8 Musts to Beating Metabolic Bone Disease

How does MBD Work?

There’s no doubt that MBD can be a confusing thing to understand, so I want to try and explain things as simple as possible - so simple that I was finally able to truly understand it.

There are various causes to how a reptile gets MBD. One is the reptile is getting an inadequate ratio of calcium to phosphorus in their diet. They should be getting a ratio of 2:1, and if they don’t get enough calcium, their body pulls it from the bones instead = the bones become weak and subject to breakage.

Another cause is the lack of UVB exposure. UVB synthesizes vitamin D3 so that the body can use it → Vitamin D3 is needed in order for the body to absorb calcium.

So basically there are four main things to think about:

           Calcium

           Phosphorous

           UVB

           Vitamin D3

Of course like anything, there are several other causes, but they more or less link back to these MAIN causes, and by simply making sure your iguana has the proper diet and proper habitat, the odds will be in your iguanas favor.

Now back to the list that y’all came here for….

We have all seen those heartbreaking cases of Metabolic bone disease. If you or someone you know is dealing with an iguana with serve MBD, this is what I recommend to you:

 1. Keep it positive, but keep it realistic.

I knew iguanas rarely come back when they are that far gone. I kept telling myself that he could get better if I did everything right and didn't give up on him, but I also made sure not to forget that if it went on long enough, there would come a point where I’d need to let go.

2.            Soak and don't get discouraged!

This is especially for you iguana people dealing with the inability to poop, which mine was. Because of nerve and spinal damage, he was unable to control that end of his body.

I gave Arcadius a nice long soak 1-2 times a day for weeks. There were days I thought what's the point, because they never seemed to do anything, but who am I to say they didn't help. I did it, and my iguana turned around - so it doesn't hurt to try!

3.            CALCIUM / PROPER DIET

Pay attention to what you are feeding your pet! The Green Iguana Society has a great chart with all the foods listed and their calcium to phosphorus ratio. Ideally you want to feed them foods with a 2:1 (ca:p) ratio, but when you are battling severe MBD definitely offer those foods higher in calcium!

Your greens can be a great source of calcium, so during this time I did 60% greens, 40% veggies, and a tiny treat of fruit. Making sure your iggy gets protein during this time is important too. A good source of this is alfalfa. If you don’t have this available to you, you can buy the alfalfa treats you would find for rabbits and shred them into a powder like consistency. Then you just have to sprinkle it on your iggys food!

You can also use a calcium supplement, but try to find one without D3. Your iggy gets D3 from its UVB, and too much D3 can cause other health problems.

This is a post recovery meal. I do not recommend this much fruit for someone going through MBD. He was just getting spoiled this day.

My top recommendations:

·         Collard greens (!!!!), mixed with turnip greens, mustard greens, watercress, and/or dandelion greens. (Always collard greens).

·         Green beans, butternut squash, acorn squash,

·         Papaya and mango

·         Alfalfa

                       

                        Stay away from treats and occasional foods during this time.

4.            UVB

Make sure your iggy has UVB exposure, and that it is the correct distance away from the bulb to be getting what it requires. Most importantly, get a good UVB bulb!!! This means spending some $$$, but it’s  worth it if your iguana is healthy again right?

I recommend a mega ray - this bulb is heat and UVB combined AND has a long and wide beam for maximum efficiency. Also highly popular, are Arcadia lights and zoo med’s powersun lights (these can be found in petsmarts).

5.            Patience

Your baby won’t heal overnight, or even in a week. Reptiles can take months to heal, so just be patient while their body does its’ thing.

6.            Always seek vet help

Some vets know more about reptiles than others, but it doesn't hurt to try and get assistance from them. In my case, I was not all that impressed with our vets enclosure set up, but he knew how to manually poop an iguana and that was all I really needed.

He was able to show us how to do it at home, and I believe this manual pooping is really what helped his body get back on track. Plus, he wasn’t full of sh** in the healing process (LOL) !

7.            Handicap everything!

Take away any obstacles that could potentially cause more injuries or damage to your iguana until the healing process is well underway.

When this all happened he was temporarily in a 20 gallon tank. We put a towel down to not only pad everything, but to give him something to grab on to with his front legs, since he couldn’t use his back legs.  

Arcadius’ enclosure we built is all ramps, because he was in the middle of recovery when we built it. His enclosure at my parent’s house now has branches and vines, because he is stronger now and can handle it better than before, but he is still tipsy on them.

IF YOUR IGUANA ISN’T DEFECATING ON ITS’ OWN

8. Increase water

This means making sure the humidity is up and adding water filled substances to their diets.

A good source of water is cucumber and watermelon. Also, getting an eye dropper to physically give them water to drink is a good idea. Sometimes we created fruit infused water to encourage him to drink the water.

And as I mentioned before - baths! Lots and lots of baths! Iguanas typically go to the bathroom in the water, so this could be another form of encouragement.

And as always, don’t let your iguana go too long without defecating. A reptile vet should be able to help manually poop your iguana. If they are nice like ours, they’ll have you come back every couple of days to repeat the process (until they think you have a lost cause and show you how to do it yourself so you stop throwing money at them).

*Side note: I do not recommend pooping your iguanas yourself, unless it comes down to it and you have vet assistance the first time around. That is a last resort situation and it takes two people*

It is important to remember, that your iguana may not go back to its totally healthy able iguana self. Arcadius suffered spinal and nerve damage, so he will forever have a curve in his spine and he can’t use his hind legs as well as a healthy iguana can. This being said, he is pooping on his own and living a completely spoiled life full of love and happiness! All you can do for them during these hard times are give your full love and support!

I’m hoping for the best for all of you MBD fighters out there!

Do you have any experience with MBD or any questions? I’d love to hear from you!