Baby born with defect

[~AmyNicole~]

Hey I recently got 2 baby bearded dragons from a local breeder. The little female was born with an issue with her front legs.. the front left one doesn't seem to extend at all from the elbow down. She keeps it tucked up to her body. The other one almost looks like it's on backwards or something. She gets around ok, she does seem to struggle a bit though. She is so sweet, I absolutely love her! I've put her in the bath a couple times and got her to swim some, I thought maybe it would help her strengthen that arm so maybe she could extend it one day. I was told she was born like this.. does any one know if there is anything I can do to help her? Of course I give her calcium on her mealworms, but should I maybe give her extra calcium? Any advice will help and be appreciated! Thank you in advance.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hey I recently got 2 baby bearded dragons from a local breeder. The little female was born with an issue with her front legs.. the front left one doesn't seem to extend at all from the elbow down. She keeps it tucked up to her body. The other one almost looks like it's on backwards or something. She gets around ok, she does seem to struggle a bit though. She is so sweet, I absolutely love her! I've put her in the bath a couple times and got her to swim some, I thought maybe it would help her strengthen that arm so maybe she could extend it one day. I was told she was born like this.. does any one know if there is anything I can do to help her? Of course I give her calcium on her mealworms, but should I maybe give her extra calcium? Any advice will help and be appreciated! Thank you in advance.

Poor baby -- one thing for sure is do NOT house them together- as far as her getting around you can try and keep her decor lower to the floor - make sure your using good UVB a long tube fixture and NO coils --- if you need help please ask there are 3 that are recommended on this forum-- and a good surface basking temps- taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- I can have someone else help w/ the disability issue
@AHBD

 

[xp29]

Bless her heart, i dunno it she can grow out of it or not. But i would give a word of caution about baths. Lizards use the same muscle group to walk and to breathe, they can't do both at once. So be extremely careful with water. Make sure it's shallow enough that her nose is above water if she lays flat. I also wouldn't encourage her to swim. It only take one slip to aspirate them, especially if she has trouble using her front legs.

 

[~AmyNicole~]

Well, I do have them together, right now, I don't have much choice at the moment, im working on the other enclosure.. but he doesn't seem to pick on her or anything, I keep my eye on them. The worst thing I've seen him do is climb over her. But he has Long legs so he goes over her with no problem.. I would appreciate any help! I was thinking the bath idea would maybe be like physical therapy? Her arm works from the shoulder to the elbow, but doesn't extend from elbow to hand.. I'm not sure she can extend it at all.. I've tried a couple of times putting a little pressure on it to see if there was a possibility, but from what I can tell, there isnt. I don't want to put alot of pressure on it, out of fear of hurting her... but it would be great if I could figure out how to help her with it if it's even possible..

 

[~AmyNicole~]

Bless her heart, i dunno it she can grow out of it or not. But i would give a word of caution about baths. Lizards use the same muscle group to walk and to breathe, they can't do both at once. So be extremely careful with water. Make sure it's shallow enough that her nose is above water if she lays flat. I also wouldn't encourage her to swim. It only take one slip to aspirate them, especially if she has trouble using her front legs.

Oh I hold on to her!! I don't ever leave her alone.. not for a second.. I just thought it might be a form of physical therapy for her so she could strengthen it without her body weight..

 

[~AmyNicole~]

Bless her heart, i dunno it she can grow out of it or not. But i would give a word of caution about baths. Lizards use the same muscle group to walk and to breathe, they can't do both at once. So be extremely careful with water. Make sure it's shallow enough that her nose is above water if she lays flat. I also wouldn't encourage her to swim. It only take one slip to aspirate them, especially if she has trouble using her front legs.

Oh I hold on to her!! I don't ever leave her alone.. not for a second.. I just thought it might be a form of physical therapy for her so she could strengthen it without her body weight.. I wasn't thinking about it hurting her more than helping, I guess I will stop that.. I just didn't know what else to try to be honest...

 

[AHBD]

Aw, sweet little baby is hanging in there despite her problem. I agree, don't soak her unless she's dirty [ then about 5 minutes in warmish water ] and the water should be shallow for her safety. Don't push on the leg at all, you can VERY easily fracture it, these are tiny animals, very fragile ! Just care for her like the other one, extra calcium won't make any difference. As to what she might turn out like, there is a chance that her arm will loosen up some but mostly not. She will adapt and being an animal, she will never know any difference . She'll probably get along pretty well but do keep the beardies separate , the healthier one will end up biting her most likely at some point. Also keep the basking areas a little lower and easy to grip. BTW, is there a slight kink in her spine or is it just the way she's sitting ? I hope the breeder didn't charge you for this baby, that would be unethical.

 

[~AmyNicole~]

Poor baby -- one thing for sure is do NOT house them together- as far as her getting around you can try and keep her decor lower to the floor - make sure your using good UVB a long tube fixture and NO coils --- if you need help please ask there are 3 that are recommended on this forum-- and a good surface basking temps- taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- I can have someone else help w/ the disability issue
@AHBD

I do have a tube bulb, it's a zoomed 10.0, inside the enclosure, attached to the underside of the screen lid..

 

[KarrieRee]

I do have a tube bulb, it's a zoomed 10.0, inside the enclosure, attached to the underside of the screen lid..

ok and its the T 5 or the T 8?

 

[~AmyNicole~]

Aw, sweet little baby is hanging in there despite her problem. I agree, don't soak her unless she's dirty [ then about 5 minutes in warmish water ] and the water should be shallow for her safety. Don't push on the leg at all, you can VERY easily fracture it, these are tiny animals, very fragile ! Just care for her like the other one, extra calcium won't make any difference. As to what she might turn out like, there is a chance that her arm will loosen up some but mostly not. She will adapt and being an animal, she will never know any difference . She'll probably get along pretty well but do keep the beardies separate , the healthier one will end up biting her most likely at some point. Also keep the basking areas a little lower and easy to grip. BTW, is there a slight kink in her spine or is it just the way she's sitting ? I hope the breeder didn't charge you for this baby, that would be unethical.

No, I don't think there is a kink in her spine.. I'll add some more pics though.. I had 2 bearded dragons before, they both passed not too long ago, so I'm not completely new at this, but I am definitely still learning! So any advice is welcome and appreciated...hold on, I'll add those files

 

[~AmyNicole~]

ok and its the T 5 or the T 8?

T8 if I remember correctly, I'll check after I take these pics and post them

 

[KarrieRee]

Well, I do have them together, right now, I don't have much choice at the moment, im working on the other enclosure.. but he doesn't seem to pick on her or anything, I keep my eye on them. The worst thing I've seen him do is climb over her. But he has Long legs so he goes over her with no problem.. I would appreciate any help! I was thinking the bath idea would maybe be like physical therapy? Her arm works from the shoulder to the elbow, but doesn't extend from elbow to hand.. I'm not sure she can extend it at all.. I've tried a couple of times putting a little pressure on it to see if there was a possibility, but from what I can tell, there isnt. I don't want to put alot of pressure on it, out of fear of hurting her... but it would be great if I could figure out how to help her with it if it's even possible..

I would get then separated as soon as possible --- you dont want her injured any more than she is - I would get her into a plastic tote for now 20 gallon to be on the safe side

 

[KarrieRee]

T8 if I remember correctly, I'll check after I take these pics and post them

Ok you want distance of 6-8 inches directly over the basking decor --- but I would get them separated as soon as you can ---

 

[~AmyNicole~]

Here they are.. I can't help but love her, she's definitely not a quitter, I have to try not to baby her too much though, im afraid I'm doing that too much.. and as far as keeping things low to the ground for her, that really doesn't seem to phase her, she gets up on the bridge, the log, even the rope net I have on the side of the enclosure with no problem so far.. I was actually shocked!

 

[KarrieRee]

Here they are.. I can't help but love her, she's definitely not a quitter, I have to try not to baby her too much though, im afraid I'm doing that too much.. and as far as keeping things low to the ground for her, that really doesn't seem to phase her, she gets up on the bridge, the log, even the rope net I have on the side of the enclosure with no problem so far.. I was actually shocked!

Ok sounds good --- but I would get her away from the other dragon --- cant stress this enough ---