Reptile & Amphibian Forums

lost the ability of using his front legs.

A little history first, I rescued two bearded dragons from a local pet store. They were left at their front door before the store opened up and looked emaciated and in very poor condition. Well it's roughly a month down the road and they are/were healthy, fat, and lively. They have been moved into a larger tank, are on children's playsand, fed dusted crickets and superworms, with romaine lettuce in their feeding dish.

So this past Monday, the male lost the use of his left front leg and then as of Wednesday his right front leg. He has some strength in his right front leg but nothing in his left front leg.

Any suggestions of the cause(s) of this and what possible cure(s), the vet in town that deals with them is busy up until mid next week.

I had read that an Intestinal blockage in the upper intestin can do this, and the same to the rear legs if there is a lower intestinal blockage

http://www.reptilerooms.com/Sections index-req-viewarticle-artid-87-page-1.html
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Drago)
1.1 Desert Iguana(Dima, Dianne)
1.0 Green Iguana (Igor)
1.2 Collared Lizard (Fred, Wilma, Betty)
1.1 Desert Leopard Lizard (Simba, Kimba)
1.2 Desert Horned Lizard (Spike, Rose, Jade)
0.1 Hamster (Diamanta)
1.1 Kids
0.1 Wife

First, what lighting are you using? If you dont have proper lighting in there with uvb (same lighting that the suns rays)that would cause your beardie to do that.

Hope this helps and good luck!
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Cheryl

A little correction on the lettuce thing, romaine does have nutrition as it's a green veggie, iceberg has no real nutrients. The greener a leafy veggie is, the more nutritional it is. But yeah, spring mix give good variety. I also recommend collard greens and mustard, as they are pretty good for calcium.
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1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Rex- "normal" orange fire)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Glutany- German Giant Mix)
0.1.0 Okeetee Corn (Okatee)
1.1.0 Spotted Python (Hotdog and Shoelace)
0.2.0 Dwarf Hamsters (Tipsy and Bubblegum)
1.0.0 Rose Hair Tarantula (Goopy)
1.0.0 Boyfriend (Brian)

Thanks guys, the lighting is your typical uva/uvb bulb purchased less than a month ago which also provides heat as well.

again another correction of the lettuce, iceberg is worthless, and romaine is next to worthless, it has more nutrution than iceberg but not much. it mostly just causes diarea and runny stools in a dragon which in the long run can dehydrate them. mustard greens kale turnip greens dandelion greens and many more are better and can be fed more often, mostly everyday. use romaine when your dragon gets constipated.

www.beautifuldragons.com
great nutrion chart
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Beach Beardies

3.4.11 bearded dragons
1.0.0 Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1.0 Sugar Gliders
0.1.0 Miss Queen Athena (Cat)

Romaine being as bad or not so bad as iceberg lettace aside, it is never good to feed just a single source of veggies. Best to use as much a variety of greens as possible. Romaine is no good as a stable green, it doesn't have enough nutrients for a bearded dragon to remain healthy on. Good staple greens are collard greens, dandelion greens, endive, escaroli, mustard greens and others. They need a variety, at least 2 staples plus toppings of bell peppers, carrots, peas, string beans, dandelion flowers, other editable flowers, non citris fruit etc. as well as insects (again variety of insects works too). How much insects depends on the age of the dragon. If over 14 months than 2-3 feedings of insects a week is fine, or a small amount every day (about 10% of their total food intake). Good insects are crickets, silkworms, butterworms, various kinds of cockroaches, hornworms, superworms (in moderation) and those new pheonix worms (which appear to be the larvae of some fly).

Front leg paralysis usually is caused by MBD, injury to leg or upper spine, possible uppper digestive system blockage. If your dragon is eating fine, give him healthier foods, dust insects with calcium containing vitamin D3, and if possible (ie weather is nice enough) take him out into direct sunlight for a half hour to hour a day. Also, take him to your reptile vet as soon as you are able.

If his condition gets worse following the above suggestion, take him to any vet experienced with reptiles, even if you have to drive a few hours to do so. Dragons can fail fast if they are realy sick, since they tend to hide their symptoms quite well before you can notice them.
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PHLdyPayne

A Bearded Dragon Salad

(254 total words in this text)
(14165 Reads)

Typical Bearded Dragon Salad

* 1/2 cup of collard greens or kale
* 1/4 cup of mustard greens, or romaine lettuce, or mixed greens such as a commercial packaged spring mix if the others are not available.
* 1/2 cup of snow peas and/or green beans
* 4-5 finger carrots
* 1/2 cup squash
* 1/4 cup pumpkin or sweet potatoes
* 2 raspberries or 1 strawberries
* 1/4 cup of peach, pear or melon
* 4 skinned grapes or 1/8 cup melon

You can mix different items to give them variety until you know which they like best, but I try to give 2 main greens, 2 vegetables and 2 fruits daily

Slice or tear greens into small pieces and set into a small container with lid, then either chopped finely, grate or in a food processor dice up the vegetables, you can sprinkle over the salad and store it that way or keep in a separate container and sprinkle over the greens when you feed. The recipe above will make greens that will last for a few days, but the vegetable mixture will last for a week. The fruit I cut up fine and serve separate as they tend to make the greens mushy after a day and some babies will not eat fruit like this but will lick it up if pureed or strained.

Article by Cheri Smith
Copyright Cheri Smith, The Reptile Rooms ©2003
All images Copyright The Reptile Rooms ©2004 Unless otherwise noted.
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Drago)
1.1 Desert Iguana(Dima, Dianne)
1.0 Green Iguana (Igor)
1.2 Collared Lizard (Fred, Wilma, Betty)
1.1 Desert Leopard Lizard (Simba, Kimba)
1.2 Desert Horned Lizard (Spike, Rose, Jade)
0.1 Hamster (Diamanta)
1.1 Kids
0.1 Wife