Young beardie does not eat much, possible MBD.

[adubbs92]

Hey everyone, so I got my beardie around mid December. I suspect he was around 1.5 months old when I got him. Since day 1 he has been hard to feed. He refused to eat dusted crickets, so I have been feeding him BSFL as iv read lots that they have enough calcium that they don't need to be dusted. The problem is, he will eat them but not very much. If I were to do the 2-3 feeding of 15 min he would eat like 6 total. I literally have to try and get him to eat every hour all day, and he will eat maybe 2-3 each hour, which I know is still not enough. I do leave some of the BSFL in a dish in his tank, but he almost never eats from there. I do give him salad and he nibbles on that through out the day. I live in Canada so roaches are out of the question.

He dosent seem to be putting on a lot of weight, and now I think he is showing signs of MBD. He seems very clumsy when moving, he walks on the back of his front wrists. He will sit on bum with his back legs straight pointing toward his head. I don't have a reptile vet anywhere near my town so I can't get it confirmed that it's MBD, but I had a previous beardie for 10 years and never seen him move or behave lile this.

I feel so bad for this poor little guy and just want the best for him but I'm not sure what to do. Like I said, Iv raised a beardie before, I know the proper tank setup and Temps, they are all correct for his age. Any helo would be appreciated.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hey everyone, so I got my beardie around mid December. I suspect he was around 1.5 months old when I got him. Since day 1 he has been hard to feed. He refused to eat dusted crickets, so I have been feeding him BSFL as iv read lots that they have enough calcium that they don't need to be dusted. The problem is, he will eat them but not very much. If I were to do the 2-3 feeding of 15 min he would eat like 6 total. I literally have to try and get him to eat every hour all day, and he will eat maybe 2-3 each hour, which I know is still not enough. I do leave some of the BSFL in a dish in his tank, but he almost never eats from there. I do give him salad and he nibbles on that through out the day. I live in Canada so roaches are out of the question.

He dosent seem to be putting on a lot of weight, and now I think he is showing signs of MBD. He seems very clumsy when moving, he walks on the back of his front wrists. He will sit on bum with his back legs straight pointing toward his head. I don't have a reptile vet anywhere near my town so I can't get it confirmed that it's MBD, but I had a previous beardie for 10 years and never seen him move or behave lile this.

I feel so bad for this poor little guy and just want the best for him but I'm not sure what to do. Like I said, Iv raised a beardie before, I know the proper tank setup and Temps, they are all correct for his age. Any helo would be appreciated.

He should be eating way more like 50-60 at a time- let's go over your lighting please- something is telling me something is off- basking temps are being taken w/ what kind of guage?

 

[adubbs92]

He should be eating way more like 50-60 at a time- let's go over your lighting please- something is telling me something is off- basking temps are being taken w/ what kind of guage?

Hey so I just checked his basking light with a laser thermometer....it was 107....also have a t5 uvb inside the tank that is like 9 inches away from his tallest basking spot

 

[KarrieRee]

Hey so I just checked his basking light with a laser thermometer....it was 107....also have a t5 uvb inside the tank that is like 9 inches away from his tallest basking spot

Your lighting and temps are good --- is your basking decor a hammock-- so he probably doesn't like the bsfl- you can try some silk worms - thewormlady in Canada has them he does need a staple feeder- I would dust them w/ calcium d 3 - please post a pic of him and the way he sits - we need drache613 and ahbd to look at him
@Drache613
@AHBD

 

[adubbs92]

Your lighting and temps are good --- is your basking decor a hammock-- so he probably doesn't like the bsfl- you can try some silk worms - thewormlady in Canada has them he does need a staple feeder- I would dust them w/ calcium d 3 - please post a pic of him and the way he sits - we need drache613 and ahbd to look at him
@Drache613
@AHBD

Hey, no he dosent use a hammock in his tank, I did have one in there for a month and a half, but he never used it so I took it out. He has 2 logs in his tank that he uses to bask on, it goes pretty high up so he can go to the top if he wants lots of heat, or move down on the log if he wants it a bit cooler. The silk worms on the worm ladys site says cooked silkworm food? So I don't think they are live feeders. Also I think he dosent like calcium powder. Every insect I have fed him he would eat a couple if they did not have calcium powder on them, and as soon as I dusted them, he wouldn't touch them.

I have attached a few photos, I should mention he dosent always sit weird like this, he does also sit normaly, and can also walk on his hands normally. He has also done the weird sitting on back of wrists since the day we brought him home.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Bless him, he is a little youngster still. Which T5 tube UVB brand are you using, the Arcadia? That is great you do have it mounted
underneath of the screen for him, that should help a lot. If he wont eat enough to where he is getting adequate calcium intake which
seems like the case here, you should strongly consider getting some liquid calcium for him to give daily. Is there a local shop you can
check to see if it is carried there?
Since he doesn't seem to like the calcium powder, you can make a nutritional slurry for him & put in a small pinch of powder in with it
so that he will start getting a daily dose.
The basking temperatures of 107F are good. What is the cooler end at, or didi you check that?

Tracie

 

[adubbs92]

Hello,

Bless him, he is a little youngster still. Which T5 tube UVB brand are you using, the Arcadia? That is great you do have it mounted
underneath of the screen for him, that should help a lot. If he wont eat enough to where he is getting adequate calcium intake which
seems like the case here, you should strongly consider getting some liquid calcium for him to give daily. Is there a local shop you can
check to see if it is carried there?
Since he doesn't seem to like the calcium powder, you can make a nutritional slurry for him & put in a small pinch of powder in with it
so that he will start getting a daily dose.
The basking temperatures of 107F are good. What is the cooler end at, or didi you check that?

Tracie

The uvb is a reptisun t5 bulb. Yeah it wasn't always inside, I had it ontop of the tank but moved it inside a week or so ago hoping that would help some.

I do belive a local shop carries liquid calcium. How would I feed that to him? Through a syringe? Also what should I put in the slurry? Would that need to be fed through a syringe?

The cool end of his tank usually sits around 75 degrees.

 

[hdochow]

our guy is the same with powders. just ain't gonna happen! so we do liquid for calcium and vitamins. we give them in a dropper with maybe 1/4- 1/2 tsp tart cherry juice, which he loves. he's an adult so he gets the calcium 3x a week and then vitamins 1x a week. because he gets the juice 4x a week he usually does not get fruit on his salads to keep him from getting too much sugar

if your local store doesn't have the liquid, tracie sells them on her website. that's where i get mine. Reptile Supplies by Bug-De-Lite

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ok, great. The Reptisun 10 T5 is a good bulb & can be safely at a 10 or so inch distance from.
You can mix chicken or turkey baby food with sweet potato or squash baby food then mix in just a small amount of liquid calcium.
If you do find some at the store, let me know what brand it is & I can try to help dose it so he doesn't get too much.
Yes just give through a plastic dropper or syringe & drip it onto the end of his nose.

Tracie