Posted by:
PHLdyPayne
at Tue Jan 13 00:49:53 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by PHLdyPayne ]
other than a really dirty tail, your dragon's underside is perfectly normal. Those raised bumps are femoral pores which are present on all bearded dragons, with males having far larger pores than females.
Now your post indicates your dragon cant' move his legs, this is a more serious problem. Is it his rear legs or his front legs or both? What is his setup? Rear leg paralysis can be one of three things. Eating too large prey items that end up pressing against the spinal cord while in the stomach (though this is more common with hatchlings than adult dragons, unless you feed him adult hissing cockroaches). Other causes are MBD which cause all the long bones to get rubbery as the body leaches needed calcium from the bones (main cause is lack of calcium in the diet, or lack of other husbandry needs which prevent the dragon from using what calcium they do ingest, typically no UVB lighting is provided or too many greens high in oxates and other calcium binding ingredients or temperatures are not high enough).
The third possible reason is impaction in the bowels..which is putting pressure on the spine. Without knowing much more extensive history of your dragon and care, there is no way for us to even know which of the three reasons is the cause of your dragon's ability not to move his legs. Actually there is a fourth option. Injury to the spinal cord caused by a fall, something falling on your dragon, getting in a fight with another animal or mistreatment.
Please tell us all the details about your setup, including how long he's been in your care and approximate age of the dragon. Basking temps, presence of UVB bulb, when it was last changed, what kind. What you feed, supplements if any, now much he eats, substrate, ambient temps, day/night cycle, cage size...housed alone or with other animals...
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PHLdyPayne
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RE: HELP! My dragon can't move his legs!!! - PHLdyPayne, Tue Jan 13 00:49:53 2009
