My bearded Dragon is sick PLEASE HELP!!!?

OK, first, he is about 4.5 inches long (without tail) and is in a 55 gallon tank. Untill today, i fed him brocolli, squash, zucchini and gut loaded crickets. The lighting was two 75 watt zilla lights (not sure if they were UVB). His basking area was around 95 degreese and the rest was around 80.... (It is winter and my whole house is cold... not sure how to get it higher atm) The substrate i used was wallnut shell. About a week after i got him he was twitching a bit and was told to give him more sunlight and feed him more greens.Everything had been fine untill some time later ( a week ago or so) and he started getting slugish and not eating... he then began to drag himself around with his front AND back legs. I waited 2-3 days hoping it was just a small problem that would fix itself. I deeply regret waiting... and today changed his substrate, lighting, diet, and temperatures to as follows.

Substrate - Newspaper untill he is 6%26quot; then will move to alfalfa pellets

Lighting - added a 24%26quot; UVB zilla 8.0 and a zilla red infrared night bulb

Diet - learned i had been giving him a Ca:P of about 1:3... which is HORRIBLE and should be 2:1( or so i read) I now feed him collard greens as well which are around 4.5:1 Ca:p ratio (please give me more options to help) and the lighting bumped up his tems all around about 5 Degrees. If any more information is needed Please ask for it.



Thanks for reading my question and please post any information i might find helpfull!My bearded Dragon is sick PLEASE HELP!!!?
It doesn't sound like brumation to me at all, and by the size of your Beardie he is probably too young for that anyway.



It sounds like Metabolic Bone Disease to me. Zilla lights are marketed as UVB, but are so low that they don't do much of anything. So neither your old bulb nor your new bulb are going to help. Now that he has MBD, you need more than a run of the mill 10.0 fluorescent to reverse it. I recommend the Megaray line of lights, which you can get here: http://www.reptileuv.com/ or the T-Rex line of lights, which you can get at some petstores and places like bigappleherp.com or petmountain.com. Both of those are Mercury Vapor Bulbs, and put out about 4.5 times the microwatts of UVB you can get with a 10.0 UVB light. They need to be replaced annually, and should be at least a foot away from your Bearded Dragon.



Next, you should probably get some liquid calcium. Your vet may give this to you, if not you can order some from here. (You'll want the calcium Glubionate): http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.co



Now it is possible that he is also impacted as well as having MBD, from your substrate. If he hasn't pooped in a week or more, assume this is also the case. To treat impactions, while waiting for the vet visit, give him warm baths and gently massage his right lower belly. This will help him pass anything stuck in his digestive system. My bearded Dragon is sick PLEASE HELP!!!?
can u please read my question bout my beardy not eating?

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My bearded Dragon is sick PLEASE HELP!!!?
Walnut shells are sharp and he could have ingested one of them. If he did it could have become stuck in his digestive system. Take him to a qualified vet ASAP.My bearded Dragon is sick PLEASE HELP!!!?
well first of all i think he has vitamin d definicy which is caused from lack of sun (uvb) you should get at least a 10.0 desert uvb bulb and dust all his food everyday with a good calcium vitamin supplement. more than likely you may want to take him to the vet. here are a few websites that may help

http://www.sundialreptile.com/care%20she

http://searchwarp.com/swa241073.htm

http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Guide-to-Bea

My bearded Dragon is sick PLEASE HELP!!!?
Brumation doesn't happen until they are at least a year old. I think you just need to dust ALL his food with calcium powder..babies need more calcium than you think. My daughter and I have a 4 year old bearded dragon who had a calcium deficiency when we adopted him and he was dragging his legs around (I took him to the vet thinking they were broken) and then he started having seizures (terrifying). I'm glad to see that you are going to set up an appointment for him, just make sure the vet you call specializes in exotics. I took mine to another vet once (our regular vet was on maternity leave) who didn't specialize in exotics and she ended up making him worse!!! They will tell you anything they want..they have no clue what to do with an exotic pet. Good Luck!!My bearded Dragon is sick PLEASE HELP!!!?
I dont think your lighting is very good, ive heard bad things about those brands. I would use either the reptisun 10.0 or a mercury vapor bulb (for reptiles) like the Mega Ray. Your basking temperature should be around 100-110 degrees, and for substrate you should probably use tiles or paper towels. I think it definitely does have something to do with calcium deficiency. Either way best of luck and hope he gets well

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