Bearded Dragon is wobbling when walking

[IzayahL]

Hello, Ive noticed that my 3 year old Beardie Supra is suddenly wobbling when hes walking and very unstable. Sometimes he will also go in a circle on his left side before walking straight. I have booked a vet appointment but I wasnt able to get one til the 15th of March.

Im not sure if its related but a week ago around 2 am, my beardie had a random spurt of activity after his nap and ran off my bed. At that point he started only walking in circles towards his left side, it was too late to go to any vets within a 2 hour drive from me so I decided to keep a close watch on him and massage him til he fell asleep. In the morning after a couple hours he was walking normally and was eating fine.

His tank setup is a 6ft reptile tank, with two basking lights on either side. One side has a Exo Terra Solar Glo 160W Basking Light and a (not in photo as it broke)
Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 HO T5 UVB Lamp, the right side has the same UVB lamp but the basking light is a Thrive 100W Essentials Basking Light.

His spine looks crooked to me but im not entirely sure.

Im open to any tips of what I can do before the vet visit or if anyone has any suggestions as to what this could be.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

He is a terrific looking boy!
Your UVB light should be sufficient. Since it is a Reptisun 10 T5 tube, how far is it from him when he sits
underneath of it? Is it mounted on top of the screen, correct? Is the screen a fine small holed mesh or are
the holes on the screen larger?
How often do you give calcium for him? It is hard to tell just by how he is sitting whether or not he is just
sitting with his back or spine curved or if it's truly curved. Can you position him to where he is straight to try
& determine whether or not his spine is crooked? If it is, then he may have hurt himself dive bombing off of your bed! How far down did he nose dive?
You mentioned that he is no longer walking in circles?

Tracie

 

[IzayahL]

Hello,

He is a terrific looking boy!
Your UVB light should be sufficient. Since it is a Reptisun 10 T5 tube, how far is it from him when he sits
underneath of it? Is it mounted on top of the screen, correct? Is the screen a fine small holed mesh or are
the holes on the screen larger?
How often do you give calcium for him? It is hard to tell just by how he is sitting whether or not he is just
sitting with his back or spine curved or if it's truly curved. Can you position him to where he is straight to try
& determine whether or not his spine is crooked? If it is, then he may have hurt himself dive bombing off of your bed! How far down did he nose dive?
You mentioned that he is no longer walking in circles?

Tracie

Thank you!

1. Its about 10.5 inches from his basking spot and nets

2. The mesh on the top is a very fine mesh, the holes are small

3. I try to give him Calcium atleast once a week, but hes stubborn and doesnt seem to like the taste of it after eating a worm dusted with calcium he'll close his eyes and pretend the food isnt there until I put food without calcium powder in the tank

4. Ill supply a proper picture in the morning, it may have just been the way he was laying down

5. From the top of my bed to the floor is about 1.75 ft, I also have carpet.

6. Yes, hes no longer walking in circles constantly. Before I made the post, he did it twice, but it wasn't constant. He made one rotation and then continued on straight both times.

 

[KarrieRee]

Please get the UVB unobstructed to around 12-13 inches from his basking decor piece - it should be directly under it -- if he has straightened his gate out and is walking fine then hes probably ok-- but you want your UVB correctly placed and w / the fine mesh the rays are getting blocked so hes not getting good UVB -- this can cause wobbly walking etc ---

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great to hear then, that he isn't walking in circles anymore. It is scary when they have a sudden behavioral change like that.
Do try to get calcium into him at least 3 times weekly, possibly 4 if he is having some trouble right now. He may need to build up his calcium stores.
Since the mesh holes are smaller, it is likely a fine mesh so it will be blocking a fair amount of UVB rays from him. So as Karrie suggested, mounting it underneath of the screen will help a lot.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[IzayahL]

Hello guys! Sorry for the late responses. I tried checking the pet stores near me but unfortunately they didnt have any Aracadia T5s so I had to order it online, I did however go pick up some brackets, screws, and wing nuts so I could mount his UV into his cage. Its not directly over his basking spot since I dont want the light to melt the fixture, however it is 13 inches from his favorite spot and ive heard this uvb bulb has good range/spread

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That looks really nice. The tube fixture already has the Arcadia D3 12% T5 tube in it now?
That's great you mounted it inside of the tank so the UVB exposure is stronger.
Does he like it I hope? I am glad to see the light fixture mounted directly overhead & that it
encircles the tube bulb. It will help to direct the UVB downward more.

Tracie

 

[IzayahL]

Hello,

That looks really nice. The tube fixture already has the Arcadia D3 12% T5 tube in it now?
That's great you mounted it inside of the tank so the UVB exposure is stronger.
Does he like it I hope? I am glad to see the light fixture mounted directly overhead & that it
encircles the tube bulb. It will help to direct the UVB downward more.

Tracie

Ah sorry I meant another Arcadia Fixture, his tank is 6ft long so in order to ensure full uvb coverage I need to get a second one aswell, currently its mounted on the side he likes to stay on the most. As for if he likes it, we will find out soon! I think he will, hes only picky with his food lol

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sure, no problem. As for the coverage of the UVB, you can have the UVB covering only three
quarters of the length of the tank just to ensure he has an area to be able to get out of the UVB
light if desired.
Hopefully he will like it!
They can definitely become picky with their eating.
Keep us posted on how things are going!

Tracie