UVB Guide Graphic

I did it again! Rescue 187, Tank

I made a mistake of looking in my local Facebook's Marketplace. Ugh.

Found a juvenile beardie in a small tank with NO UVB light. Never had one. And to make things worse, the heat bulb broke and the owner didn't want to buy a new one.

Ugh.

Remarkably, this little guy's bones are still pretty firm.

I asked if he'd been fed greens. Yep! Once. Papaya & green onions.

One time only in 3 months.

And the owners wanted him gone so they could go camping for the long weekend. And since they paid $70 for the beardie alone, they wouldn't come down on the price.

I paid $100 from my "Blood Money" or "Bail Money" account to get him into a good tank with two lights and good food.

Ugh!

I grumbled all the way there and back. I just couldn't walk away from this little one and leave him with no lights for a long weekend.

I need to take a break from searching ads so I can regain my niceness towards people.

A BIG THANK YOU to all who sent money to help build back up my Blood Money Savings account. You helped me get this guy! And if you'd still like to donate, please click HERE.

Today's Lesson on MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease)

Today's Lesson--

Here is a side by side comparison of two monitor lizard x-rays. The one of the left is the Nile monitor that the vet & I chose to euthanize yesterday; the one of the right is a random x-ray off the internet. Notice the difference in the bones?

Solid, dense, calcium-stable bones almost glow on x-rays. You can see their distinct edges and patterns. MBD bones are hollow, pitted, and almost invisible because of the lack of calcium.

There are parts of the Nile's x-ray where you cannot see his spine through because of the shadows of internal organs. But the sad thing is that the organs are *under* the spine. Under! And you still can't see it. You can also see multiple fractures and curves in the spine and legs that never would have healed.

Here's the hellish part about MBD-- a lizard's body MUST have calcium in its blood supply to survive. If there is not enough calcium being metabolized (coming into the body through the food and then converted into usable calcium through sunlight or adequately powerful UVB), the body will steal calcium from the bones. The bones start becoming weaker and weaker until they are rubbery like Jell-O. When they are that weakened, simple touching and holding will snap jaw bones; a small fall will shatter joints; a leg that is caught and then pulled loose will disintegrate.

A reptile must have enough digested calcium through high calcium foods (whole rat/mouse bodies, high calcium greens, or gut loaded & dusted insects). But all the calcium in the world will NOT prevent MBD if there is no way to absorb it. In the absence of direct sun, a UVB light is a necessity. It must be 18 inches or less above the area where the lizard is the most. It also needs to cover the majority of the area of the basking spot. The problem with coil UVB bulbs is that their radius is very small and often in a different place than where the lizard is. You can combine heat & UVB with a mercury vapor bulb or you can buy a long UVB tube to run the length of the tank.

MBD is a hellish way for a lizard to die. Some pet stores will call it "Cage paralysis" because a reptile loses the ability to control its limbs. It is painful because of frequent breaks and fractures.

PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH! Preventing MBD is FAR easier than trying to correct it. All the reptiles I have ever rescued with MBD who actually survived it had a significantly shorter lifespan.

Spring Fever!

We are all anxious for Spring here. Today is around 54 degrees. It's glorious!! 

I have my back door open so we can catch some direct UVB rays. 

And Dragon is finally able to bask. His poor rubber bones need sun time desperately. 

I love Spring and Summer. :) I'm tired of the cold & dreary winter. 

2 Babies, rescues 96 & 97

These two babies have a pretty bad case of Metabolic Bone Disease. They've never had a UVB light or proper calcium. They were bought at a pet store by one teen and then bounced to another teen. 

Their bones are rubbery and the larger one has already started walking on his wrists. :( One of them is missing most of his back foot. 

I think I can quickly get them back to health through my calcium syrup and new UVB lights.

Their jaws are so rubbery that they can't eat every well. I will probably have to force feed them for awhile too. 

I'm still thinking up names for them which is why they are just "babies" right now. 

The reason these babies have MBD? The pet store didn't tell the teenagers to buy a UVB light. :(  Ultimately, the care for any pet rests on YOU!! Use the Internet and find out the best care for your pets. 

How I set up UVB bulbs in my tanks

It seems I never have enough UVB bulbs to go with all the tanks in my house. For many months, I just used the bulbs and set ups that came to me with donated tanks. I finally feel like I have enough resources and enough knowledge to buy & use really good UVB bulbs. 

This is what I use. 

For my light fixtures, I buy the 18 inch under-cabinet fluorescent lights at Walmart for $9 each. I pop the plastic covers off and take out the regular fluorescent bulb. 

I buy ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 18 inch UVB bulbs from my awesome (sorta) local pet store RockStar Pets. You can also buy them on Amazon or any other pet supply store for $22 to $45. They are good for a year at the most. They fit right into the under-cabinet base. 

The back of the light base has holes where you can hang them on screws/nails, but I took these flower pot hooks and bent them into holders. These are only a buck at Walmart. 

Then I hang the lights (without the covers) off the back of the tanks so the beardies get max UVB exposure. 

I don't have lids on my beardie tanks so I can keep these hanging off the back without a problem. My rescue iguana Sancho keeps trying to escape so I had to put a lid on his tank, but I put the lid over the hooks. 

UVB works best if it is not filtered through a screen (either metal or mesh). There are coil UVB bulbs and I've used these before for my healthier beardies. For babies and sicklies, I use the long bulbs. There's a lot of research on the web about what type of UVB is best. If I had unlimited funds in rescue, I'd probably do mercury vapor bulbs (that give both heat & UVB) for my tanks. Since there's no such thing as "unlimited rescue funds," I have found this system to work well for me. I can get a brand new UVB light for under $40.