# Bearded Dragon Issue



## riggs1985 (Sep 11, 2007)

Ok, have signed up to the forum a while back but never really posted!

But now i have an issue and would be very grateful for a bit of much needed advice.

Right, i have a 7 year old Bearded dragon who has always been in fantastic health, always lively and you cant stop him from eating. But in the last 3 or 4 days he has acquired a bit of a health issue.

His head will shake every so slightly on the odd occasion when he is sitting still, almost like it is vibrating, and when he tries to focus on food, his head will shake at quite a rapid rate to the point where he cant accurately catch his food or eat his veg.

I dust his food with nutrobal lightly on his food a few times a week, make sure he gets veg as well as live food on a regular basis (e.g carrot tops)

Ive read quite a lot on the net about MBD, but no one has mentioned just the head shaking, other people have mention quite a few issues not just head shaking so im wondering if it is actually MBD (Excuse my ignorance, im not really in the know about this disease)

I want to book a trip to the vet tomorrow but would like to have a fair idea on what it could be before attending the vets, so if anyone could help me i would be very very appreciative!!

Also, i am based in North London, does anybody know of a Local vets that have a Herp specialist?

Once again, thanks in advanced for any info you can give me. I love my little guy and really want him back to normal, breaks my heart to watch him in this state.

Cheers. 

Riggs


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## riggs1985 (Sep 11, 2007)

Anybody at all?


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## riggs1985 (Sep 11, 2007)

Thanks a lot for all the advice, much appreciated!!!


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## NBLADE (Apr 11, 2007)

MBD can cause shaking like that, but you would normally notice bowing legs, and swollen joints, and almost like a rubber bottom jaw before the shaking. However a calcium overdose will cause the shakes and twitching, how many times a week are you dusting the food, and are you just using nutrobal or are you using pure calcium aswell? 
Also if they eat too much food in one sitting they can throw the food back up and this can cause twitching in the head and toes for a few days afterwards. 

Any chance you can get some pics of him up? 
It could be a number of things, could neurological, or could be down to his age, with beardeds having an average lifespan of around 8 to 12 years. 
What are his temps in the cage? No chance that they may have risen lately, as higher temps can also cause neurological issues and shaking.


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## riggs1985 (Sep 11, 2007)

Thanks a lot for the reply, i figured people didn't respond because im not a valued member or something!

I'm only giving him a small amount of nutrobal a couple of times a week, dusted onto his veg and live food every week, have done so for quite a while. Although, i noticed about a month ago that the nutrobal didnt have that usual Vitamin smell about it, but it didn't have a use by date so i was confused as to whether it was off or out of date. So i purchased a new batch!

I also bought some T-Rex liquid calcium as i was recommended it by a friend. Is this a good enough product to be giving him?

Temps in his tank have not changed!


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## Rthompson (Feb 19, 2011)

Hi, sorry it's not that your an invalued member, everyone is valued.. we just have busy days and miss threads 

Sounds like the early onsets of MBD Developing and I would recommend getting him to a vet for a checkup.

It sounds like you may have restricted his vitamins too much, nutrobal shouldn't be used all the time, pure calcium dust is necessary in the diet alongside nutrobal and one should be provided in every meal.

Can you confirm those tank temperatures, UVB Setup and Vivarium Setup.
Also How old is the UVB Tube?


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## GeeUK (May 2, 2011)

> pure calcium dust is necessary in the diet alongside nutrobal and one should be provided in every meal.


I give calclium dust 5x a week and Nutrobol 2x a week.

If I feed my Bearded Dragon 2x a day, should I be dusting BOTH times or just one of the times per day?

Apparently they can overdose on calcium or is that rubbish?


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## Rthompson (Feb 19, 2011)

I would dust both both times, providing UVB supplies are correct they will process it without a problem.

It's the vitamins you don't want to be over dosing on


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## GeeUK (May 2, 2011)

Rthompson said:


> I would dust both both times, providing UVB supplies are correct they will process it without a problem.
> 
> It's the vitamins you don't want to be over dosing on


Okay thanks,

Sorry for the thread hi-jack, but I am sure it will still be useful


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## Jeffers3 (May 18, 2010)

Sorry to the OP for posting the third different bit of advice in three posts, but you should give a small amount of nutrobal every day. It's mostly calcium and contains the necessary supplements to help this calcium get utilised.

If you have a good UV source, it will negate the need for vit D3 to a certain extent, but the supplement is designed for use in this way. You will not overdose the beardie on calcium and, if you use it sparingly but often, you won't overdose on anything else either.

The calcium in it will be stable, but a pot of nutrobal will have a limited shelf life because of the biochemicals it contains. It will depend a bit on how it is stored, so it's not straightforward to give a single shelf life. Ideally it should be kept cool and dry. Most people, however, seem to keep it on top of their viv, which is about the worst place you could put it!


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