My young bearded dragon is ill...

Question
QUESTION: My 4 month old bearded dragon has been acting very strange lately. He runs in circles and seems to be disoriented.. He swings his head around very quickly when he normally would just tilt it to look at something and can't seem to see straight. He can't run in a straight line, it's more like a "S" line, and has a lot of trouble walking up onto his stick. He has run into the side of his cage a few times and can't catch a cricket unless it's right in front of him.  I have now taken everything out of his cage except for a plant and water dish so he won't fall off. This all started after I fed him some crickets that I had just bought from the pet store. Normally, I just get the crickets and dust them when I get home but yesterday, they offered to so I let them do it. He started acting like this right after I fed them to him. I first I thought that maybe the cricket dust was contaminated or something. Now I am thinking it is something like an inner ear infection because of the way he seems so off balance but I called the vet and they said that they don't have medicine for a bearded dragon for that. They said it is something that just has to go by itself. I don't want to take him to the vet just for them to tell me "Yeah, there's something wrong but we can't help ya." You know what I mean? I am a college student so I don't have the money to blow $100 on a vet bill. I don't know what to think or do, I am just worried sick.. If you have any suggestions or an idea of what could be wrong, let me know.
Thank you so much,
Lauren

ANSWER: Hello Lauren,

What kind of UVB light are you using, is it a flourescent tube bulb, or a compact/coil light?  What type of basking light are you using, a bright white light or a colored light?    
Are you supplementing calcium for him 5 days per week right now since he is still growing?  He will need a good dusting 5 days per week right now until he is at least 1 year of age, to support his bone growth.  Just once daily is adequate.  
Do you know what the humidity is in the tank, & do you mist him in his tank at all?  If he has not gotten any water in his ears by misting or a bath, then it is not an inner ear infection.  
I believe it sounds like metabolic bone disease.  He also has trouble climbing, which is a major indication of muscular & neurological problems caused by hypocalemia.
What are his stools like, are they runny & smelly?  
What type of substrate are you using, sand, tiles, paper towels, carpet?


Tracie


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: First of all, just this afternoon I took him outside to bask and he was acting much better.. the only thing still weird is that he can't seem to tell how far away the ground is because he kept trying to jump out of my hand and to the ground when I had him in my hands next to my chest.
But anyway, I don't have a UVB light right now, I take him outside to sit in the sun for at least an hour every day that it is warm enough which is usually 3 or 4 days a week. (I plan on purchasing one soon for winter months.) I have a 75 watt regular white basking bulb. At night I use either a purple heat bulb or a ceramic heat emitter, depending on how cold it is. I dust the crickets every day. He already likes his veggies and fruits so I give him squash, zucchini, and carrots twice a week, and fruits as a treat.. probably like once every two weeks. He likes to munch on the clover leaves outside as well. The humidity is about 53% and I can't seem to get it any lower than that. I let him sit in shallow luke warm bath bowl twice a week because he seems to like that and keep a shallow bowl of water in his tank. I have him on Reptilite calcium sand. His stool is firm, not overly smelly, just as it has always been. Also, when I said he had trouble getting up on the stick, I meant that he kept over jumping or falling off when he walks up because he couldn't focus on it or something.. it's like he can't see it.. Once he gets on and realizes where it is he's fine. I'm sorry for the confusion!! He seems to have plenty of muscle strength, it's just that he looks like he's drunk when he walks around.

Answer
Hello Lauren,


Taking him outside for a few hours a week will help.  If he has metabolic bone disease that is not enough time of UVB exposure though to zap him out of it.  
If he looks like he is drunk when he walks around, then that is balance issues which is still related to metabolic bone disease.  At his age, he is growing rapidly & if he doesn't have regular access to UVB exposure, his body cannot absorb calcium which puts him at risk for metabolic bone disease.  
I would try to get a UVB light as soon as you can to avoid permanent damage or physical deformities that can happen if their bones are not maintained in strength.  
The humidity is "ok" but if you can, try to get that down to under 50%.  Ideally, around 40% if good.  The water dish should be on the cooler end of the tank to keep the evaporation levels down & humidity out of the air as well.  
Great he is eating greens & veggies now too.  How many feeders does he get?  Also, make sure the crickets are no larger than the space between the eyes to avoid impaction.  Make sure he is not ingesting the calcium sand because that is known to cause terrible impactions because the sand clumps up like cement when it gets wet.

Let me know how he is doing.
Tracie