Blue tongue skink lizards require a proper diet, which should include phosphorous, calcium, minerals along with a variety of vitamins and other essential nutrients. If any of these nutrients are not given in good quantities, your blue tongue lizard can suffer from different kinds of diseases and health issues. Metabolic bone disease is also the result of lack of calcium in your lizard’s diet, which results in the weakening of the bones and muscles. If you are feeding your pet with large quantities of fruits and very little amount of other food items, it is very much likely that the amount of calcium its body needs is not being fulfilled and thus there are high chances of your lizard suffering from metabolic bone disease.
Along with this, lack of proper exposure to sunlight (which is necessary to process the calcium intake) can also lead to problems like metabolic bone disease. The main symptoms of this disease includes lump on the lower back or tail area of the lizard, partial paralysis, twitching of toes, irregular movement of back legs and a general inability to talk of the reptile. The disease is not only painful but if not treated in time it can result in your pet being crippled for life. For the treatment, it is very important to find out the exact cause of the problem so that the diet and routine of your pet can be adjusted accordingly.
If the cause of the disease is lack of calcium in the diet, you need to add supplements rich in calcium to your skink lizard’s weekly diet plan. Along with this, give it some extra sun exposure for at least a month or so that the working and internal mechanism of the body becomes more efficient and is able to fight the disease on its own. Once the calcium intake and exposure to sunlight increases, the swelling in the bones or the lump created on the back of your lizard reduces in size but sadly, the metabolic bone disease is not completely reversible. The deformity it causes will stay there forever although the paralysis or the general movement of your lizard is improved.
Therefore, it is very important to take good care of your pet beforehand rather than making it suffer in the long run. Metabolic bone disease can be attributed to the negligence of most of the blue tongue skink keepers in almost 90 percent of the cases. Just remember that because of your lack of interest in your pet, it is in pain.
