little sickie dragon

Question
We have had our Chinese Water Dragon about 7 months, and last week we
took him to the vet because he "wasn't looking right" and they told us he has
metabolic bone disease - calcium deficency.  Well, we are trying to get him
fixed up, and we have to give him an oral supplement twice a day and an
injection every other day.  My husband is the injector and I am the holder but
the problem is I am VERY nervous about holding him.  I have done it before,
but it seems like the more we go through the "routine" of giving him his
meds, the more he is getthing aggrevated and uncooperative.  Any
suggestions?  We are having a hard time getting him to sit still (which is a
good sign, because it did seem like he wasn't hardly moving at ALL) and
opening his mouth for the oral supplements.  I appreciate your help!

Answer
Hello Emily, thats too bad that he got this disease and I hope he pulls through. As with any animal they can sense your emotion if you are frightened they will be upset too. If you are not completely calm then they can feed off of it. So just like training a dog you have to put all of your feelings aside which can be difficult but its needed. Some things that help with handling is to turn off the TV or any stereos anything that makes noise. Fans, heaters, washers and dryers. Anything that might put off vibrations like heaters, dryers, dish washers etc. Make the house calm this will help a lot. Then the lights. Try to make it somewhat dark. At least close the drapes on the windows, turn off any bright lights and just use a little dim light for what you are trying to do. Also what helps to get him calm is to turn off his heat lights for maybe 15 minutes before holding him. The room temperature will be warm enough so it wont harm him but still watch the thermometer to make sure its not too cold and then when you go to hold him your 98.6 body heat will make him melt in your hands. They love the warmth even wild lizards will come into your hands if its cold outside. Warmth triumphs everything. So that might also be an idea. You will want to talk to him really calm like and don't hold him too tight if you can get away with it. Remember to keep all the doors shut and everything while he is out of his cage. And no matter how much he struggles try to keep calm. I hope this helps let me know if I can do anything else for you.
Good luck to both of you and your dragon. I hope he pulls through and anything else just ask.