Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I believe my Dragon is Impacted, He has partial paralysis on one hind leg (right) and no use of his left. I also see trembles on his hind legs, and hes arcing his back and neck to relieve pressure. I submerged him in lukewarm water today for a while and massage his belly. And the problem has gotten worse. He ate this morning, but now hes trying to walk but instead flipping himself.

Suggestion?

How big is your dragon...did this come on suddenly?What substrate is he on [that could have been ingested to cause impaction] and what was he fed that may have caused impaction?Poor thing...

Hes about 23- 24 inches long- pretty big male. His substrate is sand hes been on it for 8 years. so far this week hes eaten grasshoppers/ silkworms/ turnip greens/ and a pinkie mouse I feed him last. I had to hand feed him today, feed him superworms, dusted w/ calcium one superworm was dipped in olive oil, also he drank a good amount water today. Im hoping for some progress tomorrow.

I hope he will recover...I read in the b.d.manual that neurological problems can also be caused by inner ear infections,head trauma,over-heating,viruses,toxins and bacterial meningitis.the shaky legs sounded like calcium deficiency but the flipping over sounds neurological.He would need a visit to a good reptile vet...do you have one?

I have an older male with very little use of his back legs. He also can get flipped over when he tries to use them. He is mentally sound and sharp. You should post a picture. Can he curve his spine normally left to right? What are you temps. and what is your supplementation regime? Dragons can build up fibrous material around their spine, it shows on an x-ray on the outside but can build up on the inside as well restricting the nerves that control his back legs. What do you think is causing an impaction. When did he last go to the bathroom? I'm skeptical that it's an impaction if he is eating. Especially with an adult.

The dragon in the picture is Brutus. His spine is always curved as you see in the pics. Since he doesn't walk, his metabolism is very slow and he poops every 2 weeks or so. He's been here over 2 years now. He drags himself around pretty well though and seems very happy here.

Best thing to do is get him in to a good reptile vet. An x-ray will be able to tell if he has blockage, spinal injury and determine bone density among other things. Blood work will also help detecting low blood calcium and other issues that could explain his rear leg paralysis.

There are many things that could be wrong and without a complete history on your dragon, its pretty much impossible to guess what is the problem. However not much can be done for him at home even if we knew exactly what was wrong. Get him to a vet asap.
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PHLdyPayne

If my beardie was showing symptoms that severe, I'd follow the vet advice.

I would bet this is a classic husbandry issues, based around temps. What are your cage temps?
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robyn@proexotics.com

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