UVB Guide Graphic

Lil Spike, Rescue 200

This little buddy came to me in very, very bad shape yesterday. :( He's not eating, he's not moving, he's not healthy. He's been force fed for the last week without any improvement.

One look at Spike's picture told me the problem-- he has SEVERE Metabolic Bone Disease. I can feel at least one broken rib on him.

The biggest impact of MBD is brittle bones (which this guy has). A secondary, less known, symptom is poor gut motility. Without calcium, a reptile's digestive system stops working properly and they easily become impacted. Another MBD symptom is muscle loss which prevents the beardie from completely emptiness put their bellies. I can still feel sand in this baby's belly, even though he's been off sand for months. 

I gave him a saline injection to rehydrate his tissues and some calcium. He's already been in the sunshine today for an hour and is now I under a brand new UVB light. Now we just wait and see how he does. Direct sunlight is the BEST treatment for MBD (and it's FREE!!!) 

He looked pretty poor last night and I didn't know if he'd still be with me this morning. 

Hooray! He was! I gave him another saline injection, some calcium, and then I got him to lick some watered down baby food squash off a syringe too. All good signs! The experience exhausted him and I'll leave him alone for the rest of the day. 

Now we just keep doing Baby Steps forward to hope he can pull through. 

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.

The Anatomy of a Really BAD Tank

Today I rescued a "really healthy" bearded dragon. Well, "really healthy" according to the owner who also felt like the set up and price were a "really good deal." Um, not so much.

I realized when I got this sweet little beardie that her tank would make the PERFECT example of what a really, really, really, really nasty-bad-inappropriate-gross tank is.

 Exhibit A: This tank has one single light-- a regular light bulb. No UVB.

Exhibit B: Fish tank decorations and plastic plants. Not even big enough to use as a hide or climb on and super dirty.

Exhibit C: A piece of old 2 by 4 wood as a ... decoration? This kind of wood is treated with chemicals that can be very hazardous to your reptile. Use non-treated, pesticide free wood in your tanks.

Exhibit D: I couldn't actually figure out what this is-- like a piece of vine or rope? It was filthy.

Exhibit E: Massive piles of runny, sticky poop. Never cleaned up; never wiped off. The poop itself shows a poor diet and parasite infestation.

Exhibit F: Calcium sand that had never been sifted or replaced or cleaned. It was filthy. I need to use a putty knife to actually scrape the sand off the bottom of the tank.

Exhibit G: Slimy water dish with no water in it. This is a terrible dish anyways for beardies as it is too shallow for them to drink well out of.

Exhibit H: There were piles of dried iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, and purple cabbage spread all over the tank. WORST DIET EVER!!! No. No. No. No. NO!

Exhibit I: There were at least 18 inches between the heat source and the closest basking spot. This is a 30 gallon tall tank and is one of the worst kinds you can use for bearded dragons. There was no way for her to get anywhere close to the very dim, very dull bulb above her head. I'm guessing she was never able to get her basking temperature over about 82 degrees.

Exhibit J: This little beardie is a stunted, dirty mess. She was very dehydrated and very underfed. :( Her nails have never been trimmed and she hasn't been held for a long time.

Exhibit K: The inside of the glass was *filthy.* It was hard to see through parts of the glass.

Exhibit L: An under-tank heat (UTH) mat without a thermostat control or without a piece of tile on top of it to help spread the warmth around. UTH mats can get over 125 degrees and will heat up the sand enough to burn your bearded dragon. There are better ways to keep a tank warm. If you can't use a thermostat control, please don't use a UTH.


No lights, no hide, not enough heat, no cleaning, not good food, no clean water, no poop cleaned up-- honestly, I can't think of anything that I actually LIKE about this set up. :(

This is a perfect of example of someone who got a pet because it was "cute" and quickly lost interest in it without doing any research. A simple Google search would have given the owners better information about diet, lighting, and tank set ups. I had to explain to a surprised owner that UVB is necessary for metabolizing calcium and without it, the beardie would have slowly and painfully died. They had never even heard of that.

DO YOUR RESEARCH!! 

I just think we are past the point in society where we can blame it on the pet store (which I still hear way, way, way too often). It is not the job of the pet store to tell you *everything* you need. Their job is to make money. Your job is to be responsible for your pet by providing the best and most appropriate habitat & diet & care for your new pet. Research, research, research.

Some other pics from the tank:

Her New Tank: 

I ran out of paper towels and put down towels until I can get to the store. She has a clean substrate, a 100 Watt heat bulb, a brand new ZooMed 10.0 UVB light hanging inside her tank (less than 18" above her), a basking spot that she can climb up on or hide under, and an actual water dish that she can drink out of. 

So much better! She doesn't even know what to do with all the room and the heat. 

She acted like she had never been in the bath before. I can honestly believe that. I was so relieved to see her drinking it up.