Digging and twitching

[Polly]

Just had a couple of queries about Sid, he seems to twitch quite a bit, but it's doesn't seem as bad as how I've read MBD twitching is, it looks more like just a muscle twitch, I get them in my eye sometimes and it's really annoying, but it's his sides, along where the big spikes are and occasionally his thighs or biceps. Just wondering whether this was normal?

Also, he seems pretty keen on digging, like when he goes into his hidey hut he tries to dig the ground, (it's astro turf so he can't actually dig it) and wanted to know if it would be safe for me to get him some sand to play in when he's out of his house, not as a permanent substrate. And if it's okay, would red desert sand be okay? Or should I stick to the sifted play sand?

 

[drgnfly2265]

My beardies do the digging thing to sometimes. They love to do it when they have their hyper moments, lol. Instead of sand have you thought about a blanket? When Yaddle starts her digging I put her on her blanket and she digs and goes under it. I have a blanket in both of their vivs and they love it!

 

[alivia werner]

the twitches u might wana have a vet check.... but you can put his on sand to play and idk if desert sand is sterile lol (im not sure if you are talking about petstore sand or what lol) but play sand is sterile the only issue w sand is if they poop in it or it gets too moist can grow bacteria and itll no longer be sterile and then tey just cant be fed in it nut other than that if you can replace it regularly and not feed them on it theres nothing wrong with sand

 

[Dunc]

Hi Erica

The first question is; are you sure its a him? females are more than likely to dig than male dragons. MBD is certainly worth considering and in all honesty unless you really are experienced please consult a vet

The last thing I want to do is insult your knowledge, can I ask how experienced you are with Beardies?

Can I ask what UV your using?, For example Arcadia D3 or reptisun 10

In what form are you getting calcium into your beardie?

Whats the temperature points reading in your viv?

When he eats does he look comfortable or is his jaw causing problems?

Is there any swelling in his legs? or twitching in His toes?

I really am going to disagree with using sand. If he is digging to excess sand acts as a barrier that starts soft and ends up hitting the hard base of the viv very quickly often causing more damage to his feet than having a tiled or carpeted substrate added to the risk of impaction its really not worth the risk.

Whats most important is MBD can be rectified if caught early, it could be as simple as altering your setup, changing diet, oral vit D & calcium... its nothing to be scared of when its treated properly & once its right it shouldn't reappear

Best wishes with Sid

 

[alivia werner]

they cant get impacted if they arent eating on it and yea id let a vet determine what the twitching is it sounds serious so get it checked asap and yea if the case it is a female she may wana lay infertiles in that case sand is used and noone ive ever heard of and from my own experience have they tunnled through the moist sand and hurt thier leggs on the floor?

 

[Dunc]

Alivia, seems to be an amount of aggression in your post?

Personally I prefer to be treated with respect. Can I ask how many years experience you have? Can I ask how many dragon's you've had ? To make it easy. Ive 15 years experience, I at the moment have 11 ranging in age... as for "cant get impacted if they aren't eating on it" anyone who says that worries me.. do you leave vegetation in your viv? if you don't, why not.. these are creatures who like to nibble through out the day. If you do leave veg then the chance of impaction stands. I use the word "chance" liberally. Secondly your comment "and noone ive ever heard of and from my own experience" how many acquaintances do you have with years of experience? How many years as a herpetologist did you train for?... and by years I mean a substantial amount. How many years experience do you have?

In short Alvia, I don't waste my time making guesses or concocting reasons not to do things, everything I say is documented evidence.... Please think before you comment as these creatures die and and end up disabled, hurt and subsequently lead sad lives because of immature guess work

​

​

 

[alivia werner]

i said yea it could be anything thats y they should ask a vet and thats the most important step i wasnt being agressive you are and i deserve as much respect as you and was not directing any disrespect twards you but no they asked if they could be on sand at all temporarily not as a permanent substrate as in like a play box and i do not use sand except in lay boxes and for vegies they have food bowls therefore not on the ground and i have plenty of experience owning and handling quite a few herps and do alot of research and have quite a few extremely experienced herp friends and beardie breeders who i talk to and have mentored me not to mention im studying to be an exotic vet tech so no disrespect to you or any ting youve advised but you pretty much were giving my comment before yours disrespect in knocking any use of sand saying it will hurt thier legs wich id like to hear your proof and explanation to that in curiosity not disrespect i simply said ive never heard of it or experienced it also i felt you were atacking polly and saying they were ignorant and "insulting thier knowledge" for thier animal they love very much so inturn i tried very nicely to defend and rebutteled to your agressive comment
so just to make this clear this is a very friendly forum that i love very much and you may have very strong oppinions as many people do but you are the one putting me and poly kinda under attack so thanks for your experience and help but there are ways to handle it i hope we can keep the peace and be happy friends on this awesome site
sorry for any misunderstanding

 

[Polly]

My beardies do the digging thing to sometimes. They love to do it when they have their hyper moments, lol. Instead of sand have you thought about a blanket? When Yaddle starts her digging I put her on her blanket and she digs and goes under it. I have a blanket in both of their vivs and they love it!

Oh okay, the blanket idea sounds good! I have a bunch of little ones I could pile together which might work quite well.

the twitches u might wana have a vet check.... but you can put his on sand to play and idk if desert sand is sterile lol (im not sure if you are talking about petstore sand or what lol) but play sand is sterile the only issue w sand is if they poop in it or it gets too moist can grow bacteria and itll no longer be sterile and then tey just cant be fed in it nut other than that if you can replace it regularly and not feed them on it theres nothing wrong with sand

Yeah I meant pet store sand, they have red desert sand which is apparently from australia but I'm not too sure... but yeah I had no intention of feeding him on it, and any poop I'd clean up straight away, I was more meaning, like you said, a playbox, that I'd let him in for an hour or so, but yeah I was still concerened about the whole licking everything that dragons tend to do!

Hi Erica

The first question is; are you sure its a him? females are more than likely to dig than male dragons. MBD is certainly worth considering and in all honesty unless you really are experienced please consult a vet

The last thing I want to do is insult your knowledge, can I ask how experienced you are with Beardies?

Can I ask what UV your using?, For example Arcadia D3 or reptisun 10

In what form are you getting calcium into your beardie?

Whats the temperature points reading in your viv?

When he eats does he look comfortable or is his jaw causing problems?

Is there any swelling in his legs? or twitching in His toes?

I really am going to disagree with using sand. If he is digging to excess sand acts as a barrier that starts soft and ends up hitting the hard base of the viv very quickly often causing more damage to his feet than having a tiled or carpeted substrate added to the risk of impaction its really not worth the risk.

Whats most important is MBD can be rectified if caught early, it could be as simple as altering your setup, changing diet, oral vit D & calcium... its nothing to be scared of when its treated properly & once its right it shouldn't reappear

Best wishes with Sid

Not sure where you got the name Erica from, haha, but thanks for the advice, I shall answer your questions:
I got Sid from a previous owner when he was about 2 years old, they told me Sid was a boy so I assumed they'd know.. but I haven't actually checked!
Sid is my first dragon and I only got him at the start of the year, so I know I'm not amazingly experienced, which is why I've joined this forum, and I have done a huge amount of research on them.
I'm using Reptisun 10
I sprinkle calcium powder with D3 on his food every day, I also spray it with vitamin spray a couple of times a week.
92 on the hot side and 75 on the cold side. I was having trouble getting the temps up, and just realised that my ceramic heat lamp is doing crap all. So will be getting a new one asap. He also has a regular 100W household bulb.
There's no problem with his eating, he looks very comfortable.
No swelling in his legs or twitching in his toes.

As I said before, I only intended sand in a play box, not as a permanent substrate, and would have it in a plastic container which would ideally be about 10cm deep.

I did take him to the vet about 2 weeks ago to check on a skin discolouration and a loss of claw, and she did have a good feel of his bones and said they felt healthy. The twitching only happens every now and then for a couple of seconds and doesn't seem to bother him at all, it does seem to be more of a muscle twitch rather than a limb twitch. It kinda just vibrates a little...

PS, I didn't sense any agression in Alivia's post, she was merely sharing her opinion

 

[Josh]

Let's make sure we keep things civil. We're all here to learn and share, there's no reason for any aggression or anger. We're talking about our pets here!

I'm glad this situation diffused without any issue.

 

[Josh]

I forgot, most of all: be kind to each other!

 

[Polly]

Oops.. I just moved his caged yesterday and the heat lamp must have been turned off ._. Temps are actually 107 and 78.

 

[Polly]

Also he's definitely a boy.

 

[Polly]

Still with the muscle twitching, but his temps are good, he's eating well, pooping fine etc. But also just now as he was sleeping on me he did some big twitches of his arm and waved his other arm, and twitched the base of his tail a few times. He was fast asleep, so thought it might be case of active dreaming? But also he's going through a big shed at the moment, the biggest he's had since being in my custody, so could be to do with the annoyance of that perhaps?

Otherwise I fear it might be a case of oncoming MBD, and wanted to know a few things about it, so if anyone can answer my questions that would be awesome:
Are there any extra measures I can go to to prevent it from happening? As I said temps etc are all good, as is calcium intake, I dust his salad with calcium powder every day.
How does the vet actually diagnose it? I took him to the vet not long ago and she felt around all his bones and said they felt strong/healthy, but am wondering if there are any other ways they are supposed to check? The vet I took him to owned a few dragons and other reptiles when she lived in England but hasn't seen any since she moved back here (to New Zealand), which I think she said was about 5-10 years ago. She is their reptile specialist so I trust what she says but.. just to be on the safe side, I thought I'd ask all of you guys

Thanks!

 

[alivia werner]

I mean an x ray should show all that but she seems to have good credentials but it's strange she can't pinpoint y it's twitching that's not good could be neurological also though mayb try anther vet and/or ask for an xray