, is it possible that her bulb is fine, and she just came to me with MBD? How long does it usually take for them to recover from these symptoms?

Could the Exo Terra website be leading people on? This is what it says: "The Exo Terra Solar Glo is the choice of professional breeders as it provides the proper balance of ultraviolet light (including UVA and UVB), visual light and infrared light (heat), in one easy-to-install bulb. The Exo Terra Solar Glo is a full spectrum light with carefully tuned peaks to ensure appetite, activity, brilliant colours, and optimal calcium absorption through Vitamin D3 production."

 

[AHBD]

Sometimes it's just individual bulbs that don't produce a great amount of UVB, not all from that brand that are on the market. But you say this has developed just recently ? So it's come on SINCE you've had the bulb. It's true that it may have been developing in the months before you got her, but if the bulb was really effective it would have improved her, not allowed her to get worse. Can you get her in the sun ?

 

[jklass]

Sometimes it's just individual bulbs that don't produce a great amount of UVB, not all from that brand that are on the market. But you say this has developed just recently ? So it's come on SINCE you've had the bulb. It's true that it may have been developing in the months before you got her, but if the bulb was really effective it would have improved her, not allowed her to get worse. Can you get her in the sun ?

I just took her out for a sunbathing session. It's hard to tell whether it's gotten worse. She only tremors very occasionally, and she's let her back legs go limp since I got her. Ive only had her a few weeks.

 

[AHBD]

That's good, how did she like it outside ? Just sit with her in the grass if it's still nice + warm out. I didn't realize that her legs had not been working when you got her. There may be some improvement but it's also very possible that the damage is done and won't be reversed...but you can hope + try.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is too bad, she is a nice looking girl!
The Solar Glo is an ok bulb but doesn't have real high UVB output based on the meter readings I have done. What you could do is mount a tube bulb in the tank also, but more UVB. It would round if out plus, the Solar Glo is a great basking light, too.
You could try water therapy for her also to help try & strengthen the back legs some.

Tracie

 

[jklass]

Hey guys,

So I've finally solved the problem... had to wait all winter for her to finish brumating before I could figure it out. She awoke from brumation about a month ago and just sort of laid there, eyes open, unwilling to eat or bask or do much of anything. I started taking her out in the sun (when the sun was out) and she would perk right up, become active for a while and eat a bit of food. Under her light she would go back into lethargy. Limbs were still shuddering. I have her under a ReptiSun 10.0 now along with a 150w Walmart light bulb for basking, and I'm still taking her out in the sun whenever I can. She's doing much better! Active, eating, basking, gaining weight, and she's hardly tremoring anymore. Hopefully the tremors go away completely. The light was definitely the problem.

I'm kinda annoyed about the Solar Glo to be honest, it was a pretty big investment for me and I only got a few months out of it before it wasn't doing her any good anymore. I'll be selling the fixture and bulb for cheap, and I'll be sure to let the buyer know they may need to buy a new bulb.

 

[AHBD]

That's what I thought it was, and I'm glad it's been reversed....the sun always helps and the right bulb to produce uvb.