The Truth About Bearded Dragon Metabolic Bone Disease

June 30th, 2009

MDB, or metabolic bone disease, is pretty common in captive bearded dragons. Wild beardies never develop this condition. The owner is responsible for causing this disease due to improper care. This article will discuss one of the most common dietary disorders in bearded dragons.

Causes

This disease can occur for many reasons. The most common cause is a lack of calcium in your dragon’s diet. Calcium is very important to proper functioning and formation of muscles and bones. Your bearded dragon may need to take calcium supplements.

It’s also important that you provide proper lighting for bearded dragons. Without it, reptiles like bearded dragons can’t digest food properly. Improper temperatures in the enclosure and various other diseases are other common causes.

Symptoms

This disease causes beardies to have thin bones. This means that your dragon can very easily suffer broken bones. This condition makes it much harder for your beardie to walk, jump, or climb like normal.

Twisted limbs and toes are also common signs of MBD. The jaw bones will also become soft and spongy. This makes it more difficult for your lizard to eat. As the disease progresses, your dragon may even experience paralysis of the front or rear legs.

Treatment

The underlying problem needs to be corrected in order to treat metabolic bone disease. If a lack of calcium in the diet is to blame, you may need to give calcium and vitamin D injections. Improper lighting will need to be corrected with proper UV lights. If other diseases or conditions are to blame, they will need to be dealt with before MDB will go away.

There are many things you need to learn about caring for your beardie. One of the greatest resources you’ll find to learn everything is bearded-dragon-care.net. So, stop by today to start learning everything you need to know.

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