Bearded Dragon Stumbling On Back Leg

[neelaluoma]

Hello!

I brought my beardie to the vet in February and she was perfectly healthy! Now she is older but my sister was watching her for me in the beginning of March and she noticed when she ran or walked her back leg would kinda flip weirdly…she also would stumble on herself! She is known to throw herself off of her ledge she has in her enclosure so i’m worried she hurt it…she eats, poops, and drinks and has high spirits it’s just the leg that seems to be bothering her! Do I bring her back in for imaging? Or could this heal on its own?

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello!

I brought my beardie to the vet in February and she was perfectly healthy! Now she is older but my sister was watching her for me in the beginning of March and she noticed when she ran or walked her back leg would kinda flip weirdly…she also would stumble on herself! She is known to throw herself off of her ledge she has in her enclosure so i’m worried she hurt it…she eats, poops, and drinks and has high spirits it’s just the leg that seems to be bothering her! Do I bring her back in for imaging? Or could this heal on its own?

Please take the ledge out --- its possible she has sprained it but also broke it - if its sprained it will heal broke it may take a while to heal - what kind of UVB are you using --- Please NO coils --- those go in a dome - you want a long tube fixture --

 

[neelaluoma]

Please take the ledge out --- its possible she has sprained it but also broke it - if its sprained it will heal broke it may take a while to heal - what kind of UVB are you using --- Please NO coils --- those go in a dome - you want a long tube fixture --

Hey,

Thank you for your reply! She’s had the ledge in there her whole life and there is a ramp in there but she still likes to jump off of it…i was planning on making the ramp bigger and bringing the legs of the ledge lower.

She has a tube UVB…I have it in my description if you’re wondering what kind! I can also send a picture of the ledge.

What are my next steps? She doesn’t seem to be in a lot of pain because she is her normal self (eating,drinking,etc)

 

[KarrieRee]

Hey,

Thank you for your reply! She’s had the ledge in there her whole life and there is a ramp in there but she still likes to jump off of it…i was planning on making the ramp bigger and bringing the legs of the ledge lower.

She has a tube UVB…I have it in my description if you’re wondering what kind! I can also send a picture of the ledge.

What are my next steps? She doesn’t seem to be in a lot of pain because she is her normal self (eating,drinking,etc)

The T 8 is not giving enough UVB -and if its over 6 months old its expired as well -- w/ it being on top of the screen the UVB rays are being blocked 30% and if there is a cover on the fixture over the bulb its even less --- please upgrade your UVB to a T 5 -- the UVB is going to help heal that leg --- I would lower the ledge if you dont want to take it out ---

 

[neelaluoma]

The T 8 is not giving enough UVB -and if its over 6 months old its expired as well -- w/ it being on top of the screen the UVB rays are being blocked 30% and if there is a cover on the fixture over the bulb its even less --- please upgrade your UVB to a T 5 -- the UVB is going to help heal that leg --- I would lower the ledge if you dont want to take it out ---

I just purchased a new one not too long ago! I’ll definitely keep that in mind when I get a new one! I will be lower the ledge and extending the ramp!

I just want to know whether I should bring her into the vet or if there’s something else I can do to heal her leg?

 

[KarrieRee]

I just purchased a new one not too long ago! I’ll definitely keep that in mind when I get a new one! I will be lower the ledge and extending the ramp!

I just want to know whether I should bring her into the vet or if there’s something else I can do to heal her leg?

You can take her in to have it X rayed--- please get the UVB unobstructed and directly over the basking decor 6-8 inches --- this is going to help that leg

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing? How close did you move your current UVB tube bulb to her?
I would try to get her on a good liquid calcium supplement to help her bones heal. Hopefully
it is just sprained & not broken at all. An x-ray would be helpful if you think it could be broken.
Otherwise, just letting it heal up by keeping her from climbing too much will help out.

Tracie

 

[neelaluoma]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing? How close did you move your current UVB tube bulb to her?
I would try to get her on a good liquid calcium supplement to help her bones heal. Hopefully
it is just sprained & not broken at all. An x-ray would be helpful if you think it could be broken.
Otherwise, just letting it heal up by keeping her from climbing too much will help out.

Tracie

Hey, thank you for the reply!

She seems to be doing just fine! I did notice when she was on her basking spot her toes twitched a little and that worried me! I am buying a new UVB tube so it fits her whole cage. I did make a vet appt…and that’s coming up soon so we will go from there!

Thank you for your help!!

 

[hdochow]

You don't want the UVB to span the whole cage. I have a 48 inch enclosure with a 36 inch light, but that's just the size my custom build came with. A 24 inch would work for that size too. They need to have an area without UVB in case they want to get away from it.

 

[ChileanTaco]

Agree on that - it should not span the whole length of the enclosure. If it is not possible to get a smaller tube, or you want to get a longer one because getting a larger enclosure soon, you can put it at an angle.

(I also have a 48 inch enclosure, 36 inch light, so he rightmost approx. 10 - 12 inch are without the tube.)

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That's great you got a new UVB light. As suggested, you can put the light at an angle across the tank just so she can get out of the light, if needed.
I hope that your dragon is doing better. When is the vet appointment? Let us know how that goes.

Tracie