Twitching?!

[DragonFire12000]

after my beardie eats her meal worms, one of her legs begin to twitch, if its not one that twitches its her whole body shaking! im really worried about her, please help

 

[Ethelia]

Hi there,
How big is your dragon?
Is she just chewing the mealworms or is she swallowing these whole?
Swallowing whole may mean she's got undigested worms in her belly which may cause the twitch.

 

[nesta's mommy]

mealworms really aren't good for beardies: high chitin and low nutrition content

are you using other worms/feeders?

 

[DragonFire12000]

she does chew them, no other worms/feeders after feeding i leave he in there for about 1 hour to 2 hours under her lamp, feed 3-4 times a day and mist 2-4 times a day and bathe daily

 

[diamc]

Is she only eating mealworms then or are you giving her crickets too? What greens do you offer? Could you fill us in on the UVB light you're using, the info should be stamped right on the side of the bulb. And, is it a long fluorescent bulb or a coil or compact bulb? How close is she to that bulb? What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps? How often are you using calcium & vitamins? Sorry for all the questions, but these are very important.

 

[DragonFire12000]

Is she only eating mealworms then or are you giving her crickets too? What greens do you offer? Could you fill us in on the UVB light you're using, the info should be stamped right on the side of the bulb. And, is it a long fluorescent bulb or a coil or compact bulb? How close is she to that bulb? What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps? How often are you using calcium & vitamins? Sorry for all the questions, but these are very important.

she is offered a few crickets a week (but she like meal worms MUCH better) i offer her mustard greens. the bulb does NOT say i have checked. the bulb is tube like at 1st but then is really FAT.a stick on thermometer. calcium every other day and she is on her log which is not to far away.

 

[diamc]

If the UVB is like a tube & then is fat at the end, it sounds like a compact bulb. Does it look similar to this 1st picture

or this 2nd picture

or this 3rd picture

It's very important that we find this out because some of those bulbs are dangerous. We also need to know in inches how far she is from the UVB light. Is your basking bulb a colored or white bulb? What is the wattage of it?

You mentioned that you're only offering a few crickets a wk, how old is your beardie? If under one yr old, it's very important that they get lots of protein to help them grow & mealworms are not only an impaction risk but almost have no nutritional value for a baby. They are ok to give to an adult over 1 to 1 1/2 yrs old once in a while, but shouldn't be fed to a baby. The only safe worms to feed to a baby are phoenix worms, small silkworms, small hornworms, or a few butterworms.

She should have her live food dusted with calcium with D3 but phosphorus-free 5 days a wk, but only 1 feeding a day and with vitamins the other 2 days a wk, but only 1 feeding a day. Do you know the brand of calcium & vitamins that you are using?

A stick-on thermometer can be off by as much as 20 degrees either way. The only 2 ways to get an accurate reading are with either a temperature gun or a digital thermometer that has a long wire & probe on the end. You can get those at Walmart for as cheap as $8.00 and it's very important that you know what the real temps are.

Mustard greens are a good staple feed and this site shows a complete list of good & bad foods to feed. The daily staple foods are printed in green ink: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Is she still twitching? It does not sound good that she did that at all and I suspect it is because your UVB light isn't a good one so she's not getting any benefits from it & isn't able to metabolize the calcium you're giving her which can cause hypocalcemia which is very serious. Also make sure to keep her well hydrated to help with impaction from the mealworms she has consumed so far.

Please fill us in on the rest of these details as we are worried about your baby.

 

[vickson420]

Hi
Yes please answer all of Diamc's questions this is very important.I do think part of the problem here is the mealworms as they have very poor nutritional value and a very high impaction risk.If she is undernourished or lacking in calcium twitching would be an initiall symptom.You have recieved some very wise advice from Diane.Its important to follow it to ensure your beardies health.