Ungh help please!

[pyrovamp]

Ungh please help me Bowen has ended up with a small s shape bend in his tail around the middle of it. He is over 14inches unfortunately I don't have a cage big enough for him is the space the reason why I need help please thank u

 

[Mach10X]

Can you upload a picture of it?
It could be one of many things or a combination of things. Most importantly we need to find out how big the enclosure is, what calcium he is getting, and if he's able to metabolize it with a sufficient UV light source. Temperatures are also important to bone development and processing of calcium. Please see questions below.

Let's find out what's going on with your dragon, the questions with stars* by them (And in red) are especially important based on what you've told us so far. Please try to answer thoroughly and completely. Please copy and paste these questions into your reply so we can follow along as you answer them.

*1. How large is your enclosure (tanks size in gallons or measurement Length x Depth x Height)?
*2. What exact brand of UVB source do you have, if any? Is it a tube, coil, or Mercury Vapor?
*3. How far is the UVB source from the basking spot?
*4. How hot is the basking spot in ºF or ºC?
5. What temperature is the cool side?
*6. How exactly is this temperature measured (sticker thermometer, digital thermometer with a probe, temp gun, other)?
7. If using a probe, it is placed flush against the basking spot?
8. What live feeders does your dragon get? How many are offered? How often are they offered per day / week?
*9. What Calcium and/or Vitamin supplements do you use (brand name and product name please)?
*10. How often do you dust with calcium or vitamin powder?
11. What exact greens, fruits, or veggies do you feed your dragon? Does he eat them at all?
12. Hydration. Do you mist your dragon, have a water bowl, or soak your dragon in a bath?
13. If you soak your dragon in a bath, how long do you soak for, how often, and what temperature water?
14. What type of substrate do you use (shelf liner, sand, walnut, tiles, newspaper, etc)?

 

[Beardednoob]

It could be the cramped quarters or something worse such as MBD.
What UV are your using (brand/type)? How old is the UV? How close can the dragon get to the UV?
Have you been dusting with calcium supplement? If so what brand?

 

[pyrovamp]

I try and get a picture up but my computer is down so bare with me on that his cage is a 30 by 12 by 12 yeah I know it's small but I'll be making him here soon. The basking and uv are zillas cause that all I could find and they are at the top of the cage the substrate is tile. He eats turnip greens collard greens summer squash today he got to have acorn squash and endive he normal will eat most of it. He has repti calcium for the calcium and I put it on his salad for feeders he has superworms. He gets a salad every day and about 10 to20 supers.The UVB was bought in may when I got him I don't know his age he doesn't show and other signs Mbd. The bend just showed up like this week end. He gets a bath for 10 to 15 mintues almost every day he also is let out of the cage for about an hour and he goes to the sunny spot to see him his thread is Bowenz thread. I think it's the cramped space but I wanted other oponoins

 

[Beardednoob]

I would get rid of the Zilla, chances are it has a plastic shield over the UV bulb, this covering blocks most if not all of the UV from your dragon, this on top of the screen mesh which can also block 30%+ of the potential UV rendering it practically useless. Recommended to get a Reptisun 10.0 even if you have to order it online with a fixture.

Also at 14 inches superworms are not a recommended feeder as they can cause impaction. All bearded dragons are born with a natural kink in their digestive tract, this kink makes digesting superworms very difficult which can lead to impaction, paralysis and or even death. This kink grows out at ~16 inches where feeding superworms becomes acceptable.

Please copy and add answers to Mach10X's post, he is very knowledgeable and can offer great help. :wink:

 

[pyrovamp]

I would get rid of the Zilla, chances are it has a plastic shield over the UV bulb, this covering blocks most if not all of the UV from your dragon, this on top of the screen mesh which can also block 30%+ of the potential UV rendering it practically useless. Recommended to get a Reptisun 10.0 even if you have to order it online with a fixture.

Also at 14 inches superworms are not a recommended feeder as they can cause impaction. All bearded dragons are born with a natural kink in their digestive tract, this kink makes digesting superworms very difficult which can lead to impaction, paralysis and or even death. This kink grows out at ~16 inches where feeding superworms becomes acceptable.

Please copy and add answers to Mach10X's post, he is very knowledgeable and can offer great help. :wink:

I can't copy them just yet cause I'm on my iPod but I can when I get to skool on the monring thank u about the villa thing I did t know but right now money is tight and I'll have to wait to say that to mum . He's bigger then 14inches that is the last measurement I have of him like a month ago and he's atleast doubled in size since he takes up my whole abdomen from my shoulder to my pelvis. And thank u on the tips but to see how big he is I have pictures of him on his thread

 

[Kalyn876]

If it is a zilla fixture as well you should be able to remove the plastic shield and just replace the bulb. I haven't been able to find the reptisun 10.0 locally but you can order it online at www.petmountain.com if you are in the US.

Kalyn

 

[pyrovamp]

and i found out this moring he is over 18inches in length
*1. How large is your enclosure (tanks size in gallons or measurement Length x Depth x Height)?
30x12x12 yeah i know its small im going to be making him a new one soon
*2. What exact brand of UVB source do you have, if any? Is it a tube, coil, or Mercury Vapor?
its zilla and the basking is a normal daylight one and the uvb is a coil i need to get a new one
*3. How far is the UVB source from the basking spot
? uhmm less the then a few inches
*4. How hot is the basking spot in ºF or ºC? uhm bout 90-95F
5. What temperature is the cool side?
uhm maybe 80ish
*6. How exactly is this temperature measured (sticker thermometer, digital thermometer with a probe, temp gun, other)?
its one of thoughs circle ones i have a digital one that has a probe but i need a battery
7. If using a probe, it is placed flush against the basking spot?
8. What live feeders does your dragon get? How many are offered? How often are they offered per day / week?
he gets super worms about 10-20 a day some days less then 20
*9. What Calcium and/or Vitamin supplements do you use (brand name and product name please)? repti caluim
*10. How often do you dust with calcium or vitamin powder?
once to twice a week
11. What exact greens, fruits, or veggies do you feed your dragon? Does he eat them at all? today he has collard greens, alittle acron squash, summer squash, endive and its dusted with calium today
12. Hydration. Do you mist your dragon, have a water bowl, or soak your dragon in a bath? he gets a bath
13. If you soak your dragon in a bath, how long do you soak for, how often, and what temperature water?3 days to the whole week for 10-15 mintues and i take the water and splash alittle over his head and he drinks it sometimes the temp is hotish to warm
14. What type of substrate do you use (shelf liner, sand, walnut, tiles, newspaper, etc)? i use tile as a substarte

 

[Mach10X]

We can do cheap as long as you have some time during the day.

Do you have a large rubbermaid or steralite bin you could use? This would be a better home until you get the larger enclosure done. Simply line the bottom with non-stick shelf liner, paper towels, or newspaper.

Take off any plastic shield from your UVB source and try to stack up the basking area to get within 6" of the UVB light, you may have to adjust your heat light as well to point it at the basking spot. Make sure it's not too hot (no hotter than 110F). Do you own a probe thermometer or tempgun yet?

Since you'll be moving your dragon to a bin (if you have one or can afford one soon) you will need some sort of clamps. Hopefully you already have a clamp lamp? I normal clamp can be used to clamp your UV light to the side of the bin, even better is to use wire or bend a wire coathanger into a couple of hooks. Cut lengths of wire about 5 inches long and bend them into an S shape so that one loop fits over the side of the bin in a sharp hook, the bottom of the S should be a shallow curve to hold the fluorescent tube fixture.

I would highly recommend at least 30 minutes (if not an hour) of natural sunlight a day, weather permitting.

 

[pyrovamp]

ok ill try that if i can im hoping to hae the new one built in a week or two. luckly i have wood laying around my house cause of my dad. i have a clamp for the light i cant do the bin though cause i have cats that think that if it moves they can eat it. so somthing like that i would have a hard time with though we have a fish tank im going to be bringin up stairs to my room that is a 60gallon tank for now.its just a matter of gettin my dad to help me get it upstiars. and ill will mostlikely be doing that this weekend. with the natural sun i try and let him get some threw the balcony door but i dont have an outside inclouse of a leash for him cause im broke and my parents think im nuts wanting a leash for him and again with my cats i cant just bring him outside and then also i live in very south GA so we alot of sun and ive wanted to take him out on the balacony but im scared hed try and jump off or somthing

 

[munchkins9802]

also the coil lamps are not a very good UVB source you want a tube one from petmountain.com
AS for calcium--do you dust his feeders with them 1x/day for 5 days and vitamins? If the kink is just showing up I think it could be start of minor calcium deficiency