I have a 9 month old male beardie that has been set up in his tank for 2.5 months. Hes been fed dustd crickets with D3. I had an older UVB bulb on him and after watching him the past few days I'm seeing muscle twitching and minispasms in his toes and forearms. I just got a new UVB on him (10.0) and I hope that should stop my issues. Any other suggestions. How long should it take before I see results?
Mbd question
- Thread starter steve905
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JordanAng420
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Have you only noticed these symptoms in the past few days? How about his limbs, is he moving around okay? Any flexibility to the bones? Or any other neurological symptoms? Has he been having diarrhea? What is his diet? Are you feeding him collard greens and leafy lettuce in addition to his insects?
See, the thing with bearded dragons, is that there's about a million and a half diseases that act exactly the same as one another, which makes it extremely frusterating not only for the owner but for the vet that's trying to diagnose it. The only way to really diagnose a bearded dragon is by process of elimination....sure, he might be acting like he has some type of MBD but with only the muscle twitching, it's hard to say for sure. Like I said, almost everything bearded dragons can get involves some type of neurological disturbance.
See, the thing with bearded dragons, is that there's about a million and a half diseases that act exactly the same as one another, which makes it extremely frusterating not only for the owner but for the vet that's trying to diagnose it. The only way to really diagnose a bearded dragon is by process of elimination....sure, he might be acting like he has some type of MBD but with only the muscle twitching, it's hard to say for sure. Like I said, almost everything bearded dragons can get involves some type of neurological disturbance.
Actually hes one of 15 beardies I own. He has the same diet as the others. Romaine, apple, squash, kale, superworms, dusted crickets pretty much anything that isn't nailed down..... He moves and feels ok I lost a vorax years ago to a calcium crash so I know they feel alittle mushy when severly depleted. Any ideas?
chadbandman
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Romaine? Why? Collards or mustard's would be better. What kind of supplements are you using?
darkridder
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Well that diet isnt exactly the best to offer. Romain isnt very nutritional, and kale should be more of a treat. You want 3 main staple greens in the diet, mustard, collard, turnip and dandelion. If you cant find 3 of those 4, endive and arugola are good alternitives. Fruit in general is very high in sugars they do not need, and applea are very hard to digest. Think about when you eat alot of apples. And look at it this way, what is a grape to them is like us eating a watermelon, not exactly the greatest thing for us to be eating. So fruit should be limited to just a treat only maybe a few times a week. Squashes are fantastic foods though.
He could be having neurological issues, alot of times beardies do not have full blow seizues, but often they have twitchy legs. But the only way to know for sure is to get x-rays to check his bone density. But if it is MBD, switching his diet will really help as the foods I listed are more ballaned and naturally are higher in calcium.
How close can he get to the UVB bulb? What brand of calcium (not all calciums are good choices), do you offer vits?
He could be having neurological issues, alot of times beardies do not have full blow seizues, but often they have twitchy legs. But the only way to know for sure is to get x-rays to check his bone density. But if it is MBD, switching his diet will really help as the foods I listed are more ballaned and naturally are higher in calcium.
How close can he get to the UVB bulb? What brand of calcium (not all calciums are good choices), do you offer vits?
I'm using the Repashy ICB calcium. I've tried to get them to eat more Kale and danylions... they really don't like them. I gut load the insects with carrot, oatmeal, wheat germ, and corn meal plus I'll trow in some vitamine/calcium powder once and a awhile. This is the first time I've run across this with a beardie. He "feels" fine as I stated before I had a Vorax crash after laying 3 eggs and she "felt" mushy so I'm hoping that he'll come around. Hes about 6" from the UVB bulb that shines through a large diameter screen top.
darkridder
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Now realize carrots are high in oxalate acids, and using that as part of a gutload diet it is kind of taking away from that process. Oxalate acids make it so that calcium can not be properly absorbed, so it kind of defets the purpose of gutloading. Gutloading also is alot more tricky then people realize. It is an on again n off agan process. It takes about 3 days for the gutloading process to be properly absorbed into the cricket. But there is also a fatal point where to much calcium is absorbed. So they need 3 days of being gutloaded, then 3 days off. So the trick is to have 2 sets of crickets going, ones who were already gut loaded, then the ones in the process. So that this way you always have properly gutloaded crickets. Personally I feed my crickets CGD, fresh veggies, and my own custom cricket food I made. I also have recently switched over to roaches as the only thing I have eating crickets now are my spiders.
Just because they dont like them doesnt mean they know what is best for them. I have realized over the last 11 years, beardies know how to control us, and get what they want. A healthy animal can be on the tough love. Which normally I would suggest only offering the proper greens and nothing else until it was readily munching down on them. Since your animal is possibly compromised, I wouldnt suggest this. What I would do is since it likes kale and romaine, use that but chop it extreamly fine and mix it in with the other greens, slowly decreasing the amount of romaine and kale in the salad. You could also take more healthier fruits like berries or mango, take and mash them onto the greens so that if they want to eat the fruit, they must eat the greens. But like I said you ultimately want to remove romaine completely from the diet and use kale as a few times a week treat. And if they will eat endive and arugola, then try adding more of that into the diet. Like I said you want 3 staples to get a good balance, a balanced diet for these guys is not just a 1 item meal.
Do keep an eye on the beardie, normally for a 10.0 bulb you want them to be about 10-12" away from the bulb, 6" might be to close and it can actually lead to eye issues. And I know its through a screen, which doe cut back on the light being passed through, but still keep an eye out if your beardie is squinting, or staying farther away from the light, tose are signs of over exposure.
Do be sure you are offering a calcium once a week. Like I said you want balance, and without offering tons of different foods daily, mixes of flowers, grasses, greens and even some fruits, it needs the vits replenished somehow, which is why you need to supplement once a week with vits.
I really would suggest getting x-rays though. Reguardless if it is MBD or neurological, medical attention will be needed, and if it is MBD, depending on how severe it is, you may need to alter the beardies living space to make it safer.
Just because they dont like them doesnt mean they know what is best for them. I have realized over the last 11 years, beardies know how to control us, and get what they want. A healthy animal can be on the tough love. Which normally I would suggest only offering the proper greens and nothing else until it was readily munching down on them. Since your animal is possibly compromised, I wouldnt suggest this. What I would do is since it likes kale and romaine, use that but chop it extreamly fine and mix it in with the other greens, slowly decreasing the amount of romaine and kale in the salad. You could also take more healthier fruits like berries or mango, take and mash them onto the greens so that if they want to eat the fruit, they must eat the greens. But like I said you ultimately want to remove romaine completely from the diet and use kale as a few times a week treat. And if they will eat endive and arugola, then try adding more of that into the diet. Like I said you want 3 staples to get a good balance, a balanced diet for these guys is not just a 1 item meal.
Do keep an eye on the beardie, normally for a 10.0 bulb you want them to be about 10-12" away from the bulb, 6" might be to close and it can actually lead to eye issues. And I know its through a screen, which doe cut back on the light being passed through, but still keep an eye out if your beardie is squinting, or staying farther away from the light, tose are signs of over exposure.
Do be sure you are offering a calcium once a week. Like I said you want balance, and without offering tons of different foods daily, mixes of flowers, grasses, greens and even some fruits, it needs the vits replenished somehow, which is why you need to supplement once a week with vits.
I really would suggest getting x-rays though. Reguardless if it is MBD or neurological, medical attention will be needed, and if it is MBD, depending on how severe it is, you may need to alter the beardies living space to make it safer.
darkridder
Melissa the Scientist
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again carrots are high on oxalate acids, it is defeating the purpose of gutloading and calciums. And carrots will not naturally inhance the color of your beardie, its just a myth, good lighting and a healthy diet are what help inhance colors, but just a normal beardie will always just be a normal beardie (which can have red,orange and yellow hues in them).
darkridder
Melissa the Scientist
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Potatoes are really high in starch, not exactly a good food source. Honestly, fresh veggies are the best source, you already have them, feed them the stalks of the greens you are feeding your beardies, give them squashes, and they like fruit. You already have everything you need for crickets on hand.
I've tried dandylions, kale and romaine. I believe the romaine gave my crickets diahharrea and it killed about 40% of my weekly supply. The kale and dandylions wern't such big hits. I'll try the squash and see how that goes. I've got a couple of them laying around here anyways.
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