PET VET: Scud needs calcium to get back on course

Tag : calcium

Scud is a 2-year-old male bearded dragon, a species of lizard foundwild in Australia. These guys are popular for those seeking ahardy, friendly pet.
Scud, however, is having a problem. He is shaking when he moves,said Dana. She said the shaking seems to be getting worse.Initially, it was quite subtle, but lately, Scud seems to shakewith every motion. His ability to get around has decreased, butDana says he is eating his crickets and occasionally various greenleafed vegetables.
There are multiple possible causes for Scud's shaking, but a likelyone is nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism. Now that's amouthful.
Nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism is a disease that occursas a result of a poor calcium balance in the diet. More correctly,it is an issue with the calcium-to-phosphorous ratio. This diseasecan occur in virtually all vertebrate animals, including humans. Ifleft unaddressed, it results in death.
The pathophysiology of this disease - its mechanism of action, ifyou will - involves the interaction between the calcium taken inthrough diet and the parathyroid gland, which is primarilyresponsible for calcium balance in the body. Parathyroid hormone issecreted by this gland in response to lowering calcium levels inthe blood. The response within the body is to absorb more calciumfrom the gastrointestinal tract, i.e. the food eaten. In cases oflonger-term low-calcium levels in the blood, usually because ofimproper diet, calcium is robbed from the bone. It is this cascadeof events that is likely responsible for Scud's tremors.
Calcium is necessary for normal muscle function, but in Scud'scase, the blood level of calcium is too low and his muscles are notable to function properly, thus leading to the symptom of tremors.
These lizards usually start with tiny little tremors within musclesand then progress to uncoordinated limb and body motion. In severecases, these animals cannot effectively move or even raise theirbodies.
There are cases when the tremors can come on very acutely if thecalcium level drops rapidly before the parathyroid response canoccur. This is more common in older lizards.