MBD...please help

[*~* ßêR *~*]

at the beginning of this month my female beardie, stripe, was diagnosed with MBD and an infected toe.  since then i don't know if i've been doing over-kill or not enough but im trying my hardest to save her.  i give her a shot every 3 days of antibiotics to help with the toe.  the vet she had seen was not a herp "specialist" but another vet in the practice that has had some experience with exotics, the actual herp vet couldn't see her at the time.  my fault, i was terrified when i realized she couldn't move her back legs.  he showed me the x-ray of "an arthritic spine" (from the MBD).  he did give me a list of high calcium veggies, which she used to be the veggie eater of the two, and she has been given them twice a day with a veggie suppliment mixed in by shake-n-bake method (sandfire super foods dragon dust veggie maintenance formula by t-rex).  her crickets have been dusted (repashy superfoods bearded dragon calcium plus by t-rex) and the back legs pulled off to help with her disability of catching them.  i brought her in to begin with noticing her back legs not working very much at all, she would just drag herself around.  and then thinking about it, i began to realize that she hasn't been eating either.  we did have her housed with another beardie we had purchased at the same time, so it was hard to tell.  immediately we seperated them.  since then i have been able to really get a good look at whats going on with her.  she very rarely poops, once every 3 or 4 days, if that.  she doesn't eat anymore unless i hand feed her.  and what i mean by this is i mash up about 5 wax worms, mix it with flukers repta aid, and add some of the calcium plus...and then spoon feed it to her.  i can usually only get about 2 mL of this in her a day.  i have tried to just give her wax worms, she turns her nose up at em..although she will eat superworms if i kinda fling them around in front of her...she gets her veggies changed twice a day, does not touch them at all anymore.  and now i have noticed that she sits in her tank with her head up a bit and her mouth open more and more lately.  im beginning to think that im going about this all wrong.  my boyfriend was supposed to be the "herp guy" but im sorry to say that if it wasn't for me doing all this for her, she probably would be gone by now.  i have read a lot of things but i really don't think i will be able to save her without the help of all the kind and caring people in this community.  i love her to death, and i will not let her go.  if anyone can help me, or have any advice i would love you for all eternity for it. im assuming she is about a year old now, when we bought them the guy at the pet store said they came in a shipment last april.  

[perfectly_flawed]

Hi Amber, I'm glad you found us. I wish it were under better circumstances though. Let's see if we can help you pull Stripe through this.
Let's start with her environment. Could you answer some questions, please? Provide as much detail as you can, and don't leave anything out. It's all important.
What is her basking surface temp? What type of thermometer are you using to measure the temp?
What brand, rating, and type (tube, compact, mvb) is her UVB light? How close to it can she get? How old is the UVB light?
What substrate (floor covering) is she on?
Do you soak her? How often?

The calcium you're using isn't the best out there. Repcal brand is a better choice for a powdered supplement, but you may want to consider a liquid calcium instead. Liquid is more easily absorbed into the body, and is usually a better choice for dragons with MBD. You can purchase one at http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Store.html

[*~* ßêR *~*]

right now with basking she can't climb, so i really don't know what to do about that cuz i can't get her higher toward the light and be safe

otherwise she usually hangs out under her plant which it's about 88 there

(hides her head) i just replaced her uvb light with the, what im finding out now is garbage, 10.0 Repti glo 15w 2 bulbs, as close as she can get to it is basically her staying on the bottom because she can't climb, which is about 16 inches

(hides her head again) for substrate we just switched to walnut bedding because the guy at the petstore said thats what he uses with his and has had no problems

ohhhh boy..as for soaking, like i said my boyfriend was SUPPOSED to be the herp guy, i JUST soaked her today..she didn't seem to mind but i did have to bunch the towel up under her head cuz i was afraid she was going to drown..at least that part i found out today i been doing wrong

[perfectly_flawed]

You'll need to make some changes asap to help her through this. First is the UVB light. Since she can't climb to get within 6" of it, you'll need to go with a megaray or a t-rex active uv heat. Both of these are excellent mercury vapor bulbs and output the highest amount of UVB of any of the bulbs. The t-rex can often be found in petstores and the megaray can be ordered from reptileuv.com
What type of thermometer are you using?
She absolutely must be soaked 3 to 4 times a week for at least 15 minutes each time. Good hydration will help her to heal and process her calcium properly.
The crushed walnut is by far the worst substrate on the market. It tears the intestinal lining on it's way through and causes often fatal blockages. Please, take that out immediately. Just replace it with paper towels or newspaper for now. Safe and sanitary permanent substrates are textured ceramic tiles, nonadhesive shelf liner, reptile carpet - or stick with newspaper or paper towels. All sands and similar substrates hold bacteria, and most are also an impaction risk.
One of the first things I learned when dealing with petstores is that almost all of them claim to have whatever animal you're buying for, and most really don't know what's best - some just plain don't care and will tell you whatever it takes to make a good sale from you.
For now, remove her plant and anything else she can hide under. She needs to be basking and absorbing UVB instead of hiding.

[*~* ßêR *~*]

OMG!!! i feel absolutely horrible..we have those stupid exo-terra setups..so it's hard to do this properly i guess..my boyfriend just found liquid uvb at the store? is that helpful in any way?

[perfectly_flawed]

I'm not very familiar with liquid UVB personally but you could send a private message off to ladyknite here on the boards - she'd probably know more about it than I do. I don't believe it would be much benefit though.
It's really not hard to get things set up just right - but it's much harder when you've been given such bad info. I'm sorry that you're having to deal with the results from that bad info. Work on getting the UVB set up properly, and her temps measured correctly with a digital thermometer with a probe or a temp gun, and get the crushed walnut out asap. She's got a decent chance of living a good life still, but it's going to take some work for her to do so.

[*~* ßêR *~*]

ok..my boyfriend got the repti sun bulbs from the pet store but thats all he could find..the pet store didn't have liquid calcium or the other lighting so im going to order that online tonight.  and as soon as my little one goes to bed (i don't like getting deep into the tanks with kids around) im going to get the walnut out of there.  i was watching her before and she just seems soooo lethargic and floppy. her eyes just look so sleepy and slow.  i made him pick up some superworms because that seems to be the only thing she will eat without me putting a syringe to her mouth, i hope thats ok.  she has no interest in crickets and she will only eat 5 wax worms at best for me.  she has lost so much weight i just don't know what to do anymore.  and i thank you sooooo much for all the advice you have given me so far...im very greatful to finally be pointed in the right direction.  hopefully this will save her life and prevent him from it happening to him too.

[BoogiesMom]

Just a thought.  Go get some bricks and cover the bottom of the tank to raise her closer to the UV light.  Just make sure the door can not open if she was to lean on it.  The bricks should be soaked in 1/10 bleach/water for an hour and completely dried before use.  The other thing is temporarily put her in a small fish tank and hang your UV light on the inside to get her closer.  Superworms should only be given to Beardies at least 16 inches long.  How long is your baby? They are not the best staple for Beardies but great if you are trying to put weight on.  You can add more feeders when she is better.  You can also try silkworms.  They are a slow moving worm and a great staple.  You are in great hands with Crystal.

Good Luck

[Carolyn]

I've actually temporarily raised our floor so it was closer to the lights by using Styrofoam covered with a layer of plastic, then a couple layers of newspaper.  It is only temporary, but it was simple and cheap and has gotten our critter much closer to the lights.   

[BoogiesMom]

I've actually temporarily raised our floor so it was closer to the lights by using Styrofoam covered with a layer of plastic, then a couple layers of newspaper.  It is only temporary, but it was simple and cheap and has gotten our critter much closer to the lights.   

Great idea!