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Beardie back legs not working?

livichi7

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
20
Hi! I’ve posted about this before but I feel like I still need answers. I recently just adopted a beardie and his back legs almost aren’t working. When he moves it looks like he is swimming and cannot push up on them. He has the Eco terra solar glo mercury bulb. I give him crickets and salads every other day. I guess he’s maybe around a year old. He cannot push up onto his log to bask, so he basks on the bottom of his tank. His tank is 55 gallons. I just ordered a temperature gun so I can check the temp of his cage when it comes. I cannot find any reptile vets near me. Can anyone tell me what’s wrong with his legs? Thanks!
 

livichi7

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
20
Here is a picture from about a week ago. He can’t get around very well :(
 

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livichi7

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
20
No he did not have it when he got him. It has been a slow progressive type thing. Maybe his tank is not hot enough?
 

Hazel the bearded lady

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
13
What is his lighting like how much dose he eat what dose he eat dose he have ANY sand what are his cage timps and do you have calcium if so what kind d3 ect..

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Hdrydr31

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Staff member
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
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5,574
How is your little one eating and pooping???? A 55 gal is very hard to get the temps right as it's too high being that it's a fish tank. If he's not pooping, and from the pic he looks normal I'm leaning towards too low of temps and so he's not digesting well, too cool for the GI track to work so he may be getting impacted.. that will lead to pressure pushing on the nerves causing weakness and paralysis..
He should be getting salads every day and with his size he should be getting bugs every day including dusting of calcium..
Now if he's eating and pooping normally I would lean towards a injury from a fall, or some kind of spinal cord injury.
Temps are VERY important for digestion, for proper absorption of Calcium supplements..He should be gapping if the temps are where they should be that means he is thermo regulating his body temp. And since you don't have your IR temp gun yet my bet is he is too cold. when is it to arrive??
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
Staff member
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Beardie Club
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9,390
Location
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The MVB bulbs only concentrate your UVB to a particular spot in the tank and don't really cover 1/2 to 2/3. It is possible that he's not getting enough UVB and with the height of the 55g, he's not getting the proper heat either. I would get a separate UVB bulb and heat bulb and I would look into gettin a more proper sized tank for a bearded dragon. When he does get bigger, it's going to be difficult for him to turn around or sit without being curled up in a 55g.
 

Donna M Lester

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
This sounds exactly like a case of gravis. Do you use sand as a substrate? If so, beardies eat that sand and cannot pass it when they poop. Just get a small dropper and give your baby a small amount of mineral oil. It should work right away(same day). If nothing happens after that first dose, administer a second dose. If that doesn’t do it, you might have to take your lovely baby to the vet. And I strongly suggest you use a different substrate... we use newsprint paper.
 

Kelly T

Bearded Dragon Egg
3 Year Member
Messages
7
Hi! I’ve posted about this before but I feel like I still need answers. I recently just adopted a beardie and his back legs almost aren’t working. When he moves it looks like he is swimming and cannot push up on them. He has the Eco terra solar glo mercury bulb. I give him crickets and salads every other day. I guess he’s maybe around a year old. He cannot push up onto his log to bask, so he basks on the bottom of his tank. His tank is 55 gallons. I just ordered a temperature gun so I can check the temp of his cage when it comes. I cannot find any reptile vets near me. Can anyone tell me what’s wrong with his legs? Thanks!

Very concerning for MBD. Metabolic bone disease. Happens when captive reptiles don’t get Calcium & UVB supplemented regularly. Need to make sure he gets his food (bug & salad) with Calcium & the UVB is appropriate for desert reptiles (10.0). & make sure it’s less than 6 months old. The lights will still put out UVB but not enough the older they get. Or u can give Calcium & supervised play time in the sun 3-4 times a week, 15 minutes. Make sure they can get to shade if they too out outdoors & make sure you supervise and/or top whatever enclosure u use with a mesh screen. The foldable wire puppy pens aren’t too expensive. Then get a mesh screen from Home Depot. A mesh window panel works well. Make very sure you stay close. Lizards r prey to all kinds of raptors!
 

Cinna

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
11
My beardie had something very similar with the paralysis, but worse. Never any sand substrate, but she did develop weird swelling in beard and then the leg paralysis thing after. She also had some yellow areas, and a darkening wound on her left hind leg. She also lost the 1/8 inch end of her tail after it got dark too. The herp Vet didn’t know why beard was swollen, nor did he know why her leg was getting a dark spot, but he tortured her trying to get the fluid out of her beard. My poor baby!!! I determined after that I would take care of things for her. I did my research and found a product called Reptaid XL, you can get it on amazon or directly from reptaid site. I also was dealing with dehydration and appetite loss. She went into ICU habitat-which is paper towels for substrate, and only non pourus decor and large water bowl. Water bowl has to be big enough for them to get into. I also started doing electrolyte soaks a few times a day for 10-15 min. And fed her a diet of Critical Care by oxbow (green/silver pkt)-also from amazon- mixed with water, a 4 drops of the ReptaidXL, Herptivite and Repti-cal doses blended in. I also mix in smidge of each: Manuka honey UMF 15, aloe juice, a probiotic powder, echinacea powder, and bee pollen powder. She did have a palpable bump on her spine. So I also applied directly to her spine, her tail tip and her left leg spot several drops of ReptaidXL twice a day. After I applied a thin layer of the Manuka honey to the wound areas. She did get really sick and almost died amidst all the initial problems. And the spot on her leg turned into a wound that had to heal, and regrow scales; her tail tip had to heal as well. I was able to recover her and After about 2 weeks with this regimen she started to be able to use her hind legs again!!! Over time, Her yellow areas cleared with molting, and haven’t returned, and she is back to her usual happy energetic self. And continues to be. Her leg wound is fully healed and continues to gain more scales each time she molts, along with her tail tip. That illness was in the spring of 2017. I continue to feed her the blend twice a week, and mealworms once a week, along with some celery leaves(her fav). She’s never been one for a pile of greens so she gets it with the food blend. I tried giving her crickets once and after is when she fell ill, so no more crickets. And I continue to rub onto her spine and leg the ReptaidXL after she eats the blend each time. And a tiny dab of the honey to the leg area. More preventative than anything, for its anti fungal properties. I hope this info helps you with your baby. These items are not expensive but are awesome at healing beardies!!
 

Cinna

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
11
Also in addition, for the wounds before putting in the reptaid, when they were open, I aseptically cleaned them with a betadine solution, then the treatment with reptaid and Manuka honey.
 

Cinna

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
11
F48E6B67-0E4A-4169-8F04-92FCAD4C3911.jpeg 5637FC68-F181-41ED-A9AF-9EF0CD67FEA1.jpeg E51395AB-18FE-4992-A09C-A14EDD571BF4.jpeg C46C45F3-2B41-4C32-B977-94ADFD5CB1B1.jpeg 4E01DA91-2094-46CD-B72E-DC1CD7624439.jpeg 7CA7242E-6A04-4D4F-BB75-E9CB7066FCE8.png 2A0AE031-DA4C-4E43-91E9-E6B61E7BBC3B.jpeg Some pics of her illness, beard swelling( her abdomen swelled too). Also her tail and leg wounds initially, and the reference pages. I have a lot more pics if you’d like just message me.
 
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