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Metabolic Bone Disease In Bearded Dragon

22 11:51:30

Question
I work in a petshop and have recently acquired a set of bearded dragons 1 male and 1 female. The previous owners stated that the female had been sick for only 1 week consisting of sleeping, not eating or moving. When I went to pick them up the dragons were in seperate tanks and I had not noticed just how bad the female was until I got home and examined her. Her symptoms were tremors in her front legs, severely dehydrated, displaced jaw, soft stomach, barely moving bowels, paralyzation in back legs, a lump on her spine close to her tail and not eating or drinking. I had heard about mbd in my job but had never encountered it. I immediately began feeding her baby food (sweet potatoes, apples & blueberries and bananas and mixed berries)along with mixing reptocal in the baby food. I tried to think of things that were packed with calcium. I've been giving that to her 2xs a day by dropper along with water and baby pedialyte. I've got her in a 29 gallon tank with wee wee pads as her substrate, a combo light fixture with a 10.0 uvb bulb, flourescent bulb, and a 60w basking bulb during daytime and at night I have a heat bulb on her but yet she still seems to be cold, she is beginning to move only upper body while lower part just drags I feel so terrible I want to help her is there anything else I can do to ease her pain?

Answer
Hello Jeannie,

Wow, I am so sorry about the female!  She is very very critical I can tell by your description.  
Which 10 UVB light are you using, the Reptisun 10 tube bulb?  How close is it to her?  Is there plastic or screen in between her & the light or no?
What are the temperatures measuring in her tank & what type of thermometer are you using?
I wouldn't have her basking temperatures up much higher than 98-100 since she has not been properly cared for & higher heat will expedite dehydration on her.
Just use a small pinch of calcium powder twice a day 5 times per week.  You can try getting some bee pollen powder to help with a boost for her immune system & appetite.
If she appears to be in some pain, you can try using some silkworms for their properties of serrapeptase enzyme to help with pain management.  I also sell straight serrapeptase as well, which is very effective for pain management.
Do you have any pictures of her?  I am sure she probably cannot chew very well if her jaw is not aligned properly.  Is it broken or no?  
Go easy on the protein for awhile until she begins to have normal stools & her urate output is good.  Oral fluids & baths will prove to be extremely important right now to avoid renal failure.
You are doing a great job!  Let me know how she is doing.

Tracie