Temporary paralysis is one of the latest stages of the disease, as well as one of the most dangerous (at least in my opinion). As I explained before, the lack of calcium may affect the heart fataly. It is imperative that you either take the lizard to a qualified veterinarian in order to administer the CORRECT amount of liquid calcium and perhaps even vitamin D3. You have to be very careful when supplementing with powders containing D3, as you may easily overdose.
I once had a "healthy" group of young Basiliscus vittatus that had been kept in my quarantine for weeks. All ate well and showed no signs of illness. The day I moved them out to place them in their respective exhibit, the stress of running away from me paralyzed 3 of them, and left the rest shaking for a few minutes. Our vet gave all of them a SPECIFIED dose of liquid calcium, and they were exposed to high intensity UVB light from a mercury vapor lamp (Big Apple Herpetological's). Most lizards stopped shaking shortly after I left them alone and they had a chance to relax (away from people). The ones that were presented with temporary paralysis regained muscle movement after a few hours. Their photoperiod was changed to allow them to receive UVB 24 hours a day for a week. This is not recommended for a healthy individual, as it is psychologically stressful, but given the circumstances, it was worth the sacrifice.
As you can see, MBD can be reversed quite quickly, if done correctly. But you can also overdose on calcium, D3 or even phosphorus if you're not careful (and kill them). It is your responsibility to now decide whether to allow a veterinarian to assist you, or to "play it by ears."
Good luck to you.
Truly,
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Fabián Aguirre
Zookeeper/ Freshwater Aquarist
Department of Herpetology and Freshwater Biology
The Dallas World Aquarium
(214) 720-2224
fabian@dwazoo.com
www.dwazoo.com
