Beardie stopped using back legs immediate attention!

Yesterday night Dexter was laying down sleeping with his legs straight out down, I thought it was just a comfortable way of sleeping. This morning after I go to get crickets for him to eat I realize he was standing up on his front two paws and when I dropped in a few crickets he quickly crawled and ate a few. I immediately began searching and found it might be Impaction which I don’t think was it because he has been defecating regularly. I want to visit a vet and will probably wait another day to see if anything changes. If anyone has any ideas as to what it could be I would appreciate it. Also I did feed him mealworms quite a bit recently but stopped once I read it wasn’t very good for him so it’s back to crickets and carrot slices. Thank you guys very much! Almost forgot to mention he Can move his legs but only if it is very necessary it seems. I don’t think he likes baths but when I put him in it he began waving and shaking every limb in a desperate attempt to get out(it wasn’t too deep for him) and he also uses them to keep his balance.

Hello,

He still could be partially impacted from the mealworms even if he is going to the bathroom.
I would get some soft foods such as squash baby food, canned pumpkin, or unsweetened apple
sauce & mix it with a drop or two of coconut or olive oil to feed to him with a dropper. It may
help to get things moving.
Be sure the crickets are no larger than the space between his eyes. I would limit those right
now until he starts using his back legs.
Are you using a calcium supplement for him? Which type/brand of UVB light do you have for him?

Tracie

How large were the carrot slices ?

I believe feeding carrot slices is also an impaction risk …. better off grating the carrots ….

Drache613":2s2vucx8 said:

Hello,

He still could be partially impacted from the mealworms even if he is going to the bathroom.
I would get some soft foods such as squash baby food, canned pumpkin, or unsweetened apple
sauce & mix it with a drop or two of coconut or olive oil to feed to him with a dropper. It may
help to get things moving.
Be sure the crickets are no larger than the space between his eyes. I would limit those right
now until he starts using his back legs.
Are you using a calcium supplement for him? Which type/brand of UVB light do you have for him?

Tracie

Click to expand...

I don’t know if this is how to make a reply but thanks! I am feeding him small crickets with “Flunker’s Repta calcium with vitamin D3and phosphorus free.” My basking light is a zoo-med 75 watt basking lamp and his unveiling light is a zoo-med 10.0 UVB mini compact flourescent light. I don’t know what the perfect distance from beardie to light should be I tried searching and came to my own conclusion. Let me know if these distanced are too far/close please.

kingofnobbys":3nry4wrf said:

How large were the carrot slices ?

I believe feeding carrot slices is also an impaction risk …. better off grating the carrots ….

Click to expand...

Hey thanks for responding!
The slices were small and very thin, like you could even see through them.

Hello,

If the carrot slices were that thin, then they are probably fine. Go easy on the crickets &
instead give softer foods until he starts improving.
The mini compact/coil fluorescent tube bulb isn't likely emitting very good UVB & may be
some of the culprit of back leg weakness.
I would recommend at the very least, to get a Reptisun 10 tube bulb, or an Arcadia D3 12%
or 14% for him. It will need to be mounted at a 6-8 inch distance, using a light fixture with
reflective backing on it, too.
Your basking light should be fine & it needs to be directly beside the UVB. What are the
temperatures in the tank & what type of thermometer are you measuring them with?

Tracie

Drache613":26c9axat said:

Hello,

If the carrot slices were that thin, then they are probably fine. Go easy on the crickets &
instead give softer foods until he starts improving.
The mini compact/coil fluorescent tube bulb isn't likely emitting very good UVB & may be
some of the culprit of back leg weakness.
I would recommend at the very least, to get a Reptisun 10 tube bulb, or an Arcadia D3 12%
or 14% for him. It will need to be mounted at a 6-8 inch distance, using a light fixture with
reflective backing on it, too.
Your basking light should be fine & it needs to be directly beside the UVB. What are the
temperatures in the tank & what type of thermometer are you measuring them with?

Tracie

Click to expand...

I am happy to announce that upon returning for work dexter has been using his back legs Regularly again! Quiet weird. Anyways I will be keeping a close eye on him and thank you for your inputs. I will definitely invest in the Arcadia d3 12% as soon as I figure the size for my tank. Once again many thanks to you all!

cesar how big of enclosure you have and what you using to measure your temperatures how warm is the basking spot?

Beardeddtagonlover":5p7xz141 said:

cesar how big of enclosure you have and what you using to measure your temperatures how warm is the basking spot?

Click to expand...

It’s a 40 gallon and I measure tank temp with stuck-to-wall temperature checker which usually reads between 90-95 degrees. I don’t know the temperature of the basking spot whatsoever, how would you check that? All I know is dexter seems to spend time under and out of the light and sometimes he opens his mouth when basking and I read that’s a good sign. What would you say is best way to check temp of basking spot?

Thats great Dexter is doing better Stuck to wall thermometers are useless get a thermometer with a probe and/or infrared thermometer if you can get both https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B076M5WCR7?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_yo_pop_mb_pd_t2 something like this or any digital thermometer for cooking but preferably a thermometer with a probe and you know for sure what the temps are. When you get thermometer place the probe under the light untill temp is 100 degrees 2 to 3 degrees over is fine you always want to make basking spot lower temp need to take into consideration the height of the animal so 102 basking be higher once dexter gets in there after that just watch what he does if he wont go near it its too hot if he spends most of the day in basking then is probably not hot enough if he basks with hes mouth open its good.and yes i woyld upgrade the uvb to a flourescent tube t8 needs to be placed inside enclosure,t5 can be placed on too of screen or you can go with a MVB i would not recommend powersun i had one wasnt very good i hear good reviews of the mega ray you cant dim any MVb but you can raise it to get temps right.

Hello,

That is good news Dexter has started using his back legs again. So, it may have been a little
impaction, yes. It would be a good to idea to get a new light too. The Arcadia D3 14% is a
great light, too.
The best way to measure the temperatures would be by using either a temp gun, or a digital
thermometer with a probe that you place at or around/underneath of the basking spot. The
stick on types are not accurate & are usually off by 5-10 degrees, sometimes more.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie