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Help for Rheagar. Early MBD.

Hanz0823

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
I have a very handsome (or beautiful not sure yet) beardie who is roughly 3-4 months old and currently suffering from Metabolic bone disease. We think it's in the early stages noticed twitching about 3 days ago. He will still run around and play with me just moving slower and gets tired quickly. From my research and speaking to a vet over the phone I determined the lights I was provided for him did not contain proper UVB so I have upgraded to a reptisun 10.0 based off recommendations I've seen on this site and I am currently hand feeding a slurry of veggies and calcium via a medicine dropper based on what the herp vet told me but can not get him to take in any protein. He just ignores the feeder insects even when offered by hand or tongs. I'm looking for any suggestions to help my baby get back to his crazy cricket loving self. We will be scheduling an actual visit with the vet (just hard bc the closest one who is an actual reptile specialist is an hour away) since he hasn't shown any improvement but Im needing some suggestions as im also 9 months pregnant and expecting the arrival of a tiny human any day and the combination of a sick beardie and new tiny human is going to be very overwhelming. Any suggestions are appreciated.
 

Hdrydr31

Bearded Dragon Veteran
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3 Year Member
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welcome to the forum.. You will be surprised with having the proper UVB lighting along with a good basking bulb and good temps your little one should perk up pretty quickly as it's still very young.. Keep doing the slurries with good greens collards, mustard, dandelion, turnip are some staples..along with the calcium.. if you have a dedicated machine to make your slurries you can also put the crickets (sorry it's gross but) in with it that way some protein in the slurry will help. You can also take it outside to get some good ol vit D just make sure you have a harness of some sort or a zippered tent deal in case it gets startled and wiggles free.. being 9 months along it would not be good if it got free they are super fast.
 

Hanz0823

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
welcome to the forum.. You will be surprised with having the proper UVB lighting along with a good basking bulb and good temps your little one should perk up pretty quickly as it's still very young.. Keep doing the slurries with good greens collards, mustard, dandelion, turnip are some staples..along with the calcium.. if you have a dedicated machine to make your slurries you can also put the crickets (sorry it's gross but) in with it that way some protein in the slurry will help. You can also take it outside to get some good ol vit D just make sure you have a harness of some sort or a zippered tent deal in case it gets startled and wiggles free.. being 9 months along it would not be good if it got free they are super fast.

Thank you I actually just order a basking tent after seeing one on here yesterday digging through posts. Right now I've found he loves to hang out on the screen of my window so as long as he's warm enough I let him chill there a lot because you're very right his run is way faster than my waddle. I will try the crickets in the slurries just have to go buy a different blender as my husband probably won't appreciate cricket legs in his smoothies. Today I have started to notice small improvements and even got him to eat 1 wax worm so I'm hoping all the changes have been helping but I'm always up for more changes. This little guy has managed to turn into my best friend and really helped me through the boredom of bed rest so I wanna do anything I can to make him happy and healthy.
 

Hdrydr31

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Staff member
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
5,574
You can also get phoenix worms (calciworms) they are very high in calcium and are great feeders just don't give extra calcium when you feed them lol I have 2 zippered "laundry" bag tents from walmart that mine go out in.. and I have harnesses that I use on them as well.. Yea I had to get their own majic bullet to blend slurries LOL
 

Hanz0823

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
You can also get phoenix worms (calciworms) they are very high in calcium and are great feeders just don't give extra calcium when you feed them lol I have 2 zippered "laundry" bag tents from walmart that mine go out in.. and I have harnesses that I use on them as well.. Yea I had to get their own majic bullet to blend slurries LOL

I remembered I got one of those ninja things for baby food at my shower and decided to snag that and make him a cricket and collard slurrie I have to say I almost felt bad for the poor things till I pored it out and one managed to swim out at me. I'm going to look into ordering some of those Phoenix worms and some hornnworms for him to try. I did manage to get him to eat a few more wax worms today and it seemed to perk him up a bit. I was curious to see if it would be okay to try the red earth worms with him. We use them as feeder for our turtle but in my searches I get mixed messages on if it's okay for beardies.

The light and new diet has definitely made some dramatic changes in the last few days. Today I'm finally seeing him act more himself jumping around a bit more and running away from me when I have him out. I've went ahead and schedule a visit with the vet still this Thursday just to be on the safe side and get him an overall health check though.
 

Hdrydr31

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Staff member
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
5,574
I remembered I got one of those ninja things for baby food at my shower and decided to snag that and make him a cricket and collard slurrie I have to say I almost felt bad for the poor things till I pored it out and one managed to swim out at me. I'm going to look into ordering some of those Phoenix worms and some hornnworms for him to try. I did manage to get him to eat a few more wax worms today and it seemed to perk him up a bit. I was curious to see if it would be okay to try the red earth worms with him. We use them as feeder for our turtle but in my searches I get mixed messages on if it's okay for beardies.

The light and new diet has definitely made some dramatic changes in the last few days. Today I'm finally seeing him act more himself jumping around a bit more and running away from me when I have him out. I've went ahead and schedule a visit with the vet still this Thursday just to be on the safe side and get him an overall health check though.
Oh that is fantastic news!! I'm glad your getting some protein and some good greens in him I knew it would make a big difference with good lighting UVB and some good food for him to perk up...as they really typically chow down on bugs as they are in such a growth stage...Glad your taking him in for a vet check make sure you take a poop only no urate (white) to test for parasites freshest is best. if he goes in the bath just use a plastic spoon or something to take the poop part out.
 
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