Bearded dragon with MBD need advice please

[Sophi]

Hey there.

I've recently acquired a bearded dragon. My boyfriend works at a pet supplies store and somebody left him there right before close in a dirty tank full of sand. My boyfriend called me and I came and picked him up right away.

Long story short, I'm pretty sure has MBD as his front two legs are deformed. He walks funny and he's got some weird crooked toes and all in all he just moves strange compared to all the other beardies I've met before.

We were told he is a year and two months but he seems a little on the small side.

I've got him set up now in a 55 gallon with a screen top, a basking spot of about 100-105 degrees and some sticks to climb on and hides to hide in. I got rid of all his dirty sand and now he's on reptile carpet. He seems alert and active despite his deformed limbs. He gets around, although a little awkwardly and has been eating crickets and superworms. Ive also been feeding him dandelion greens, butternut squash,broccoli and raspberries. I've been dusting all his food with calcium with D3 and we got a brand new reptisun 10.0 UVB light for him.

I'm worried about his humidity though... I rent and I only can keep him in the same room as my ball python and my tokay gecko. I also can't get the humidity down in my apartment below 40-45 at night.
I live in Boston and our summers are hot and sweaty. In the day time his heat and UVB bulb keep the humidity down but Im worried he's going to get sick at night. Is this dangerous for his health? A nighttime humidity of 45-50? How can I lower the humidity in his tank without causing a problem for my geckos who I spray twice a day? He has a small water dish but I don't want to remove it because he's actually been drinking from it, which is surprising.

I haven't noticed any twitching or other signs of MBD but he's definitely been neglected for a while and I don't think his deformities came from anywhere else. How does one care for a dragon with this illness? Can he get better?

I've made an appointment for him to see my exotics veterinarian next week but in the mean time what should I do?

Thanks...
http://i59.tinypic.com/2mhugbb.jpg

This is a picture of how his arm looks. He always has his feet bent like that. He walks with his elbows out to the side.

[Sophi]

Should I purchase a dehumidifier and simply spray my geckos more?

Will running my AC unit in the mean time reduce the humidity? Should I get a ceramic or night time bulb?

I just spent almost my whole paycheck on this little guy and his vet appointment is going to be expensive. I wouldnt be able to get a dehumidifier for at least a few weeks and I'm worried he's going to get sick before then.

[Minkness]

You use a ceramic heat emmiter at night for him. It will help with the humidity in his tank and not be an actual light.

Now, I'm not sure if this is true, but someone I met locally told me that you can actually just remive the water dish entirely as he should be getting his water from his food. I am not a beardie person, I have NO idea if this is true, and hopefully someone with actusl beardie experience can chime in and correct me, or give youeven better advice.

I would say congrats, but it sounds like you have a slong road ahead of you....so....good luck.

[pinefamily]

Hi Sophi,
Well done on taking on the little fellow. If you can afford it, get a bag of sandpit sand, dry it out well. and then use that as a substrate. That will help lower the humidity in his tank. How is his appetite? If good, keep up the greens dusted with calcium and D3, as well as dust any live food (crickets/woodies/etc). You might never fix his foot, but you can certainly stop the effects of the MBD.
Also, the basking spot temp should be around 42-45 degrees C.

[pinefamily]

Also, it might (stress might) not be MBD, but just a lack of vitamins/calcium. Sounds the same, but with good care, he could come good. With MBD, the best you can hope for is to arrest the symptoms. He can still live a happy and healthy life.

[Sophi]

Thanks guys. I just caved a bought a dehumidifier when I woke up to find the room at 65 percent humidity. (boston is really gross right now) I overnight shipped it so it should be here by tomorrow. It's a little one for closest and bathrooms so I thibk if k.put it next to his tank it should help. I think I have an old ceramic bulb I was using for my snakes when it was freezing here in the winter if I can find it.

His appetite seems very good, actually. He ate 20 bugs and salad yesterday. I've been dusting all of his food.

[Sophi]

Also, it might (stress might) not be MBD, but just a lack of vitamins/calcium. Sounds the same, but with good care, he could come good. With MBD, the best you can hope for is to arrest the symptoms. He can still live a happy and healthy life.

This is what I am hoping for. I don't really care if he legs ever go back to normal as long as he's not in pain or sick anymore. I'm already super attached to him. I just want him to be healthy.

[pinefamily]

They are probably one of the most interactive, people-friendly lizards around. My wife just bought me a leatherback juvenile for my birthday, and she is so calm and friendly. Our others took a little while to get to know us, but this one is placid from the start.

[Sophi]

They are probably one of the most interactive, people-friendly lizards around. My wife just bought me a leatherback juvenile for my birthday, and she is so calm and friendly. Our others took a little while to get to know us, but this one is placid from the start.

So far he is very friendly. He does fine with being held and carried around. He will sit with you just fine but as soon as you put him down he is on the move like crazy. (although with his wierd feet he is not very fast)

My dehumidifier should be here today. I've been running ceiling fans and the AC plus during the day his lights and heat are on but this past week or two boston has been insanly humid. I've been clocking the humidity in the day in my house at about 60 percent, I can get it down to 50 with the lights but at night it sky rockets.

This is the one I got http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWKONAG?redirect=true&ref_=ya_st_dp_summary and I really hope it's enough. I don't have the money to spend on a 100-200 dollar one, especially because I've already spent close to 400 on this little guy.

Guess I'm just trying to make up for all the things he never had.

I'm just very concerned that he will get a respitory infection.

[pinefamily]

As long as he keeps his appetite, and continues to be active and energetic, you'll have nothing to worry about. They are pretty resilient buggers!
Have to say, I didn't know Boston got that humid in summer.

[Sophi]

As long as he keeps his appetite, and continues to be active and energetic, you'll have nothing to worry about. They are pretty resilient buggers!
Have to say, I didn't know Boston got that humid in summer.

This is reassuring. He's very active and he runs around like crazy. I think he eats a good amount. (Not a lot compared to my Blue tounge skink)

Boston is miserable right now. We always have a few good weeks of sticky sticky thick muggy heat in the summer. I've never had trouble maintaining humidity in the fall or winter but this last week or two has been like living in a humid cloud.

[pinefamily]

Our summers get pretty hot (anything up to 45 degrees Celsius), but it's the humid days that wipe me out.
Make sure you feed him plenty of greens; they can get extra calcium from their veg and fruit.
Here's a good site to use as a guide: Nutrition Content (http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html)
Don't stress too much on the colour guide, I use mostly stuff off the green and black most days without a problem. The trick is mixing up what you give him each day. And if you find something he loves, mix it in with other stuff to get him eating the other stuff.

[Sophi]

Just a little update:

Spartacus has been doing really well. He did a thing where he decided to hold his poop for a few days but a bath sorted him out. He's still got a healthy appetite and is showing an interest in salad. He seems to really like mustard greens.

I'm a little less worried about the humidity because I clocked it again at almost 90 percent and that just seemed impossible, so I double checked it against a totally different hydrometer and got 40. With lights off. So now I'm convinced I've been getting terribly off readings this whole time... Because it's absolutely not 90 percent or else I would be terribly uncomfortable in my own bedroom.

Although now I'm flying a bit blind because I can't trust my hydrometer and I'm not sure of the accuracy of the other one either.

Can anyone recommend one they use? I was thinking a combination digital hydrometer thermometer would work. This is just one of those cheap pet store ones which was also saying it was over 120 degrees the other day which also just isn't possible.

Spartacus goes to the vet today so I'll update again when he comes back. I set up a gofundme page and have already managed to Raise a few bucks for him which is awesome because he came into my life at a rather hard financial time. I hope the vet.has good things to say...

[Sophi]

Well Spartacus has returned from the vet today and it turns out he is actually a she. She was diagnosed with MBD like I suspected and she has some strange lumps in her belly. The vet checked to make sure she wasn't full of eggs but she wasn't. She's been going to the bathroom and he isn't too concerned about it feeling like an impaction. We are going to do a fecal just to be sure, and also to see if she has any parasites or anything like that. So as soon as she goes to the bathroom again I'll be able to have that looked at.

He said she will have permentantly deformed legs and hands, a puffy lip and she has also lost a lot of her teeth from the MBD but he isn't worried that her condition will get worse. He said the worst possible prediction is as she gets older she may get fractures in her front legs from overuse on the parts that are bowed so I should keep an eye on any wear and tear to her front legs.

Besides the missing teeth and the weird feeling belly he said she looks like she is doing very well. He said she is lucky and isn't as bad as a lot of the bearded dragons with MBD that he's seen. He said out husbandry and diet were spot on and as long as we keep up what we are doing and make sure she is supplemented and has new UVB every six months that she should live a relatively normal life.

He also gave us a liquid calcium supplement called calcionate syrup to give to her every other day. We can either syringe feed it to her or mix it into her veggies. I dropped it on her nose and she went nuts and drank all of it. Guess it tastes really good or something.

[pinefamily]

Excellent news! Thanks for the update.
If your weather is on the humid side, keep the baths to a minimum; if you think she (lol) is not pooping, try banana or grated apple. These two give our beardies much runnier poops.
One of ours is also a rescue of sorts. Told it was a girl, but as it's grown, it most definitely is a boy.
Multical powder is great stuff to dust the crickets and greens with.
Once again, good work!