Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was cleaning my baby reds cage today. I was holding her while I was cleaning. She jumped out of my hand and landed on the carpet. She fell about 3 feet. I picked her up and put her in her cage. Now she is not using her back legs. Her back (right at her back legs) is a little swollen. I have been watching her for about a half hour. I have seen her move them in slow circles one at a time, but she still wont use them.

Has anyone else ever had this happen? Do you think she will ever use her legs again. I will take her to the vet next week.

Thanks

My tegu fell off the bed once. I noticed after that her front paw would buckle when she put her weight on it. I was immediately afraid that she'd broken it, so to see if the bone was broken I held her arm and flexed her wrist back and forth with no reaction from her, meaning that thankfully she had just sprang it. In a few days she was back to normal. You may want to try this with you red. If she's calm and you can GENTLY try to move (flex) her legs without her showing any signs of pain, it's hopeuflly just a sprang as well. If she's in pain though...it's probably broken. Good luck.

I am not a vet, but here are some quick tests I would do to check for spine damage v.s. hip damage:

Can she move her tail? do her back legs respond if you pinch her toes?

Definitely take her to a vet as soon as possible. The fact that the damage happened without her falling very far or onto a hard surface is important, as it indicates she may have weak bones as a result of calcium problems she had before you got her. Have the vet check calcium levels.

Good luck-

I think she does have damage to her spine. I can see a lump in her back, and when I rub my finger over her spine I can feel it. If I pinch her back legs or her tail I get no reaction. When she crawls, she only uses her from arms. She does not move her tail. I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow.

Thanks,
Big Lizard

I had my tegu climb a branch in his/her cage and repeated tried to get out a patch hole in the top. I caught my baby at it and watch almost helplessly as s/he hung from the screen like monkey bars until s/he dropped. Then one day I knoticed s/he was not using on one of the rear legs, plus s/he was hiding alot. Being it's only a few months old, I was not sure if the hide was a problem or not.
But worry set in and of to the vet of an x-ray for my little guy.And I'm gald I did too! The vet wiggled it joint and little leg and still he was unsure. X-ray showed a stable fracture, and in a sling/cast my little on went 6 weeks and off it's come. We still are going back for another visit. I don't like the way s/he's walking on it, but my little guy is now using it's leg again! Got good at using the sling/cast too (while it was on)!