Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i had a clutch of beardies hatch out in july , n they had been doing fine ever since . n then today when i come home from school . i find one of the two i had left with its spine sticking up at a peculiar angle from the rest of its body . n when i picked it up it went into a series of convulsions and can now only use its front legs and head. the other one is shaking a bit when u touch it , but otherwise is fine. the only thing that i can think of is the fact that the past few days i had fed them a whole lot of mealworms, but hadnt really seen anything happening badly with them . n then yesterday i dumped two dozen crickets in the cage. i hadnt noticed a fresh poop the past few days , but i have been at school for most the day . i really have no idea what has happened to them . and i am extremely sad at what will soon be the loss of my dragon. im going to uthanize him , because it seems as if he has broken his back. and would just like to know what has caused this. thanx
John
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John woodward
JW REPTILES

There could be two problems:

1) The twitching and partial paralysis could be caused by a calcium deficiency. Symptoms include twitching, lameness, shaking and paralysis.

2) You stated that you fed the dragon a lot of mealworms. Paralysis has been associated with consumption of prey items that are too large.

Either way, take the little dragon to the vet.
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Mollyskali

"Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity." - Lau-tzu - Tao Te Ching

Mealworms are also very hard to digest, especially for young dragons. If you did feed them alot and there has been no sign of any poo in the cage for the last couple days, it sounds like impaction more than anything. Soaking in luke warm water could help him pass poo but he may be too far gone for that to work. A vet trip deffinitely would be an ideal, he can rule out MBD or other problems, including neurological.

If your dragons were born in July it's possible but unlikely it's a severe case of MBD this fast, unless you had fed them very very well and they had trippled in size are grown at a very fast rate.

My guess is it was def the mealworms that are causing the problems. As stated in the other posts, mealworms are very difficult to pass for small dragons.. regardless of size, age, and so on. Massive amounts of chitin to a dragon that was not used to it would def cause the problems you described. A single mealworm would do it, not alone 10.

The vet may be able to do something, but more then likely at this point not. I would soak the dragon for about 20 minutes in warm water several times a day until you can get him to a vet. He may be able to give him an enema, but depending on how long and how much pressure has been put on the spine, it may not work.

Sorry to hear of your loss. Good luck.

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

I would guess impaction too. Never offer a bunch of mealies, to any size dragon. That's just asking for trouble.

You said you had a clutch of dragons & you only have two left. Did the others die too?
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Joel R

Coming some day.
www.SpikesAndScales.com

the rest of the clutch were sold . they are all doing fine , i just dont get why there doing this , the other dragon , who i thought was doing good , has gotten worse now , ill soak him , n try to get him to a vet , i just didnt think it would affect them so much . thanx for all the responses .
JOhn
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John woodward
JW REPTILES

when they get a bad impaction the tissue around the spine swells form the impaction pressing on the spinal cord. Beardies do not have discs or cushioning between the vertebras like most animals do. I have seen babies with impactions get huge bumps on their spine and totally recover if you give them the proper care and support through the time period it takes to heal... which can be several weeks.

There is an article on impactions with x-rays and a baby with a bump on his back on the website(it was taken after the worse of the swelling was down and he regained the use of his front legs) if you want to read it and how you can treat it also.
Impaction in Reptiles

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www.reptilerooms.com