Bearded Dragon Limb Paralaysis PLEASE HELP

BEARDED DRAGON Info:

i got this health care thing from another cham forum but it has a lot of info so hopefully someone can help

Your Bearded Dragon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

My bearded dragon is a female juvenile, she is about 10 inches long and about 60 grams which i know is light sadly.


Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

I handle about every other day

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

Roaches, supers, just started really pushing greens like collar greed, and the dark leafy greens that you can get packaged from safeway

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?

d3 about every week once, plain calcuim almost always, then vitamins about once a month

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

everything, sometimes baths, mist daily, now sense she is having mobility problems i have been mouth feeding her water through a syringe and have been supplementing reptaid.

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

Today during a bath she took a large poop, which i am praying helps her get back her limb movement, the poop had a decent calcium deposit of white poop and then some other regular poop alone with urine

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

She was housed with another female that is totally healthy but as of today will be being housed alone due to her leg problem. She really was a healthy bearded dragon, just yesterday she was sprinting back and forth around her cage active as ever.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?

Visionarium about 4x2x2

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

8 point uvb bulb and a basking lamp which gets the basking spot at about 90

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

cool side is about 80 warm side is 90-92 during the day and drops to about 65-70 at night

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

humidity is low except sometimes when i mist them the cage gets humid cause there is low ventilation

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

none

Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

garage, elevated a little, a low traffic area except when im out there taking care of everyone


Location - Where are you geographically located?

bay area california

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

She is seemingly unable to place her legs on the ground and walk, like they cant get to the ground, the back limbs are worse than the front but all in all they seem pretty bad. She did as i said earlier take a large poop earlier and i know that can cause limb paralysis but I don't feel that is the problem. If anyone has any advice please help out. She is a high white line from bloodbank dragons if maybe anyone else has had neurological problems please let me know.

please help ill post some pictures when possible

Sorry to hear about your dragon. Is she laying "flat-out" with her legs plastered to the ground, not wanting to walk? Does she flail her legs or tail when you pick her up? Will she "correct" her legs if they are placed the wrong way - like turn her wrist down and see if she will right it?

I might be concerned about what kind of UVB you're using - most people recommend only using a ReptiSun 10.0 tube UVB bulb. Not sure if that could be related, but I would try to switch if you could.

I have a neurologic female adult dragon - my post about her is here but I'm not sure if it sounds similar to your situation or not: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=274523
I would also contact Bloodbank to see if they have any ideas. They should be glad to help.

Is it possible that your dragon ate a cricket that was larger than the normal size you are feeding? I am not a vet, but I know that rear leg paralysis, in juvenile bearded dragons, is sometimes caused when a dragon eats a food item that is too big. Sometimes, with bathing in warm (80-85 degree) water, the dragon is able to better digest, and pass, the food item. You might also try restricting the dragon to a warm area (100-105 degrees Surface Temp) where it can get good belly temperature, also aiding in digestion. Make sure not to overheat your dragon. I have also had success by giving the dragon water, with a very tiny amount of mineral oil, by dropper. If that is the cause, hopefully you can get the dragon to poop and the problem will go away.
Good luck

Originally Posted by dden

Is it possible that your dragon ate a cricket that was larger than the normal size you are feeding? I am not a vet, but I know that rear leg paralysis, in juvenile bearded dragons, is sometimes caused when a dragon eats a food item that is too big. Sometimes, with bathing in warm (80-85 degree) water, the dragon is able to better digest, and pass, the food item. You might also try restricting the dragon to a warm area (100-105 degrees Surface Temp) where it can get good belly temperature, also aiding in digestion. Make sure not to overheat your dragon. I have also had success by giving the dragon water, with a very tiny amount of mineral oil, by dropper. If that is the cause, hopefully you can get the dragon to poop and the problem will go away.
Good luck

I panicked recently when one of my juvenile beardies was fine in the morning but when I checked in on them that evening, it's back legs were nearly paralyzed and were twitching a little bit. I was beside myself thinking it must have mbd but the next morning it was perfectly fine. I tend to feed them a lot and I think what happened is it are too much and it's tummy was pressing on the spine, causing the temporary paralysis.

Originally Posted by dden

Is it possible that your dragon ate a cricket that was larger than the normal size you are feeding? I am not a vet, but I know that rear leg paralysis, in juvenile bearded dragons, is sometimes caused when a dragon eats a food item that is too big. Sometimes, with bathing in warm (80-85 degree) water, the dragon is able to better digest, and pass, the food item. You might also try restricting the dragon to a warm area (100-105 degrees Surface Temp) where it can get good belly temperature, also aiding in digestion. Make sure not to overheat your dragon. I have also had success by giving the dragon water, with a very tiny amount of mineral oil, by dropper. If that is the cause, hopefully you can get the dragon to poop and the problem will go away.
Good luck

I upped the surface temperature, have been paying extra attention to her. I force fed her a roach as she has mobility problems and she chewed it up good. I supplemented her with reptaid and will continue to due so. Her cage temp on the warm side is around 100 now and 85 on the cooler side. I have been working out her legs to work on range of motion and she pooped again a little last night with a warm bath. I am really hoping with extra care she can bounce back. Her legs seem to be coming back slowly but surely. I really want her to make it and grow to be big and beautiful as she is a white beauty out of the blood bank dragons line.

turns out it i wasnt supplementing proper amounts of calcium w/ d3 i was supplementing w/out d3. my mistake and i am happy i learned before my dragon had to go through any more pain. she should be back in action in no time!

Hi Nicholas,
That questionaire was a big help. I'm not a vet either, but sometimes looking at the whole picture can give you clues as to what's happening. You found out you weren't giving enough vitamins. Part of what may be your problem is the not enough vitamins, and I noticed your basking temps were down. Dden mentioned keeping her on the hot end 100-105, but I just want to reiterate that she needs those hot temps daily, approx 10hrs and that temp should be on the hot end, under her uvb heatbulb. With her not being able to climb yet you may have to adjust the wattage of the heatlamp so she can get that hot while on the floor of her tank. And when she can start climbing you'll have to change bulbs again so that temp is at the highest point she can reach, so she doesn't overheat.
Also, at her size I use a multi-vitamin w/d3 twice a week, and I also use calcium w/d3 2-3 times a week, but in her condition I'd use calcium w/d3 5 days a week. Because she wasn't warm enough it's possible the big bugs were too hard to digest and she may have become impacted. The exoskeletons on superworms are not easy on a small beardie so I usually wait till they're about a year, and not use them daily. And they need fresh greens and veggies daily for the vitamins and to keep hydrated and it helps soften stools so they don't become impacted.
The spinal cord of a dragon runs right along side their stomach and when they eat something too big or become impacted, it can cause temporary to permanant paralysis from the waist down. Soaking in warm water and vitamin drops and warm temps helps.
Adding greens and veggies to her diet will help keep her hydrated and make it easier for her to eliminate, and in her current condition that should be her main staple along with a few smaller softer bugs. If you don't see her eliminating on her own, you may have to give her warm baths to help it along, but be careful to never leave her alone. water shouldn't be more than chest high. Good luck!

Originally Posted by djfishygillz

turns out it i wasnt supplementing proper amounts of calcium w/ d3 i was supplementing w/out d3. my mistake and i am happy i learned before my dragon had to go through any more pain. she should be back in action in no time!