Just wanted to share my very scary story incase anyone has a similar situation and is searching for information.
At 5.15 this morning my boyfriend came rushing upstairs saying Boo, my 6 year old generally very placid female bearded dragon was in the middle of the loungeroom floor and something was wrong.
i raced downstairs to see her all flared up in the middle of the floor, she was acting all aggressive towards any movement. picked her up and she was trembling badly, i took her upstairs and supported her in a warm bath for a couple of minutes till she pooed, once she'd pooed the trembling was a bit better, but she was still extremely agressive towards anything that moved, eyes were open, just didnt have their usual sparkle. Very out of character for her. At 5.30 i called the vet and booked the earliest appointment i could with David Vella, i was in luck, i could see him at 8.30! i jumped in the car at 7.15 expecting peak hour traffic to be horrendous, but yay, school holidays and i got there at 7.50, AND he was happy to see us straight away,.....
we had a chat while he felt around, fecal exam was fine, husbandry/diet was good etc
While Boo has the same diet and conditions (at least 30 mins of sun every day, generally more like an hour or 2) as my other 6 beardies he said the calcium levels could still have dropped to a point where seizures set in so he suggested i leave her there for the day so he can run a blood test too check her calcium levels and take blood to send off to test kidney function since poor kidney function apparently affects calcium absorption.
but the lack of calcium wasnt a satisfactory explanation for the sudden aggression, so he wanted to start her on fortum as well and monitor her condition throughout the day.
around 11 he called to say her calcium levels were low (1.24 when they should be 1.4) but wasnt sure they were low enough to cause seizures, so it was lucky he'd already started her on fortum.
anyway, i picked Boo up this afternoon and shes looking heaps better, not her normal self yet, but the aggresssion has stopped and so has the shaking. She'll be on fortum for a month, and get liquid calcium daily for 3 weeks, then i cut back to twice a week
ill post her kidney function tests when i get them tommorrow.
At 5.15 this morning my boyfriend came rushing upstairs saying Boo, my 6 year old generally very placid female bearded dragon was in the middle of the loungeroom floor and something was wrong.
i raced downstairs to see her all flared up in the middle of the floor, she was acting all aggressive towards any movement. picked her up and she was trembling badly, i took her upstairs and supported her in a warm bath for a couple of minutes till she pooed, once she'd pooed the trembling was a bit better, but she was still extremely agressive towards anything that moved, eyes were open, just didnt have their usual sparkle. Very out of character for her. At 5.30 i called the vet and booked the earliest appointment i could with David Vella, i was in luck, i could see him at 8.30! i jumped in the car at 7.15 expecting peak hour traffic to be horrendous, but yay, school holidays and i got there at 7.50, AND he was happy to see us straight away,.....
we had a chat while he felt around, fecal exam was fine, husbandry/diet was good etc
While Boo has the same diet and conditions (at least 30 mins of sun every day, generally more like an hour or 2) as my other 6 beardies he said the calcium levels could still have dropped to a point where seizures set in so he suggested i leave her there for the day so he can run a blood test too check her calcium levels and take blood to send off to test kidney function since poor kidney function apparently affects calcium absorption.
but the lack of calcium wasnt a satisfactory explanation for the sudden aggression, so he wanted to start her on fortum as well and monitor her condition throughout the day.
around 11 he called to say her calcium levels were low (1.24 when they should be 1.4) but wasnt sure they were low enough to cause seizures, so it was lucky he'd already started her on fortum.
anyway, i picked Boo up this afternoon and shes looking heaps better, not her normal self yet, but the aggresssion has stopped and so has the shaking. She'll be on fortum for a month, and get liquid calcium daily for 3 weeks, then i cut back to twice a week
ill post her kidney function tests when i get them tommorrow.