Beardie with shakes and not eating.

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I work for a pet store and have kept many reptiles over the past years. A man called in saying he has a bearded dragon that had stopped eating and had some other problems. I told him to bring it in and I would have a look. To shorten the story a bit. The beardie ate when he first got him. Then stopped eating. He had been feeding it crickets and carrots and kale. The beardie stopped eating it all and was having trouble when he would jump for a cricket with balance. I got the beardie to eat some wax worms but he wouldnt touch crickets. The only thing that I could come up with was a calcium deficiency or(this is my main questions) Inclusion body disease has the head wobble sympton and no eating. Is that even possible for a lizard to get IBD? I know boas get it. I just told him he needed to get some liquid calcium and get a larger uvb bulb, his was a bit small. I told him I would find out some more and call him about it. thanks for reading.

ANSWER: Hello Devin,

Do you know what type & brand of UVB they are using?  Is it a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?  The best tube UVB he can use is the Reptisun 10 so you can relay the message to him.  If he has not had the proper UVB light then he cannot absorb his calcium properly & will develop metabolic bone disease.  
It would be more of a calcium deficiency than Inclusion body disease.  The wobbling of the head is simply loss of muscular control because of low calcium.  Lizards do not get Inclusion body disease.  
He definitely needs to get some liquid calcium to help him out.  He should have it dosed for him to be specific for his body weight.

Let me know how he is doing.
Tracie

  

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

QUESTION: Hey he came in the next day and she was more alert but still not right. turns out his uvb bulb was over a year old..... got him a new one and sent him on his way. So I don't know how she is doing after the new uvb bulb. On an up note I got a snake that was a troubled eater to eat the other day after 3 days of extreme patience.....

Answer
Hello Devin,

Oh wow the UVB light being a year old most likely was putting no UVB out at all.  I am happy to hear that you got the new light for them then.  I hope she is doing better.
That is excellent you got a snake to finally eat after not eating much.  What kind of snake is it?
We have a ball python & luckily he has not been picky in his eating.

Tracie