Dragon shakes his head when swallowing food

[Rwtf8]

Your UVB is a T 5? If so the distance needs to be 12- 15 inches directly above him -- NO back wall if so -- for a T 8 distance would need to be 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor

Current distance from the heightest basking point in hot area is something about 10-11 inches (30cm). Cold area though has no direct vertical UV lights: enclosure is "divided" by 2/3 + 1/3 to provide a cold and hot areas.
Do you think 1-2 inches make a big difference in UVB for the dragon?
He controls (I think at least) that: sometimes he likes to spend a day in a cave and more oftenly he likes to seat in hot area.

 

[Sadie]

Current distance from the heightest basking point in hot area is something about 10-11 inches (30cm). Cold area though has no direct vertical UV lights: enclosure is "divided" by 2/3 + 1/3 to provide a cold and hot areas.
Do you think 1-2 inches make a big difference in UVB for the dragon?
He controls (I think at least) that: sometimes he likes to spend a day in a cave and more oftenly he likes to seat in hot area.

Yes distance make a difference w/ the bulbs -- if your using a T 8 10 inches is too high - they are not as strong as the T 5's -- your dragon knows what light he needs -- so make sure your surface basking temps and the UVB are on par --

 

[Rwtf8]

Yes distance make a difference w/ the bulbs -- if your using a T 8 10 inches is too high - they are not as strong as the T 5's -- your dragon knows what light he needs -- so make sure your surface basking temps and the UVB are on par --

Hello again!
I've visited vet today and got the blood analysis:

PHOS 2.24 mmol/L. Should be 0.61-1.65
CA >4.00 mmol/L. Should 1.90-2.50
TP 57 g/L. Should be 30-81

Based on these results, vet told me that it might be Calcium overdose based on his blood. We're discussuing his diet + supplements, so maybe (not decided yet) I'll give him less or no Cal for some time. I was also told that I can replace 3 times feeding of Cal/Cal+D3/Multivimanin+D3 with Multivitamins+D3/no supplementes/Multivitamins+D3, but give less vitamins.

 

[Sadie]

Hello again!
I've visited vet today and got the blood analysis:

PHOS 2.24 mmol/L. Should be 0.61-1.65
CA >4.00 mmol/L. Should 1.90-2.50
TP 57 g/L. Should be 30-81

Based on these results, vet told me that it might be Calcium overdose based on his blood. We're discussuing his diet + supplements, so maybe (not decided yet) I'll give him less or no Cal for some time. I was also told that I can replace 3 times feeding of Cal/Cal+D3/Multivimanin+D3 with Multivitamins+D3/no supplementes/Multivitamins+D3, but give less vitamins.

Ok lets have Tracie look at those results
@Drache613

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing today?
Based on the ummol, the calcium is a bit high. How much calcium have you been giving?
Supplementation can be hard to balance out. I would completely cut out the D3 supplementation
right now, that is notorious for causing issues if used too frequently.
Which UVB are you currently using?
Does he still have trouble with his head trembling?

Tracie

 

[Rwtf8]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing today?
Based on the ummol, the calcium is a bit high. How much calcium have you been giving?
Supplementation can be hard to balance out. I would completely cut out the D3 supplementation
right now, that is notorious for causing issues if used too frequently.
Which UVB are you currently using?
Does he still have trouble with his head trembling?

Tracie

Yesterday he was very active and curios. Today he basked for 2-3 hours in the morning and right now he's in his hide.
As for supplemenation: Feed him 3 times a week
Monday: Cal, greens
Wednesday: Cal+D3, dubia (3 full growns)
Friday: Multivitamins + D3, greens/Repashy Beardie Buffet

As for amount of each supplement: 1/4 or 1/3 table spoon of Cal/Cal+D3. Multivitamins: 1/5 tbs
UVB: Arcadia 12% High-Output installed on Pro T5. Distance between his hot area to his body is about 20cm / 8 inches. I replace lamp every 8 months.

I'm worried about distance between lamp and his body - might that be a hypercalcemia caused by too high level of UVB he's getting? I'm going to buy him a new enclosure in June: I'll replace current 90x45x45 with 120x50x60, but I need to find a solution for this 2-3 weeks...

As for head trembling: I fed him 2 dubia roaches yesterday and he was not doing anything suspicious. The most "interesting" thing about his trembling is that this behavior is not constant and he is not doing that every time he eats/swallows. Which makes me think it is not THAT bad, but first time I noticed that was a year ago and this behavior has not changes, but also that means has not degraded/not getting worse.

 

[Sadie]

Yesterday he was very active and curios. Today he basked for 2-3 hours in the morning and right now he's in his hide.
As for supplemenation: Feed him 3 times a week
Monday: Cal, greens
Wednesday: Cal+D3, dubia (3 full growns)
Friday: Multivitamins + D3, greens/Repashy Beardie Buffet

As for amount of each supplement: 1/4 or 1/3 table spoon of Cal/Cal+D3. Multivitamins: 1/5 tbs
UVB: Arcadia 12% High-Output installed on Pro T5. Distance between his hot area to his body is about 20cm / 8 inches. I replace lamp every 8 months.

I'm worried about distance between lamp and his body - might that be a hypercalcemia caused by too high level of UVB he's getting? I'm going to buy him a new enclosure in June: I'll replace current 90x45x45 with 120x50x60, but I need to find a solution for this 2-3 weeks...

As for head trembling: I fed him 2 dubia roaches yesterday and he was not doing anything suspicious. The most "interesting" thing about his trembling is that this behavior is not constant and he is not doing that every time he eats/swallows. Which makes me think it is not THAT bad, but first time I noticed that was a year ago and this behavior has not changes, but also that means has not degraded/not getting worse.

Try raising the UVB to 12 inches and then watch and see what he does - 8 inches is pretty close the a 12% bulb and distance recommended is 12-15

 

[Rwtf8]

Try raising the UVB to 12 inches and then watch and see what he does - 8 inches is pretty close the a 12% bulb and distance recommended is 12-15

Will do in next few days.
Just hypothetical question: Can too much UVB lead to hypercalcemia?

 

[Sadie]

Will do in next few days.
Just hypothetical question: Can too much UVB lead to hypercalcemia?

I am not sure but Tracie can answer that question she is the vet tech on here -- I will flag your post
@Drache613

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing today?
I had forgotten to answer the hypercalcemia question. Too much UVB could possibly lead to Hypervitaminosis
D if you are supplementing synthetic D3. It wont literally cause too much calcium absorption unless you are
actually supplementing too much calcium with D3 & the body can't rid the excess or has adequate stores of it.

Tracie

 

[Rwtf8]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing today?
I had forgotten to answer the hypercalcemia question. Too much UVB could possibly lead to Hypervitaminosis
D if you are supplementing synthetic D3. It wont literally cause too much calcium absorption unless you are
actually supplementing too much calcium with D3 & the body can't rid the excess or has adequate stores of it.

Tracie

Hello,
He's good. No signs of the issue for past week. Swallowing food without any head shakes.
As for supplements. Is this a good amount of supplements on veggies?

And new enclosure is on the way. I'll replace 90x45x45 to 120x60x60 to provide him a required distance to the lamps according to the Arcadia Lightning Guide.