My Iguana has MBD

[leah01]

Hello im new to this forum chat thing. I was just wondering if there is anyone else who has an iguana with metaboic bone disese.

[IguanaKing]

Hi Leah!

Welcome to IZ!

Your ig has MBD? How do you know this? Can you show us some pics and maybe give a little background info? Just askin...because I have a male ig that's turning 18 in a couple of months who had a "vet" tell me he had MBD about 5 years ago. Yeah...that vet never touched Hercules or even drew blood...but he knew. LOL! If your little, green buddy has some specific issues, maybe we can help him out.

[kowia]

I was curious about MBD as well, and I found this information regarding it :

www.anapsid.org/mbd.html

In general it's caused by :
Metabolic bone disease (MBD) is an umbrella term that covers a number of disorders related to the weakening of the bone or impaired systems function caused by an imbalance in vitamin D3, calcium and phosphorus

Here's an excerpt about symptoms :
Signs of metabolic bone disease include hard knobs in the long bones of the legs, bumps along the vertebral column of the back and tail, bilateral softening or hard swelling of the lower jaw, and softening of the plastron or carapace. All of these signs may be felt before they can be seen, making a careful physical exam important. Visible signs of moderate to severe MBD include jerky gait when walking, repeated tremors and twitches in the limbs and muscles of the legs and toes when at rest, and shakiness when being held. (The occasional single myoclonic jerk that happens is not considered indicative of MBD.)

Advanced cases of MBD include all the above signs plus constipation, anorexia and fractured bones. Severely deficient reptiles tend to be lethargic and may only be able to drag themselves along the ground. Arboreal lizards spend all of their time on the ground as they lack the strength to grip and climb.

So, it really seems that a very wide range of "specific" ailments can be caused by the deficiency/balance problem as described.

[hurricanekatt]

Feb 9, 2011 22:51:18 GMT -8 IguanaKing said:

Hi Leah!

Welcome to IZ!

Your ig has MBD? How do you know this? Can you show us some pics and maybe give a little background info? Just askin...because I have a male ig that's turning 18 in a couple of months who had a "vet" tell me he had MBD about 5 years ago. Yeah...that vet never touched Hercules or even drew blood...but he knew. LOL! If your little, green buddy has some specific issues, maybe we can help him out.

If the signs were obvious externally, the vet wouldn't necessarily have needed to run tests. They probably should have done so to be 1000% sure before giving a calcium injection, but there are some pretty obvious physical signs of MBD if you know what to look for.
A few include:
unable to close mouth
a particular head/jaw shape and appearance of swelling (can be subtle dep on stage of disease)
"Popeye" arms
kinks or zig zags in the tail and/or spine
etc

a Few images...
This guy is pretty bad off obviously, but you can see the jaw deformation. This can be much more subtle. this picture shows kind of where it starts and will go though.
www.anapsid.org/images/rug-mbd2.jpg

The zig zag. Again pretty far along. Poor guy.
www.iguanaden.org/health/img/medical/mbd3.gif

[IguanaKing]

Thanks Hurricanekat. Just a little background on that, that I should have provided earlier. Hercules has none of the outward symptoms of MBD and has since had his blood tested regularly by a different vet. His blood tests always come back perfect. The previous vet said that he had MBD based on simply looking at him...he was afraid to touch him...and wasn't able to tell right away what his gender was by looking at him. Hercules is a very manly-looking iguana, and I found it interesting that this vet couldn't tell his gender on sight, but could diagnose MBD on sight. That vet was apparently also unaware of the role UVB light plays in preventing UVB, because I asked him what lamps he would recommend, and he looked at me like I was insane. This particular vet has quite a career going for him as a regular on Animal Planet's Emergency Vets. I gave him a try because he appeared to be knowledgable on TV, and he was close to where I just moved. What I found in-person was a guy who was so full of himself that he treated his patients like idiots...and for a self-proclaimed "reptile expert", Hercules sure was a spectacular novelty in his office. He wanted me to take him around to all his staff and show him to them. Many of whom were scared of him, even repulsed. None of that gave me a good vibe about them, so I am back with my original vet who is EXCELLENT with iguanas. I guess what I was trying to say with my original post, is that there are a lot of quacks out there who are quick to make a diagnosis without any real knowledge of the animal. Before getting ourselves worried over a snap-diagnosis, we need to understand what our vet is basing their decision on. Now, if there are obvious signs like in the links you provided (thanks for those, BTW) then there is a reason to be concerned. Remember, some of these guys are no different than a shady mechanic who tries to sell you an expensive repair because he thinks you don't know any better...and in the case of Hercules, the medications this quack prescribed could have actually killed him. One of which was an oral antibiotic which has no history of being used with reptiles and is documented to cause liver and kidney failure in mammals. So, with the links you provided, our fellow iguana owners can arm themselves with knowledge...so they won't be taken in by the BS that some vets out there are slingin.

[hurricanekatt]

Apr 6, 2011 17:12:26 GMT -8 IguanaKing said:

Thanks Hurricanekat. Just a little background on that, that I should have provided earlier. Hercules has none of the outward symptoms of MBD and has since had his blood tested regularly by a different vet. His blood tests always come back perfect. The previous vet said that he had MBD based on simply looking at him...he was afraid to touch him...and wasn't able to tell right away what his gender was by looking at him. Hercules is a very manly-looking iguana, and I found it interesting that this vet couldn't tell his gender on sight, but could diagnose MBD on sight. That vet was apparently also unaware of the role UVB light plays in preventing UVB, because I asked him what lamps he would recommend, and he looked at me like I was insane. This particular vet has quite a career going for him as a regular on Animal Planet's Emergency Vets. I gave him a try because he appeared to be knowledgable on TV, and he was close to where I just moved. What I found in-person was a guy who was so full of himself that he treated his patients like idiots...and for a self-proclaimed "reptile expert", Hercules sure was a spectacular novelty in his office. He wanted me to take him around to all his staff and show him to them. Many of whom were scared of him, even repulsed. None of that gave me a good vibe about them, so I am back with my original vet who is EXCELLENT with iguanas. I guess what I was trying to say with my original post, is that there are a lot of quacks out there who are quick to make a diagnosis without any real knowledge of the animal. Before getting ourselves worried over a snap-diagnosis, we need to understand what our vet is basing their decision on. Now, if there are obvious signs like in the links you provided (thanks for those, BTW) then there is a reason to be concerned. Remember, some of these guys are no different than a shady mechanic who tries to sell you an expensive repair because he thinks you don't know any better...and in the case of Hercules, the medications this quack prescribed could have actually killed him. One of which was an oral antibiotic which has no history of being used with reptiles and is documented to cause liver and kidney failure in mammals. So, with the links you provided, our fellow iguana owners can arm themselves with knowledge...so they won't be taken in by the BS that some vets out there are slingin.

I could not agree with you more! *shakes head* Some vets are sickening. Doctors are the same way. What is even more sad IMO though, is that there are these bad eggs out there, and then people just begin to think poorly of vets and doctors in General. There ARE Good ones out there, you just have to look.

Is that Hercules in your signature? I have never seen an ig with a head quite like his. It is like there is a defined line where his body goes from looking like a pretty normal male iguana body, to where his head appears to change textures. I think it is just a little blurring and the angle of the camera? But it is interesting. lol His face seems a little shorter too. (None of these being bad things by the way, just caught my attention! He is a good looking guy! ). I wonder though if perhaps he comes from a different locale than the average pet store iguana? I know that there are several different regions that igs come from. Do you know anything about his background by chance? If so I am curious.

You said in another post that he is 18? Wow! haha How big is he? My Tito is somewhere between 2-3 and I swear she doubles in size every month! Sure explains why she eats so much! Haha I am a member on herpcenter as well and there she is well known for being a food grubber and a major pain about where she poops. *facepalm* ;D

[hurricanekatt]

This forum appears to be VERY slow moving. ?

To the OP - do you have an iguana with MBD? Or just looking for general info?

[IguanaKing]

That's true, there are the bad ones out there that make people start to think that all of them are bad. I'm very happy with my vet that I've had for a long time...I just travel further now to see him. Its worth it though, because I know my kids are in good hands. I tried to find someone closer, but as you can see, that didn't work out so well. This guy and his partner are EXCELLENT with reptiles, birds, and cats.

Good observations on the pic of Herc. That was him about 7 years ago. Its my understanding that he's a Mexican green iguana, so he has very sharply defined markings...with nice black, pointy stripes that wrap around the sides of his belly. He was just starting a shed there, and his head always starts first, going much lighter than the rest of his body. He's 68" STL now, and weighs just under 16 pounds. Very sweet iguana most of the time, although he CAN be a terror at times. I just mostly have to keep him away from my cat. My cat loves iguanas...him and my other ig, Audrey, are best friends. But yeah...Herc doesn't care much for him. LOL

[osiris]

hey guys, not to show any disrespect on the forum (knowing that this is an ALL-IGUANA forum), but since we're talking about MBD here. im currently housing a savannah monitor lizard whom i can say has mbd without further tests due to him having arched spine, swelling limbs, zigzag tail and his history without adequate UV exposure. this baby is here with me on vacation coz his owner will be gone for 2 months. i have one simple question, are the effects shown REVERSIBLE with proper medication, diet and husbandry?

[lizardqueen]

my 13 yr old is doing that too.. I assumed it was just she was going from old age. she hasn't been eating, is sensitive to the touch. I don't want to move her. today she was having a hard time breathing and her mouth turned blue inside...I left her and by the time I came back she was breathing well, looked alert, gave some tongue flicks, but cant really move except backwards..its really sad

[lizardqueen]

the tremors started a few weeks ago. but she is not deformed looking.. she looks healthy now although earlier she kinda looked dead..this has been the worst day..