New member with a old Beardie

[Drunkenchewbacca]

Hello folks.

I have a 12-13yo bearded dragon named Karma. He is old and not as mobile as he use to be. I have some concerns and I question the vets opinions.
Firstly, Karma doesn't eat greens at all anymore. He only eats wax worms and I give him spine worms.
Second issue, he has a large lump on his lower back, left side of his torso, around his spine area. He also really doesn't use his back legs that much. When I stretch his back legs out, his left one, same side as the lump starts to twitch, like the nerve under the skin is twitching, unsure if the lump is causing nerve issues. The vet thinks he has arthritis and feels uncomfortable with moving his legs.
Third issue is he has gotten skinny. He's never been the model bearded dragon that looks fat, he's always been kinds scrappy so maybe thats why he's lived this long.
I just wonder if other people have had these kind of issues with old dragons.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Emilia Thuet]

Would you mind sending in a picture of him and the bump . He sounds adorable though, I have an 11 year old beardie who is also a picky eater lol

 

[Drunkenchewbacca]

Would you mind sending in a picture of him and the bump . He sounds adorable though, I have an 11 year old beardie who is also a picky eater lol

He keeps his legs like that all the time. When he moves its a army crawl. Not sure really what's up with him and finding another reptile vet is not easy.

 

[Emilia Thuet]

He is such a cutie . I die for old beardies they are the best! Anyways I’m getting carried away. Does look like he has some mild mbd in his fingers and jaw so that could be why his feet are paralyzed too. Or that because that bump is so close to his spine it could be paralyzingly him. I suggest changing his husbandry a bit first to see if that could help. First I would get him off sand and use something that isn’t loose. Sand is not good at all for beardies and holds a lot of bacteria. I suggest a non adhesive shelf liner, they are really easy to clean. If that heat rock is plugged unplug it immediately, they have been known to cause extreme burns on reptiles because the temperature can’t be controlled. If you like after you unplug it you can cut the wire off and use it as a decoration. Do you mind sending a picture of his enclose and what type of basking and uvb bulb you use?