my first beardie

Question

Scooter   QUESTION: Hi! I have owned snakes for 20+ years and recently added a leopard gecko and a bearded dragon to my reptile collection. Scooter, the beardie, is about 7 months old and I noticed a little over a week ago that he is exhibiting early signs of MBD. (dragging himself instead of walking, not climbing his favorite rocks and grapevines...) Since I was gut-loading his insects with calcium, and he was eating as many vegetables/greens as they do at that age, I decided that the UVB bulb on his cage was not strong enough. Four days ago, I replaced it with a higher output of UVB, raised the night time temp a bit, started misting him once a day with a vitamin mist that contains vitamin D, and dust his food every other day. He is already starting to raise himself up now and appears to be moving, although still slowly, with a little more ease. My question is, is the recovery really that quick? And do I need to do anything else? (like find a herp vet?) I've also read that you can go overboard on the vitamins. Any advice on that?
Thanks!

ANSWER: Hi Deb, Scooter is a good looking boy! It may be just the angle in the photo but it does look that there is a slight bowing of his front leg. That is typical of MBD, the front legs start to curve rather then forming a sharp "L" shape.
It sounds like you have the situtation under control and obviously did some research already. Providing a balanced diet to lizards is far more complicated the it is for snakes unfortunately! Once the body gets what it needs it can repair itself rather quickly especially in a young animal.That's great that you are seeing improvement already.

I'm not quite clear whether you were dusting his insects prior to this event or just gut loading. You really have to do both. Beardeds need a calcium: phosphorous ratio of about 2 : 1 in their diet. Insect exoskeletons are primarily phosphorous and they cannot consume enough calcium (and still   remain alive) to bring the ratio around to 2 : 1, that is why you also have to dust them. Adequate UV will help synthesize vitamin D which will help with the absorption of calcium but the calcium also has to be present in the diet in adequate amounts. Reptiles (and humans) synthesize vitamin D3 in the skin but they do not absorb it externally through the skin. Those vitamin sprays are one of several consumer rip-off products in the reptile trade.
I assume that the dust you are using is calcium with vitamin D3. Vitamin D is one of the fat soluble vitamins and can be overdosed. Seeing as he does have exposure to a good UV level and can synthesize his own D3 I would suggest that you cut back on the dusting to around twice a week to avoid going overboard and trading one health problem or another. You can dust
with a plain calcium (no D3) on the other days.

If you continue to note improvement in his mobility in the coming days then you should not need a vet for this instance. Correcting the diet and the lighting is the treatment and in severe cases calcium/vitamin shots may be given. It is always a good idea to research an area herp vet for any future problems though, especially emergencies.

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

QUESTION: Thanks for all the great info! I was dusting before, but not as often. I have two dusts, which I am rotating. One is straight calcium and one with Vitamin D, along with other vitamins. I'll can the one with D. One more question. (for now) He has refused all vegetables/greens for almost two weeks, even his favorites. Should I worry about that at this point and let him come back around, or cut back his insects and try to force the veggie issue?
I appreciate all your help. He really is a cutie and I would hate to lose him!
Deb

Answer
Hi Deb,  Unless you have him under one of the mercury vapour type UVB bulbs I would suggest that he  should still be supplemented with some vitamin D3 at least once a week. The fluorescent UVB bulbs are good but they can't come close to producing the amount of UV that he would be exposed to in the wild. Relying only on supplements can risk overdose while the UV lights may not trigger sufficient synthesis. Vets and nutrition experts recommend a modest amount of supplementation along with the use of lights to be certain. The lights will not cause a vitamin overdose, his body will not create more D3 then it needs from the UV exposure.

It sounds like you have a multi-vitamin which can be used once or twice a month but you might want to get just a calcium with D3 powder as well. Rep Cal (phosphorous free) is the one I use most often.
I would not worry about the veggie issue at this point. We are also heading into brumation season right now which may also explain why his appetite is dropping. Beardeds can become sexually mature at around 8 or 9 months and will often enter a winter dormancy during their first winter at that age. Be warned that brumating dragons will also stop basking and sleep all the time! Right now I would keep offering whatever he wants to eat so that you can be sure that the calcium deficiency is fully corrected before he decides to brumate (and possibly not eat at all!) for several weeks.