Helping a sprained leg

So when I woke up yesterday, my boy Cheeto was avoiding using his front left leg very suddenly. When he got into his basking spot, he dragging his leg up and letting it lay limp. There was no swelling and he was alright with me touching and (very gently) squeezing the arm to feel it but seemed upset by me moving it around. I assumed he fell before I woke up and hurt it.

Today he seems a little bit better - his leg is still a bit limp but hes actually moving it to lay forward rather than back to his side, though he is keeping the leg tucked up next to him, . Hes actually walking between his lights, just limping when he does. I took out everything he has to climb and put fleece over what he can easily get on (namely his basking rocks - theyre honestly too small but hes attached to them because they were the first fixtures he had) and he was very curious about it, so his behavior is otherwise fine.

Is there anything else I can do to help him out at home? I've given him warm baths as well to maybe help him relax. I cant get him in to see a vet before the middle of next week, but given that hes already improving I'm assuming it was just a sprain and a visit will be unnecessary.

If it doesn't come good by tomorrow it's more likely a dislocation or a fracture and a vet should take a look and take xrays to determine exactly what happened and to work out how to fix it.
Sprains usually come good in a day or two.

Lizard arms can be broken in accidents and misadventures, and can be pinned and reset (even with smaller juveniles ( about 50g and up )). I'd not hold off on the vet visit , if broken , the break can easily become infected and can become a life threatening SI ( gangrene ).

I'd be removing all climbing options while he's unable to use the arm , as he can make it worse if he climbs and falls and drops or leaps.

In addition to what kingofnobbys has written, I'll also mention that our baby beardie's first sign of illness was loss of use of one of his limbs. I had thought it was paralysis due to injury or impaction, but it was actually loss of muscle control due to MBD. We were shocked -- we had pretty darn good husbandry and had only had the dragon for a month -- but apparently it can happen if a female's calcium stores are depleted and she is overbred.

If it were my dragon, I'd probably get the x-rays done to be sure. Of course, you are the expert of your own situation, so I offer this simply as a reflection on my own experience.

(EDITED TO ADD) And as for home care, it sounds like you're already doing what you can by flattening his enclosure and letting him float a bit in the bath. If the weather in your area permits, some natural sunlight always does the body good. Wish I could be more help in this area.

Hoping for good news!

Aaron

Hi Jay, how old + big is Cheeto and can you post some pics of his tank and him as well ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload

It sounds more like a light sprain that will resolve itself but it could also be the calcium deficiency or inability to absorb calcium that may lead to MBD. [ I still lean very much toward just a sprain ] Did he have logs or basking areas that were high up and did he have a hammock ? Hammocks can snag nails + cause injury when the dragon's leg gets twisted or stuck as they jump off. Another important question, what type of uvb bulb do you have, check for name + wattage if you're unsure. And how often do you use calcium powder , is it with or w/out D3?

AHBD":3f19j9ts said:

Hi Jay, how old + big is Cheeto and can you post some pics of his tank and him as well ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload

It sounds more like a light sprain that will resolve itself but it could also be the calcium deficiency or inability to absorb calcium that may lead to MBD. [ I still lean very much toward just a sprain ] Did he have logs or basking areas that were high up and did he have a hammock ? Hammocks can snag nails + cause injury when the dragon's leg gets twisted or stuck as they jump off. Another important question, what type of uvb bulb do you have, check for name + wattage if you're unsure. And how often do you use calcium powder , is it with or w/out D3?

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Cheeto is 8 months old, I haven't weight him recently but he's 18" long

Here's his tank with his big rock and branch removed

A closer picture of him (he's actually looking even better today, his legs are evenly positioned, yesterday he was keeping the upper part of his left leg pressed to his body)

He had a rock that was about 3" high and a branch that has a high point of 9". He has occasionally climbed the back wall but typically has no issue getting down on his rock. Im suspecting the wall is the culprit - the main reason I keep it up is that I haven't gotten anything to cover the back in replacement and his temperament is changing a bit (due to his age I assume) and he's been poorly to his reflection. He used to have a mesh hammock that I put fleece over, but I took it out because he kept knocking it down or the fleece off, so he only has the fleece hammock now.

He has a T8 ReptiSun bulb that's about 5 months old and mounted inside (hes sitting under it in the picture) I was going to replace the in a week or so with my next check, and he gets his feeders dusted with calcium with d8 at least 5 times a week. I actually dialed back the calcium a couple weeks ago because he had an orange urate and no orange food, which fixed it.

Yeah, it sounds like he just hurt it with all his gymnastics. He's a hefty size so more weight like that can of course make it easier to pull a muscle or produce a sprain. BTW, it's good to have both calcium with and w/out D3 + alternate.

AHBD":8adotzz9 said:

Yeah, it sounds like he just hurt it with all his gymnastics. He's a hefty size so more weight like that can of course make it easier to pull a muscle or produce a sprain. BTW, it's good to have both calcium with and w/out D3 + alternate.

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I've seen him walking normally today! Not a ton, but it's still early and hes mostly been laying under his lamp to warm up. He also positioned himself in his normal position to poop (over the side of his basking rock, lol) but when I took him out and let him sit on my shoulder while I took out the soiled paper he tried climbing higher up definitely favoring his not injured leg. So I'll keep everything out and watching him.

Jay0818":a0tpidfn said:

I've seen him walking normally today! Not a ton, but it's still early and hes mostly been laying under his lamp to warm up. He also positioned himself in his normal position to poop (over the side of his basking rock, lol) but when I took him out and let him sit on my shoulder while I took out the soiled paper he tried climbing higher up definitely favoring his not injured leg. So I'll keep everything out and watching him.

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That's great to hear! Hoping he's right as rain

I'm keeping the things he climbs out for a couple more days, but Cheeto's doing really well!! Hes walking normally and has been really eager be held and to come out, which he wasnt when he was hurting!


Here he is yesterday, hes leaning more on the leg that was hurt.

That's excellent ! When a beardie just starts limping and there is nothing to pin the injury on [ no fall from a height, handled roughly, etc ] then it's usually a minor injury that heals itself + hopefully doesn't reoccur. But good for you your buddy.

Great news!
I tend to agree with AHBD on this one, typically it's something simple like a sprain or some slight inflamation from something when it comes on like that. Especially if you didn't actually witness a fall. But like Sky mentioned, sometimes it can be indicative of something more serious and not necessarily related to a fall, so it's always a good idea to pay attention and keep a closer eye on your dragon for a bit when they display a new odd behavior such as this.

Sounds like he's well on the way to being back to 100%, just keep an eye on him

-Brandon

I had spent a full day supervising him because he had started showing signs of being hurt on a Sunday, so he wouldnt have been able to see a vet that day anyway, and assumed it was just a sprain based on the fact that he started showing improvement the next day.

He's definitely back to normal! Hes enjoying being held and running around again, and I'm seeing his usual behaviors again! I put his tank back to normal and but I'm keeping an eye on him regardless - I dont know exactly what happened, so I'm watching to see what might he might have done. My major suspicion is that he jumped and landed wrong or missed his rock before my roommate or I woke up, since he was already sprained before either of us woke up.