Belame was six weeks old when we got her from a common, chain PetStore.
Have you ever wondered what happens to the sick or un-sellable animals at these big-box retailers? They are kept in a backroom of the store, waiting for them to get better or be adopted. Belame was one of these animals because she has severe metabolic bone disease (MBD). Our rescue frequently asks these stores what they have in the back, to try and save as many of these “unwanted” dragons as possible.
This time at the store, they said they had one baby bearded dragon in the back that walks on it’s wrists because it has MBD. This little dragon was in a very precarious situation, because of the serious nature of MBD, without proper care, it would only further disable her. The rescue quickly took her in and started to evaluate her condition.
MBD
Belame was in worse condition than was described. Not only did Belame walk on her wrist, she could barely walk at all. Since she can barely walk, hunting her own food is not easy for Belame. She eats from a syringe and gets supplements of serreptase and liquid calcium to strengthen her bones, decrease pain and inflammation, and aid in calcium absorption. Also, for the first time in her life, Belame has proper UVB.
While the damages from MBD cannot be reversed, some progress is made and the disease is arrested.
Bearded dragons with MBD have weak bones because their bodies pull the calcium, that their bodies need to function, from the bones causing this disease.
This makes it so that bearded dragons with MBD are susceptible to fractures, which can further debilitate them. There is a happy ending to this story. Belame found her forever home and will be properly taken care of for the rest of her life. If you would like to support animals like Belame, please donate to help support our cause and our rescues.