bearded dragon walking funny
 

So we are relatively new to owning a bearded dragon. She is roughly 4 months old. A few weeks ago she started falling off of her basking log. We adjusted everything to make it easier for her as we also noticed she walks abnormal. We were told that It could be nerve damage and to check her spine. We did so with no results. She does seems sleepy so we were thinking it could be her hibernation period, but would it cause her to walk funny? She almost doesn't know how to use her limbs anymore. When we put her in her bathwater she would much rather late on her arms Than use them to hold her head out of the water. She also for some reason doesn't walk with her legs in sync sometimes so she falls over. Any suggestions?

Sounds like she could have metabolic bone disease. Are you using a full spectrum UV bulb and supplementing her meals with calcium? MBD causes bone softening and weakness, and also irregular bone growth such as curved limbs.

We put calcium on everything. In her water, sprayed on her food, dust the crickets, dust the meal worms. I don't know what a full spectrum uvb is we have the long skinny one that sits at the top of her cage. Is mbd reversible? If so how?

It is not MBD.

This has happened to a few of my babies, one 2 years ago and 2 this year. They start off just fine, then their legs stop working properly. It is a neurological disorder, it is not reversible and may get progressively worse.

It will be a special needs dragon. Remove any objects that are high, keep decorations to a minimum.

The one from 2 years ago is still living and scoots around when it wants to.

We already decided a smaller cage for now and nothing that's higher than 6 inches to climb up on because we were scared she was really going to hurt herself. She's alot more active with the new cage setup also. It's just so scary because she is part of the family.

Mine is a loving baby (at 2) and I occasionally have to hand feed her.

A smaller cage is a excellent. You will find that she may windmill her legs to move.

If she stops eating or pooping a vet visit will be needed.

She does with her front legs like up above her head and sometimes she holds her bands weird like she is loosing the muscle mass in her wrists or something. She seems to have her good days and band days with it though. Some times she will walk like nothing is wrong and then it acts up again. It breaks my heart. Do you know how the damage occurs?

I do not know how or why it happens, it could be a genetic issue, but the ones I have had are from several different pairings. It could be an infection that affects the nervous system. I do know it isn't from falling, mine do not have anything to fall from as babies.

Oh, okay, I have a video of the way she walks but I have no idea how to post it on here. I've done my research on the symptoms of mbd but she doesn't really fit that. I've been watching videos of bearded dragons with mbd and even just ones that walk irregular. Not many people have helped much. My fiance has a friend who breads snakes so he told us that reaching out to the community and maybe even a breeder may help more than taking her to the vet because he says usually they know more about the reptiles than the vets do.

she hasn't had any problems eating, shedding, drinking, or really anything else. It just seems to be the walking and climbing she is having issues with.

You can always email the video to me, snakequeen74@yahoo.com

Your friend was right, breeders do know more than most vets.

I am a breeder.


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