Ziggy seems to be mostly paralyzed

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ZiggysDad

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Hello,

A Beardie friend on another forum suggested I post what I posted there here, in order to seek some health. I've copied my post below, and I think it explains the situation. Been crying periodically all day. The vet did say Ziggy is happy, and the only thing that seems to be wrong with him is his paralysis. I don't want him to die ... I know he will eventually, of course, but I don't want it to be soon. Thank you.

I posted a while back about our pet, Ziggy. He is about a year and a half old. He was doing great until about September. He then started to not eat his greens - would only eat bugs. He started having mobility issues, and soon could no longer catch crickets. We were feeding him super worms exclusively for a while. Eventually, his mobility got so bad that he couldn't even get the worms - if he did try to eat them, they'd manage to squirm out of his mouth.

Upon advice, we got him a UVB light that was better than the coil one we had - a 10.0 t5 long bulb and fixture. We hung it inside his cage. It probably needs to be lower, as he can't climb up on things, and I got some wire to work on that.

We've been feeding him with a syringe - a blend of greens and fruit and calcium and freeze dried crickets, whirred up in a blender (we got him his own dedicated blender). We've been giving him fluids subcutaneously. We also give him a supplement.

He doesn't seem to be getting much better. He moves his legs a little, but can hardly even push himself forward. He can life his head high.

He had a vet appointment this morning. They continue to maintain he doesn't have MBD. They say it could be paralysis, and said that we probably got "a lemon" when it comes to our Beardie - a "beautiful, wonderful lemon." They said he weighs a perfect amount, and he is pooping at least every other day, which is more than he did when he was healthy. But they said eventually the paralysis will make it so he can't life his head, and then he will have serious problems eating and/or breathing.

Trying not to cry and my heart is pretty crushed. Anyone have any ideas how we can help him? We love him so much. He's no "lemon" to us!

Thank you in advance.
 
I’m not a vet or anything but once I got this energy booster for my beardie when she was super lethargic and it really helped her! It’s a flukers energy booster for reptiles.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, I'm sorry about Ziggy. :( It may be MBD, but could be a more rare condition causing this. How long have you had the new uvb bulb ? Can Ziggy move around any at all, squirmy, jerky movements ? Can you post pics of his set up and even a video of him trying to move ? I'd cut out the sub -Q water, just add a little more water to his syringe feedings . Try putting him in a shallow bath to see if he'll move around and also take him out in the sun, set him in the grass if it's warm. BTW, I had a severely crippled beardie, he lived for 7 years. He laid around a lot but moved like a snake when he wanted and even black bearded in the spring as many males do. Anyway, here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/
 

ZiggysDad

Member
Original Poster
110778-9579429058.jpg
AHBD":e8r0bmis said:
Hi there, I'm sorry about Ziggy. :( It may be MBD, but could be a more rare condition causing this. How long have you had the new uvb bulb ? Can Ziggy move around any at all, squirmy, jerky movements ? Can you post pics of his set up and even a video of him trying to move ? I'd cut out the sub -Q water, just add a little more water to his syringe feedings . Try putting him in a shallow bath to see if he'll move around and also take him out in the sun, set him in the grass if it's warm. BTW, I had a severely crippled beardie, he lived for 7 years. He laid around a lot but moved like a snake when he wanted and even black bearded in the spring as many males do. Anyway, here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/

110778-9579429058.jpg

110778-2066682941.jpg

110778-48692967.jpg
 

ZiggysDad

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":1ddp4cs3 said:
Hi there, I'm sorry about Ziggy. :( It may be MBD, but could be a more rare condition causing this. How long have you had the new uvb bulb ? Can Ziggy move around any at all, squirmy, jerky movements ? Can you post pics of his set up and even a video of him trying to move ? I'd cut out the sub -Q water, just add a little more water to his syringe feedings . Try putting him in a shallow bath to see if he'll move around and also take him out in the sun, set him in the grass if it's warm. BTW, I had a severely crippled beardie, he lived for 7 years. He laid around a lot but moved like a snake when he wanted and even black bearded in the spring as many males do. Anyway, here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/

Hello - sorry! I posted pics but didn't answer your questions.

We've had the UVB for maybe 3 weeks to a month. I've been told I should hang it lower, closer to him, since he cannot climb on his "furniture." But then our vet told us it WASN'T MBD, so I didn't know what to do. He can move his hips and his back legs a tiny bit. Occasionally he is able to use his back legs to move a little bit forward. His front legs don't seem to work much at all. We do bathe him every day, and he seems fine with it.

Thank you for the news about your Beardie. Even if he remains like this, as long as he's happy and not in pain, we will be more than pleased to keep caring for him!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
He looks so healthy, good weight + bright eyes, etc. Handsome too ! :) Try taking him outside to see if it gets him moving.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I would get a second opinion on Ziggy - here is a website for a reptile vet in your area -
http://www.arav.org
Try that website see if you can find one more qualified w/ dragons-
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Ziggy is so pretty, bless him!
I think your lighting should be fine, but like you are working on currently getting it a bit closer
since he isn't able to move around well will most likely help out in the case it is calcium issues.
Did they do a blood test at all?
Which calcium are you using for him & how often does he get his calcium?
It was a little hard to tell but is there some puffiness or swelling of his lower limbs such as his
feet, ankles, etc? His hands/fingers look a bit off to me, is there possible swelling? I am also
considering gout or pre-gout syndrome because that as well, can cause lack of desire to want
to use their back legs too.
You could consider starting him on a liquid calcium in case his calcium levels are lower than
they should be.

Tracie
 

ZiggysDad

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":1bbh7vp5 said:
Hello,

Ziggy is so pretty, bless him!
I think your lighting should be fine, but like you are working on currently getting it a bit closer
since he isn't able to move around well will most likely help out in the case it is calcium issues.
Did they do a blood test at all?
Which calcium are you using for him & how often does he get his calcium?
It was a little hard to tell but is there some puffiness or swelling of his lower limbs such as his
feet, ankles, etc? His hands/fingers look a bit off to me, is there possible swelling? I am also
considering gout or pre-gout syndrome because that as well, can cause lack of desire to want
to use their back legs too.
You could consider starting him on a liquid calcium in case his calcium levels are lower than
they should be.

Tracie

Hello,

We are giving him the calcium dust - I believe my wife is putting it in with his "smoothie." I can't recall the brain right now. That being the case, we've been feeding him with the syringe morning and evening, so twice per day. We had a supplement the vet gave us, and I have to admit, we've been slightly lax the past four or five days with that. We also give him fluids, as I said in my original post - with a needle.

I haven't noticed any puffiness with his limbs, though his beard/neck has gotten fatter and a bit saggier. I don't know if that means anything.

The most recent vet visit - I think it was just two days ago - they took blood for tests, but we haven't received any results.

We love him so much!

Thank you,
Ziggy's Dad
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Are you using a actual needle or just the syringe for water? If so please use only the syringe and NO needle-- too dangerous-- if you can get the blood results emailed to you for Ziggy that would be great so Tracie can look at them --- then post them please
 

ZiggysDad

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2yh8yz9r said:
Are you using a actual needle or just the syringe for water? If so please use only the syringe and NO needle-- too dangerous-- if you can get the blood results emailed to you for Ziggy that would be great so Tracie can look at them --- then post them please

I can scan them and then post them, if they don't send via e-mail.

With the fluids (not sure it's just water), the vets were the ones who told us to inject it under his skin. Is that a bad idea? I hate doing it, but I figured he needed it. Should be be squirting water into his mouth? My wife does mix in water with his smoothie (which has greens like kale, blueberries, the calcium, too), so he gets some that way. I think the vet was worried he might have kidney disease.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok the injections are just water or what please find out-- that is something Tracie is going to haft to address-- if hes getting slurries w/ water that is probably enough - keep an eye on the poop it will tell you if hes hydrated -- the poop will be dark formed and moist the urate will be white formed and moist any extra liquid means hes really hydrated - you dont want white dried out chalky looking urate
 

ZiggysDad

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3tqe1bpv said:
Ok the injections are just water or what please find out-- that is something Tracie is going to haft to address-- if hes getting slurries w/ water that is probably enough - keep an eye on the poop it will tell you if hes hydrated -- the poop will be dark formed and moist the urate will be white formed and moist any extra liquid means hes really hydrated - you dont want white dried out chalky looking urate

That's one thing - since we've been feeding him with a syringe, he has been pooping almost every day. Even when he was fully mobile and so forth before, he wasn't going that often. It has been getting a little more liquid-y lately. Still separated between the white and dark green stuff. Definitely not chalky or dry!
 
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