Central netted dragon question

[BDkeeper]

Hey all just a quick question about my CND
He seems to be constantly looking at the roof of his tank and turning he's head around and I'm abit worried about what he could do to himself.
If anyone has any thing to say in terms of advice I would love to hear if
Ps he's shedding

 

[Dragons_Lair]

Hi BD, what you are describing sounds a bit like a behavior known as star gazing and if his head begins slowly falling from side to side then your dragon may be very unwell.

For the days leading up to the commencement of this behavior, was he staring at the ground at all?

Do his eyes appear glazed at all?

Has he lost his appetite at all?

Does he appear off balance at all?

What type of UV are you using, mercury vapor or a tube?

Does the calcium powder you use contain added D3?

 

[BDkeeper]

I didn't notice him starring at the ground leading up it this I have to say. He didn't eat yesterday and he is off balance a bit when he tries to climb. I'm using an exo terra 43 watt 100% uv and I don't think the calcium dust as any added D3. Here's a photo of her eyes if it helps

 

[Dragons_Lair]

Can’t seem to find a UV bulb like the one you have described, perhaps you could take a photo of the box or find and attach a pic of the box it came in. A pic or the calcium you are using could also be helpful if you aren’t sure whether or not it contains added D3.

Over supplementation of calcium powder with added D3 (especially when combined with too much exposure to direct sunlight or close contact with a high output mercury vapor bulb) can result in a toxic buildup of D3 in a dragons system and produce symptoms like the ones that I have just described. Not sure if this is what’s going on with your bloke though so don’t panic just yet. He may in fact be perfectly ok and just enjoying the heat lamp.

Bit hard to tell anything much from your pic, but he looks like a little cutie and appears to be very well fed J

 

[BDkeeper]

welp im glad to report that my little fella is doing a lot better and i think hes on the road back to recovery. he ate 3 medium sized crickets today and looks like hes got his co-ordination back and ive only seen him looking up a couple of times today (but that could've just been out of curiosity).
dragonlair here are the pics of my uv im using and my calcium powder

 

[gregcranston]

Good, I was going to say he might need to drink more water. I've had similar things happen to my bearded dragons when they get dehydrated, I think their inner ear dries out or something.

 

[GeckoJosh]

I use both that light and calcium brand, they are imo both top quality - particularly the calcium as it is the finest grade I have found which makes it stick to just about anything.

 

[Dragons_Lair]

Thanks for the pics BD and glad to hear that he’s doing better. I have used those same bulbs in all my tanks for years now and find them to be great. According to their website, the calcium powder you are using contains no added D3 at all so you can pretty much rule out D3 overdose. Stargazing is also a symptom of MBD so is it possible he isn’t getting close enough to the bulb to produce enough of his own D3? Should this be the case, switching to a calcium powder with added D3 is probably the easiest way to help get him over the line but you could also consider moving the UV bulb closer to his basking spot or the spot that he spends most of his time. Hope he continues to improve for you.

 

[GeckoJosh]

Instead of switching calcium powders maybe try and find a Multi V powder that contains D3 so that way you are more in control of how much they are getting.

 

[BDkeeper]

Hes favourite spot it around 20 - 25cm away from the uv light but so i dont think it will be that because most of his spot around the tank are within at most 40cm of it but i will think about moving the uv closer if he starts to not go close to it anymore