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Bearded Dragon, 4 months old, rolled onto back, back legs not

 
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  • Answered by:Joan
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Customer Question

Bearded Dragon, 4 months old, rolled onto back, back legs not moving, dragging his legs????

 

Optional Information:
Pet's Gender: Male
Pet's Age: <1
Name of Animal: Stripe

Already Tried:
Nothing

Submitted: 267 days and 9 hours ago.
Category: Reptile
Value: $15
Status: CLOSED
Picture
Expert:  Joan replied 267 days and 9 hours ago.

Hello,

Can you tell me about the set up?

Substrate?

Diet Prey/veggies?

Supplements?

UVB light? Tube or coil? How old and strength?

Basking light?

Temps and how measured?

Joan

Customer replied 267 days and 9 hours ago.

Glass tank, 10 gallon, screen top, basking lamp, 90, Rep-cal Juvenile food, crikets, mealworms, water, carpet base.

Picture
Expert:  Joan replied 267 days and 9 hours ago.

Hello,

Do you have a UVB light as well as the basking light?

How is the Dragon doing? It able to use front legs?

Joan

Picture
Expert:  Joan replied 267 days and 8 hours ago.

Hello,
You went off line and did not respond to my last questions, so I want to give you some information of what I believe may be happening. What you are describing is the beginning of Metabolic Bone Disease. This is a result of lack of calcium, the lack of UVB light to metabolize the calcium, or improper diet where the calium is being bound by the veggies.



The basking area should have 110*-115*F and the cool side of the tank in the
85* range. This is imporatnt for digestion and passing of stool. If the temps
are not correct, this can also cause a problem.



You need to have a day time basking bulb as well as a UVB. I
recommend a Reptisun 10.0 and UVB lights do not put out heat. The UVB bulb is needed to stop Metabolic Bone Disease. The UVB needs to be changed every 6 months.


The UVB should be a tube type. I do not belive you have a UVB light on the Dragon. I suspect the bulb you are using is not a UVB bulb, but a heat bulb and this may be part of the problem.

Coil UVB bulbs can injure the eyes.


Compact UVB problems: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor-info.htm



The UVB bulb should not have any plastic between it and the Dragon, it
needs to run the length of the tank and be no more than 12" from the Dragon.
Both lights should run daily for 12-14 hours a day.




You should be feeding finely Collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, escarole and curly endives. Butternut squash and various berries are great for a treat. The Veggies should be put in fresh daily, and done about an hour after lights on. They need 20% veggies daily and 80% live prey. The Kale can bind calcium as can spinach and the broccoli is only a sometimes veggie and not meant to be fed regularly. No Lettuce as it is all water and has no nutritional value! It can casue serious dehydration by causing diarrhea.



The live prey should include crickets, silk worms, roaches, goliath worms and
phoenix worms. Super worms and wax worms are like giving the Dragon candy. All veggies and prey should be dusted with calcium daily 5 days a week and vitamins 2 days a week.



The Dragon is showing signs of MBD with the inability to use the back legs and we need to start with getting a good UVB light on the Dragon, changing to a paper towel substrate and get some plain calcium into the baby. I suggest having the Dragon in for a check up, blood work for a calcium level and the fecal check asap. I would like you to take a meat flavored baby food and add some calcium and drop on the snout and try to get him to eat it. Get a UVB as mentioned asap tomorrow. It will need to stay on 12-14 hours a day.



For now we need to give him a soak in 50/50 warm water and plain Pedialyte to
prevent dehydration. Please soak at least 30 mins. I can locate a Herp Vet for
you with a state. I am also giving you my care sheet to help with the husbandry.
Joan




Bearded Dragon Care Sheet



  • Bearded dragons should be housed alone.


  • Ages of bearded dragons follow these guidelines:

1. 0-3 months- baby
2. 3-12 months-juvenile
3. 12-18 months- sub
adult
4. 18 months + -adult



  • Bearded dragons live as much as 10-12 years if well cared for properly.
  • Bearded dragons have a very good temperament as long as they are cared for
    and handled.
  • When you bring your baby home, it may be quite stressful to him/her to get
    use to new home. May not eat well the first 2-3 days. They may not need to be
    handled the first 2-3 days if skittish and nervous.
  • Never use sand or any other type of loose substrate: Loose substrates can
    cause impaction (not being able to go Poop) in all ages of bearded dragons- they
    lick their environment to explore .It is difficult to keep germ free and clean.
    Ceramic tile, newspaper, non adhesive shelf liner and reptile carpet is what is
    most recommended. Use paper towels for the little one and as they get bigger you
    can change to something else.
  • Be sure you keep your beardies home as clean as you can. Clean up by spot
    cleaning when needed. Clean & sanitize entire tank every 10-14 days. A good
    cleaning solution is a 20% bleach solution. If you choose to use wood climbing
    branches etc, these should be soaked in the bleach solution and rinsed well.
    Then bake in 250 degree oven for 30 minutes.
  • Need a climbing accessory: to bask and to warm up under basking heat light
    and lower branches or platforms to come down and cool off.
  • A hide of some sort like a cave.
  • A food dish and water dish.
  • Plastic spray bottle
  • Can use artificial plants when they get older- 3 months or so.
  • Digital thermostat and/or temp gun
  • Tank size: Minimal size tank for this age is 20 gallon long
  • Minimal size for older beardie: 4 months of age: 40 gallon breeder is the
    minimal tank size for older dragon. Can divide a 40 gallon breeder for a smaller
    dragon. Must have two lights for your beardie.

1. A UVB light source-best is 10.0 Reptisun that runs the length of your
tank. Your dragon must have this light to metabolize calcium. If not he will get
metabolic bone disease, a serious condition. You can also take your beardie
outside to bask in the sun for 15 minutes each day if your temps are 80 degrees
or above outside. You can purchase cages or reptariums from your pet store.
Never leave a beardie outside unattended.
2. A basking type light that puts
out heat and warmth above basking spot. Your beardie must have warmth to digest
food & thrive.



  • Lights should be on for 12-14 hours each day. Follow the seasons and light
    timers are a great luxury if you can get them. 6 dollars at Lowe's. No lights or
    warmth needed at night unless your temperatures get below 62 degrees. If they
    do, there are ceramic heat emitters that put out no light, only heat. Use these
    at night if temperatures fall below 62 degrees.



  • Temperatures have to be kept at the following ranges during the day:

Babies: Warm basking log: 105-125 degrees F
Cool side: 85-90
Adults:
Warm basking spot: 110-115
Cool side: 80-85
Measure temperatures with a
digital probe type thermometer or a temp gun-these are most accurate. Stick on
thermometers unreliable.



  • Feeding a Beardie: Beardies eat live prey consisting of crickets, roaches
    and/or silkworms. Never feed any size of mice to your beardie. Never feed meal
    worms. They also must be given greens/veggies everyday. The younger they are the
    more live prey they should have. As they grow older the live prey decreases and
    the veggies/greens should be the major part of diet. Never feed anything bigger,
    than the space between your beardie's eyes. This includes both live prey and
    pieces of veggies/greens,
  • A chopper or food processor is a huge help when your beardie is small.
    Always offer greens and veggies: collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens,
    cabbage, red cabbage, fresh green beans, yellow summer squash, butternut squash,
    sweet potato, cactus pad. Apricots, strawberries, apples, blueberries,
    raspberries, cantaloupe- fruits are treats only.
  • What is live prey? The easiest and less expensive live prey is crickets when
    you have a young or first beardie. The other live preys you can feed are
    silkworms, and special types of roaches. You can learn to raise your own live
    prey. Treats can be wax worms, super worms, and tomato/Goliath worms. You may
    find that ordering live prey from the internet is the way to go..... Never leave
    live prey or greens/veggies in tank overnight. . Crickets can bite your beardie
    when sleeping.
  • Babies should get 80% live prey, and 20 % greens/veggies. But since the
    greens/veggies are a must when they are older, get them eating their
    greens/veggies very early. Give greens/veggies in small pieces everyday. You
    should eventually start decreasing your older dragon's protein intake when they
    are about a year to 15 months old. Their protein intake decreases to 20 % live
    prey and 80% veggies/greens.
  • A baby eat 50-75 crix a day depnding on the size of the crickets. Never feed
    crix or veggies bigger than the space between your beardie's eyes. Use this
    guide when buying crix or chopping your greens/veggies.
  • You must provide calcium dust without D3 and multivitamin dust for your
    beardie. You should dust the live prey with calcium one time a day, and vitamins
    3 times a week. Just collect your live prey into baggie and add enough calcium
    and vitamin to dust them. Then pour a few at a time into your tank. Some people
    feed their beardie in a separate tank so that no crickets can hide. Or some take
    out "furniture" from tank and feed this way. As they get older, 4-5 months or so
    dust live prey with calcium 3 times a week.
  • Feed the veggies/ greens 1st thing in morning after lights on for one hour
    at least. Then after 2-3 hours offer crix. Then freshen green/veggies. Then give
    more crix. Make sure after last crix feeding there is at least 1-2 hours of
    lights so that they can digest their food before night time.

*Beardies over the age of one year old during the winter
months will go into a Brumation like most Reptiles and Herps. It is a form of
Hibernation that is governed by the weather and time of year. The lights should
be on a shorter period at this time. Fresh greens should be available during
this period. Do not feed live prey during Brumation.


Water: Mist your little one with the spray bottle 3-4 times a day. You can
also offer a small dish of water in your enclosure but be sure your dragon is
not too small to drown in it. It is recommended that when your beardie is 2
months old you can bathe your baby in a small plastic container with warm water-
not hot. It will help them to stay hydrated. As they get older you can move up
to the bathroom sink and then to the bathtub. Very important for bath enclosure
to be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed prior to bath time. Clean between dragons
too if bathing more than one.


If you have any further questions feel free to ask. I like to start people
off with proper husbandry and then see if I can further assist. http://www.repticzone.com/articles/fruitsandvegetablesrated.html
This is for fruits and Vegetables



http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html



This will give you an idea about Sand as a substrate: http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/impaction/?page=3



Walnut shell Graphic: http://mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm



sexing bearded Dragons: http://repticzone.com/articles/sexingbeardeddragons.html



Joan

Joan41111.0702266551

Customer replied 264 days and 4 hours ago.

Didn't see how to get an answer, plus kept asking for e-mail and password. Just confusing me even more. So got your answer and no we don't have a UVB Tube. Goes to show how much Petsmart really knows! I ask them for my whole set up and this is what I get for not reading more into it. I feel really bad right now as Stripes front legs are losing strength. I have been drip feeding water onto his mouth area, no luck, put him in a warm water bath, he had a very large stool, browney dark green with white blob. Can I ask the dreaded question, can I save him at this point?

Picture
Expert:  Joan replied 264 days and 4 hours ago.

Hello,

Yes he can be saved, but it will take some work and most likely a Vet visit too. First please give the soak in the 50/50 warm water and plain Pedialyte and what I am going to have you do is add some calcium into the water mix. The Dragon can absorb fluid through the Vent area.

 

Please check the information on the set up. I would like to see you have a 10.0 reptisun tube or a Power Sun Mercury Vapor Bulb which will supply heat and UVB light. It is very important to get the UVB on Stripes as well as getting some calcium into him.

 

We can use some meat flavored baby food chicken or beef and mix calcium powder in it and drop on the snout so we can get some food into him. If you give me you state, I can locate a Herp Vet. We need to have him seen for a fecal as well as some calcium and vitamin supplements.

 

I have worked with many Reptiles with MBD, and have had a lot of success with the help of the Vet and the procedures I have laid out here.

 

Joan

Joan41114.2322065972

Customer replied 264 days and 4 hours ago.

I'm in Long Beach 90815, California.

Accepted Answer

Picture
Expert:  Joan replied 264 days and 4 hours ago.

Hi,

I am going to give you two links for CA:

North: http://www.anapsid.org/vets/califn.html

South: http://www.anapsid.org/vets/califs.html

You should be able to locate a Herp Vet close by with the vets listed here. Please get the UVB bulb or MVB bulb asap and start with the calcium and baby food until the Vet can see him. Please keep me updated. We are going to fight for him. Joan

Expert TypeVet.Tech 30+yrs./ Reptile Rescue
Category: Reptile
Pos. Feedback: 99.1 %
Accepts: 5411
Answered: 7/24/2012

Experience: I have been doing Reptile Rescues for 15+ Years

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