Walking on the backs of his hands

[herpfreak]

Budo occasionally will walk on the backs of his hands. Is this a sign of MBD? I've had him for almost a month now, and I've been dusting his crickets with Rep-Cal Phosphorous-Free Calcium with D3 3x a week and Herptivite once a week. He has a ReptiSun 10.0 too, and I gutload the crix with Beardie food pellets, which have a bunch of vitamins and some calcium in them. However, the East Bay Vivarium, where I got him from, may not have provided proper calcium.

What should I do? I haven't noticed any other signs, so I doubt it can be very far along, if it is MBD.

 

[Menolly]

Hey,
Could you answer these questions please?

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

 

[herpfreak]

How old is your dragon? 1-2 years old (not sure)
How long have you had your dragon? since Jan 5th 2009 (a little over a month)
How long is your dragon? about 17"
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 4x2x2'
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? tile
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? fluorescent tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? ReptiSun 10.0
How old is your UVB bulb? a month old
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? around 9"
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? 50w halogen on rheostat and 60w CHE
What are the basking temps? 100-104*
What is the cool side temp? 80*
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? digital thermometer with probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? at the highest point of his basking rock and on the other side of the enclosure
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. lots of salad (mustard greens, butternut squash, collard greens, etc), 15-20 crix 6 days per week, and 20 small mealworms
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Greens every day, crix and mealies 6 days a week. Usually between 4:00 and 7:30pm (depending on when I get home)
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? RepCal Phosphorous-Free Calcium w/ D3 3x per week and RepCal Herptivite 1x per week.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes
Do you bath your dragon? How often? 3x a week; I try for 5x a week when he's in shed
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? He has a soak bowl that I change every few days (unless he defecates in it)
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No

 

[Tigg]

My little guy does this once in a while as well, my temps and lighting were set up before I brought him home, So I know they are right. (reptisun 10.0 with a 100w uva basking bulb, all checked with a temp gun for direct temp and wire and probe for ambient) I feed dusted crickets every day. water is good, he basks all the time, Fecal was done as well as check up... I don't have any other problems.

I am not so sure this is necessarily a MBD problem, this may just be a comfort thing as mine only seems to is as he is standing still, but is normal when walking/running.

I should mention that my BD is less than 4 months old @ 8" (good size)
But hey I am no vet, and would like to see what others have to say about this as well!

 

[peera]

Yes, this can be a sign of MBD, you should get him into a vet just in case. He's small for his age, so it's likely they weren't taking proper care of him. It looks like you're doing quite well with everything else, although you shouldn't feed him mealworms as they're an impaction risk. If you want to give him worms, superworms are good for him. He's old enough to be scaling his live feeders back to 50 crickets a week or 30 superworms.

 

[herpfreak]

Thanks, guys. In preparation for getting a beardie, I've read lots about treatment for burns, cuts, diseases, etc. From what I've read, there isn't much to be done about MBD aside from increasing calcium and providing UV... I don't think I'm going to take him into the vet quite yet. He does run on the backs of his hands occasionally, but its not a regular thing. But if it gets any worse or I notice any other symptoms, I'll take him in.

Whether or not he has MBD, I will get a fecal test done. Question: Does MBD show up in fecal exams?