Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Spike, my six month old beardie. has a kink (more like a curve) in his spine towards the beginning of his tail. Over the past couple of weeks his spine (close to his tail) has started to look like a hump back. At first I thought it was MBD, because I couldn't think of anything else that could cause such an abnormality.... but the thing is.... I've had him since he was 6 weeks...(now 6 months old) and he has always had uvb lighting ( which is a brand new bulb)I use a zoo-med Repti-Sun 5.0 UVB 36 inch tube. For calcium I use T-Rex 2.0 calcium/no phosphorus, this contains D3. and correct water, vitamins.. and what i thought was great husbandry. He gets his crickets alternated with his greens dusted every 2 days. (mon. crickets get dusted, wednesday greens, etc)I scoop poop out everytime he goes.. which is at least once daily... usually he goes twice a day. He has be on washed, double sifted playsand since he was 10 inches. He eats all his greens. I offer a variety of dandelion, turnip, romaine, and sometimes collards. along with some veggies for variety... which he doesnt seem to care for.
From what I have found out about MBD, it does really sound like he has it.... he doesnt have tremors or paraylis ... or anything like that... just this hump. Could he have mbd with out any of the other symptoms? I read on some website.... (cant remember the name) that too much heat can cause a prob like this? Do you all think this could be the cause? The site said a basking spot of 100 was too high.... I was told to keep it at 100..... and that is what it has been at... could that cause his problem? What can I do? All advice is greatly appreciated, and thanks for your time/help in advance.
oo yeah... he is sleeping in strange positions.. like curled up on the floor of his cage....

Never heard of too much heat causing such a problem, but from what many have said possibly from poor genetics, or possibly from some type of a calcium deficieny as early as when the dragon was developing in the egg? Just a couple ideas.

Bumps on the lower spine area that I have seen are either injury related or it can be an impaction also. The injury does not have to a severe one or one you even saw happening, a fall in the tank can cause it a dislocation, but you would usually be seeing some other signs of distress, I would think at minumum him favoring a leg or not wanting to climb

Their vertebra's move very easily. Even an impaction can cause a raising in the spine, over the area of the impaction, but again, you usually see other signs, like leg weakness or paralysis.

Anything else I can think of would also have other symptoms also, a tumor would be causing pressure, even something like hip dysplasia, that would take months to show wearing on the spine and cause a bump, you would see other signs like not wanting to stand on both back legs.

It could be a fluid abcess, only a vet can check and confirm that and drain it if needed, but those are usually related to diet deficiency.

Sorry, can't think of anything else it could be without some other signs or a vet visit

With the lighting & supplementation you listed, I would have to suspect some sort of tumor or crippling illness like scoliosis or rheumatoid arthritis? I don't know if dragons can get either of those but a vet visit is definitely in order.

With that said,, don't rule out MBD without some blood work. These are living creatures and like it or not, they don't always read the same "fact of life book" that we do. lol Just because we can provide all the UVB, D3, etc. Does not mean that their individual body can process any of it.

Good luck
Please keep us posted.
Later.
-----
Joel R

Coming Soon!
www.SpikesAndScales.com

as far as impaction goes, could he be impacted even though he goes regularly? I thought they couldnt go at all if they were impacted.
He moves around well... still willing to run across his cage for crickets, which is a good sign. He climbs up his branch to bask everyday... but comes down to sleep now... which he never did before. I haven't noticed him favoring either leg... and he's eager to come out of his cage and chill with us like always... but he just seems so depressed when hes in his cage.. I dont know if this is from him being spoiled and always wanting to be out, or if this is because of his back...
As for the calcium deficiency in early development.. could it take this long for that to show up? He's six months now... He has a great appetite, but has always been a small dragon. He's about 13 inches now, but when I received him at six weeks he was about 4.5.
I'm going to make him a vet app. Its just a matter of getting the funds together.. thanks for all your help guys! Ill keep you all posted.. and please let me know if you think of anything else.
When i go to the vet what kinds of tests should i ask for? Will general blood work cover all the bases, including MBD, tumors, etc?
thanks again,
Liz

amount, we have one that was impacted badly and paralyzed on all four legs, we have been able to move most of it out (she gets an x-ray Friday) with soaks and Olive oil drops and baby food. SHe has regained the use of all four legs and chases her crickets and eats now fine on her own, but we can still she a small bump on her back and she doe snot stand up fully on the back legs yet.

As another poster said, the dragon may not be absorbing the calcium correctly also, let the vet access her and have her diet info and supplements written down with you to go over with them

I have two deformed baby dragons that were born with deformities. Lumpy started out as having only a very mild kink in his tail and bend in his spine. It was barely noticable - until recently. He's now 2 months old and his deformities are really starting to take shape. It seems that the more he grows the more severe his deformities are. I'm not saying that this is what is wrong with your beardie, I'm just pointing out that there are other things that can cause a kink in the tail/spine and a bend in the back.

This is what Lumpy looked like a month ago (he's the one on top). His deformities were just barely noticable....

And this is Lumpy today...

I know the deformities look bad, but he's eating and thriving so far. We keep our fingers crossed and pray every day.

veronica
Beautiful Dragons

Kind of, the lump on hisback is in that exact spot. But its not as severe as the one in the second photo... But basically, yes. that is what it looks like... it has just shown up within the last few weeks.

I don't know exactly what it is, but I seriously doubt that it's MBD.

Veronica