Flotsam in hospital

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pythoness

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:cry: :cry: Hi guys, sorry haven't been around much, have been dealing with a very sick little netted who presented with muscle tremmors 5 days ago and then stopped eating. This morning she was in a coma and i rushed her down to Peter Wilson at currumbin.
She has MBD (despite calcium in every feed) and impaction from sand substrate.
She is being given mineral & vitamin injections and enemas :O to clear the impaction, but i expect her to be in hospital for a few weeks.
As you can imagine i am beside myself with the knowledge that despite keeping all husbandry and hygine protocols as high as possible, my husbandry mistakes have had such a devestating effect.
I was under the impression that netteds could live on sand happily, as they are a desert dragon that lives in sand in the wild, but this is apparently not the case in captivity.
As embarressed as i am by my own mistakes, i desided to write about it in an attempt to prevent someone else making the same trajic mistake. No dragon shoud be kept on sand, and at the preferance to having a beautiful natural looking tank, for the reptiles health, newspaper should always be used.
As for the calcium deficiency, i ALWAYS dusted every feed with repti-cal, and yet she still developed MBD metabolic bone disorder. Apparently liquid calcium is the better option and is more readily absorbed than the powder.
I am overcome with guilt and grief, and may not be around much for a few days or so.
Please, other dragon keepers, learn from my mistakes and get the sand out of your display tanks, and give liquid viamin/calcium, more the better, and hopefully you wont have to feel this way.
 
:( Sorry to hear that, at least you are doing all you can to get your little guy on the road to recovery. And thanks for the tips I'll probably move to liquid calcium once the powder runs out. Good luck and I hope it makes a full recovery.
 
wow sorry to hear:cry: ,we are thinkin some beardies soon but i might continue researchin readin and preparin for a bit linger .....thanks for ya information in such a hard time.........
 
yeah, best options are to feed insects on a high calcium diet or inject prior to feeding - much higher calcium concentration than dusting
 
sorry to hear mate...my dragons have a container with sand so they can dig...also at the retile park where i brought my SW carpet, all their dragons are on sand...anyways, hope your lil fella gets better soon...
 
Sorry to hear that :(
What UV lighting where you using?
I havnt heard of sand causing impactions were there any other contributing factors? or is it normal for sand to cause problems? I have recently been using sand for some of my monitors and dont want to harm them.
 
Ppl have been succesfully keeping dragons without liquid calcium injections for ages what has changed?
 
as i said, i know the reptile park i got my snake keep all their reptiles/dragons/monitors et on sand with no probs...
 
Really sorry to hear that :0(

I kept my netteds on sand but always fed them seperate to their enclosure in a bare plastic tub to avoid compaction.

Don't feel bad, mistakes happen, and as everyone has a different opinion on every herp topic, it's often very hard to make the right decision.

I really hope your little one perks up after some R&R at the vets, chin up :0)
 
hey guys. i had a similar problem. my shingleback developed a bone diesease in her front leg. i gave her calcium powder. but apparantly it wasnt enouhg.she had to have her leg amputated last week. she is good now. but now i use calcium syrup. u get it from the vets for dogs and cats. and just use the amount they tell u for the weight of the lizard
 
Thanks Saz, i am beating myself up pretty bad, but i need to i think, i'll feel better when she's home and well.

cris,,, reptisun 75w with basking area at 10cm from light,,,, by the book, thats just the thing, i know people have been keeping on sand sucsessfully, thats why i did too, if i had known i wouldn't have. The whole thing is i have done everything by the book, husbandry and hygine, and she still got sick, so things do just happen, nothing is set in stone and even done by the book isn't right either, just can't win sometimes.

Thanks for the well wishes guys, will keep yall updated, i get the x-ray results tomorrow so will know more then.
 
im not 100% sure, but i think its not so much how much calcium, but how much uv light they get aswell, coz calcium is used in the synthesis of vitamin d, which can only happen with uv light. its usually a vitamin d deficiency attributed to a lack of calcium. just wat ive been told. did u hav a uv light for her pythoness? plus ive never had problems with dragons on sand, ive kept beardies on sand for five years with no problems at all.
 
no sand at all???? ive got my dragons on sand, i assumed that even if they did eat some that it could just go right through them...................time to get them outta there? luckyly theyve only been with sand for bout a month.
 
Jonesc1, i have had uv for her, and half an hour sun evry week, vitamin d and calcium supps. everything by the book to the letter, always.
I realise people keep them on sand with no probs, unfortunately i wasn't one of them :( just sharing my experience, not telling anyone else that they should do this or that, but this is my experience and i hope no one else has to go through it. :(:(
 
What sort of UV and was it in her enclosure, on constantly in the day?

To me, it sounds like a lack of UV..I noticed you wrote reptisun 75w which is only a heat lamp isn't it?

Don't know about sand, I see your opinion of it, but we've kept lizards on sand for ages, my partner bred and raised hundreds of them with no problems whatsoever with sand or impaction.
 
I was under the impression that the reptisun has uv. have chucked the box out now, anyway yes to all your questions, the rep vet was sure it was calcium def due to head shape, which has developed over time. i would also give pure sunlight once a week and supps every feed. and yes, hundreds are raised on sand with no probs, your right, but this is what can and does happen to the unfortunate, and i was one :(:(
 
Are you sure you are not jumping a bit quick to these conclusions pythoness? no doubt something is happening but without x rays how can either MBD or sand causing the impacation be known?
 
did you feed him on sand or in a dif tub? i use a diff tub for feeding and i keep my herps on towels...looks good, easy to clean all i have to do is take out the towels and put new ones in and put oldens in the washing machine...
 
Reptisun is only a brand, their UV tubes are UV, but not the reflector globes. Sounds like that was the reason the calcium wasn't absorbing and why it had the MBD. If there isn't UV, you can give them as much calcium as you want but it won't absorb into their system. Once a week of sunlight woulnd't have been enough.

The 'reptisun' name is unfortunately misleading, it's only the brand name. Sorry to hear and hopefully you can get onto a good UV light.
 
cris, just relaying what the vet told me, no jumping, :p but will know more in the morning when they ring me with the xray results, just keeping fingeres and toes crossed that she makes it throught the night..
Thanks Nome, i was not aware of that, like i said i thought i was doing everything by the book, and have had all my illusions shattered today, it has been a very very bad day. Yep i was under the impression that they had uv, obviously i was wrong :(
 
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