Paralysis

Hi. I have had my bearded dragon for two years. He loves to bask in the window. Two days ago he escaped through an opening and climbed to the balcony and apparently leapt from my second story apartment.
When I ran down to see, he started to crawl towards the grass, his back two legs dragging behind him.
When i finally found a vet that would see him and take an X-ray, it appeared there were no broken bones and they told me,
"his back legs aren't moving."
But they would flinch when they squeezed his toe which meant there might be some feeling there.
Since then, his back legs seem to move more and more, and he seems stronger by the day.
Does anyone have any advice on how to help my dragon heal?
I've been giving him lots of baths and attention.
He doesn't seem to have much appetite for crickets now, but is eating lots of vegetables,

thanks

hello
sorry i cant help with these kind of injuries so am bumping your topic up for others to see.
you may want to PM tracie (Drache613) shes very good with these sort of things or one of the other mods even.
hope you get some help and answers.
good luck!

Wow, that must have been terrifying to see.
I dont have any advice, but just wanted to say I hope your beardie will be ok.

Thanks!

Hello,

Wow how devastating. He has no broken bones? That is amazing!
He most likely has some damaged tissue around his spinal column area. That will cause localized swelling which would not be detected by an x-ray. It could take up to 6 months for him to regain full use of his legs, maybe less. You will need to keep a watch out for a tail injury as well.
One thing you should do is to lower his basking spot to where he does not have to climb so he doesn't hurt himself further. You will most likely need to adjust his basking light also to keep his temperatures optimal.
There is a product called Serrapeptase, which is dried silkworm enzyme, that has excellent properties. It will help with pain management, swelling & inflammation.
Also, daily warm baths as you are doing will greatly help as well. Water therapy works wonders. When he starts feeling better, he may be inclined to start swimming a little bit.

I hope he is doing better today. How is his appetite?

Tracie

Thank you Tracie!

His appetite is pretty good when it comes to veggies. better actually. I offered some crickets today and he was not interested at all. Not like him at all!

When I put him in the water the other day, his tail pointed upwards, which he used to do often, but it was the first sign of any tail control at all. Haven't noticed any sign of any injury there.

I will look for the silk worm enzyme. prob call our vet.

Speaking of basking light, could you recommend some to me. Every store I've been to seems to give me different information. Ultraviolet. Red over white and vice versa. Right now I have one red heat lamp (75-100 watts) and a daylight bulb of about 75 watts. I turn off the white one at night, and turn the red one off during the days in the hot months.

Each day I notice more and more movement, so that's exciting that he may regain total use again one day!

Thank you for your help.

jeff

Hello Jeff,

Good to hear that the tail is not limp. Just keep an eye on that & make sure it doesn't change posture or the end or tip of it does not turn dark.
Sorry I should have given you the website to you. You can buy it from:
http://www.serrapeptase.org

I have found the best basking bulbs are halogen flood lights or regular household light bulbs. The halogens are great because they get hot for optimal temps & they are very bright as well. Colored lights are not very good because they are not bright enough & usually do not run as hot as the halogens do.

That is wonderful. I hope that he continues to improve for you. It will be a slow recovery for him, but at least he did not break anything amazingly!!

Keep me posted on him.

Tracie

Hi!

So he seems to be healing well, his legs are getting stronger and stronger, and he went for a long swim today, seemed very happy.

One thing is worrying me though, he hasn't pooed in quite a while, i think maybe since the accident. Could it be related to the injury? Or is it impaction? I had been using Calcium Substrate on recommendation from a pet store, but after finding this great site, I have found how harmful it can be. I am replacing it all with tile, which seems to be the best form what i've found here.

Anything else I can do to help things move along?

thanks!!

jeff

hello jeff

i would give him lukewarm baths just above his elbows and give him a very gentle massage from his right armpit down to his vents. you could also try putting a couple of drops of olive oil on his nose or his greens as well as trying him with some unsweetened applesauce, try getting him to lick some from your finger, or try a spoon or his nose. all of that should get things moving, if this fails then i would suspect the fall doing him some internal injury.
good luck and hope he goes soon!

yes, i would recommend the water therapy, also that sounds good, if movment is coming back, maybe all will return, the reason she probably doesnt want to eat crickets is because she will have to run to catch them, which she can not do?

keep us posted

chancellor

Hi there.

Oh my goodness! Its incredible that he didnt break any bones.

Its great that you are removing that horrid sand. It really can be fatal.

In terms of not pooping if there is swelling or discomfort around his joints its likely he isnt wanting to strain to go to the toliet, and with being housed on calci sand, he may have to push a bit. I know when I bruised my coccyx I didnt want to visit the bathroom!
I would recommend giving him two drops of olive oil in the morning or perhaps some unsweetened apple sauce to help ease his bowel movements.
Ive had great results with oil drops on my boy when he was backed up with sand when I first brought him home.

Water exercising have also really helped my boy Ruben.
He has two missing limbs so its really important to build up his strength in his remaining limbs.
He gets baths every day and we do water exercises twice or three times a week. By this I mean I take him to the deep end on my hand in water which is slightly deeper than for a normal bath, let him rest his arm on my hand then i take it away and hold it a few inches infront of him so he has to swim to get to me.
It doesnt distress him but it really helps to build up his strength. When your boy has regained some of his strength and movement it might be something to consider.

In terms of accomodating your guy whilst he is recovering Tracie is right that lowering any basking spots and climbing areas.
Ruben has to move around by draging himself around by one arm and pushing with his one leg, so grip is everything!
For him I use "ricerocks" to climb on, which are basically just socks packed tight with rice.
Not only does it give them alot of grip but you can also pop it in the microwave and give them a nice warm rock to snuggle on.
Giving him something accessable to climb might incorage him to stretch and exercise his muscles.
Here is Ruben on a rock after climbing up his ricerock staircase I made.



All the best and I wish him a speedy recovery!

Holly

Finally he went!!!!

Thank you so much everyone for your informed advice and concern. His legs are also working much much better, he's loving to swim and explore around my apartment... he really seems to be getting back to normal. What a relief!

Here's a video we made when I first got him, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkYgsl7VKBE

and Thanks again!

jeff & violet (violents)

hello jeff
i am so glad to hear he finally went poopy for you! isnt it exciting when they go, lol, you would never have thought to be so estatic over poop, LOL, but thats what us beardie slaves do.

im glad hes up and about and moving so much better too, i bet he feels so relieved, bless him!
good luck and i hope he continues his improvement.

Hello,

Oh that is great! It sounds like he is slowly getting better now, that is a huge relief for you & for him.
I would continue with the water therapy to let him get stronger for awhile longer. At least he is trying though, that is good news.
He really is a cute boy!
Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

I just found this thread yesterday. I'm glad to hear he's doing much better!