Violent Tremors/Seizures?

[Drache613]

Hello,

Good you saw a vet already. I agree, the liquid calcium would be better to use right now. I would use it for at least 1 month, & then after that we can reassess his situtation to determine how he is doing. Did he give you a dosage to follow? I can help you with that if you need.
Is there any way that you can put his Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb underneath the screen lid by tying or securing it with wires from the fixture?
The screen will filter a decent amount of the UVB out which is most likely what is happening. If he could get within 6-8 inches of it without anything filtering it out that is the best.
How is he doing today?

Tracie

 

[tyryce]

Hello there,

I read your post and I just wanted to let you know that I have recently started up on this forum at the end of November because my 2 1/2 month old beardie is doing the same thing. I had taken him to a vet on Dec 14th (2 hours away). The vet was pretty sure that it was a supplement problem at that his calcium levels in his blood were too low and he was having seizures while I was there. She tried doing a blood test to confirm but could not get enough blood from him.

Since then I have been giving him his Calcium and D3 supplement each day and his Reptivite multivitamin once a week and have just recently changed his bulb to Reptisun 10. I was using a Repti glo previously. When I arrive back home from holidays on the second I will try liquid calcium.

As far as letting you know how his progress is I can't tell you too much right now because he is at a sitters. I spoke with him yesterday and he said that my beardie looks pretty good and is actually running around the cage bottom chasing his crickets, eating a few greens as well. This is something that he had stopped doing because it seemed when he moved around too much that he would start seizuring and I had started feeding him directly from the tongs.

I would like to keep you posted with progress and let me know how yours is doing. I know what your going thru right now...it is awful to see them seizure like that.

 

[diamc]

mysterysock, I may have missed this answer, but is the Repti-Sun 10.0 a strip fluorescent or coil/compact bulb? How far away is he from that UVB light?

 

[mysterysock]

I feel your pain - I hate seeing them go through this. And to answer your question, I am using the ReptiSun 10.0 Florescent 20". Do they make clamps to secure the fixtures above tanks without using screens? If not, I'll just have to construct something. I think you may be right - it is possible it's filtering out too much of the UVB rays and I"ll fix this problem immediately. On a brighter note, Izaac had no episodes today (YAY) and has been pretty active today. His shedding head has kept him quite busy lol. Maybe I gave him a batch of bad crickets or something. I don't expect it could be advanced MBD. For one, hes only 3-4mo old. And I know he was kept under UVB previously, and I've been supplying him with Calcium/D3 and UVB since I've had him so he hasn't been doing without his necessities.

Also, the vet sent me an email in regards to a conversation he had with another vet (reptile specialist) concerning my case. The vet took down all my info as in housing, lighting, temps, feeding, etc and filled him in with this. The specialist's response was the conditions are too hot and the tank is too small and I need to be feeding him greens. Ok. I may be a recent beardie owner but I'm pretty sure this is insufficient. He's still a baby - therefore I have him in a smaller environment (12g temporary until he's a little bigger). Also, his temps are graduated from about a 105 degree basking area - where he visits after eating or roaming around -, to about 80 on his cool side. He spends most of his day on a bark hide-a-hut next to his basking log which remains around 95 degrees. His temperatures are most likely not too hot. And as for the greens, like I said - he's a baby! The vet said "be persistent, don't give up". I don't think he's ever tried to feed a baby dragon boring, nonmoving grass as opposed to the everloving crickets. I do try to feed him his veggies, I actually did today. I don't very often bc it just sits there. He will pick at it but not near enough to consider a full meal, but I am being persistent in introducing his veggies. Izaac's on his own eating schedule, he'll eat them when he wants. For now, the bug addiction reigns supreme.

Anyway, I'm suppose to be in contact with him tomorrow regarding referring me to an actual reptile specialist that I can physically meet with so hopefully we can run the appropriate tests and find out what's really going on instead of hitting and missing.

Blake

 

[Drache613]

Hello Blake,

I think that is what could be happening. It is advisable to not have any screen in between the UVB Light & your dragon. For some reason, your dragon must be having some growth spurts that are utilizing his calcium stores. It affects some dragons more than others but if he is growing rapidly that can cause problems. I don't think a clamp would work to secure the flourescent tube light fixture, but it should be pretty easy to rig something up that is workable & safe.
Great that you are giving calcium with D3 too.
Which UVB was he kept under previously? It might not have been a very good one.
A 12 gallon is small though, but if you are keeping track of the temps that is fine. The ambient temps should not get any higher than 85 or he will over heat. He is going to outgrow that 12 gallon here real quick. So, in order to have a hot spot on one end & a cool end he will overheat.
So his basking temps are around 95? The recommended basking temps are 95-110 but in a tank that small, you don't want his basking temps that high.
Izaac will take his time when it comes to eating nonmoving greens! :lol: Keep trying & eventually he will eat them.
Good you will be meeting another person to help out. A bloodtest would give you his calcium levels currently as well as other things in his system.
Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[mysterysock]

I am in the process of saving up for a 4x2x2 sliding enclosure for him (those things aren't cheap :? ). As of now, with the 12g, I was wondering if you have any suggestions in the arrangement of his tank. I have the 20" UVB which runs the entire length and sits on the tank itself (too big to fit in), and the halogen dome on one end next to it. He sits on his hut which is only about 4" tall and directly under the UVB on the lighted end. His basking log is directly under the heat bulb next to his hut but is hardly on it. When I switch the lights or the logs, he keeps moving to the hut even if its hotter - he loves that hut for some reason. So any ideas on what I should do to get him to get closer to the UVB?

 

[diamc]

You could put some bricks under the hut to raise it higher to the UVB, that would work fine.