I don't know if anyone remembers me, but i have two beardies blackbeard and Tiamat, and Tiamat fell last thursday evening when he tried to jump from my hand to my shirt (his favorite game i've tried to make him stop doing) and he hit the floor and broke his back. He cannot use his back legs at all and hasn't pooped or eaten in two days. does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do, vet said he'll probably just die and we should have him put to sleep but he is still crawling around and trying to be his old self. PLEASE I NEED HELP I DON'T WANT TO LOSE MY BABY!!!!!
Oh wow, I certainly remember you and Tiamat. Did you have xrays done to make sure his spine was actually broken/fractured? I'm hoping it's soft tissue damage or something and he's just having trouble because of soreness -crosses fingers-. Good luck, hun.
Yes, that is what I am wondering. Did the vet do any x-ray? If not, you really can't determine if he broke his back.
Normally, they don't break their backs as they don't have any discs in between their vertebrae. What has most likely happened is that the vertebrae has slipped over another, causing swelling & pain in the immediate area on & or around the spinal column. That will press on the nerves making it impossible, or very painful to use the back legs.
Do you see any swelling yet, or is his tail tip black?
sorry ive been running crazy all day from one place to another. I dont currently have any way to post pics right now. We dont have the money for a vet visit right now (makes me a bad mommy i know) but we have a friend who is a herp and has raised/treated bearded dragons for years. His professional opinion is that by looking at it externally it looks like a break (it looks like an upside down just above the hips.) T has finally pooped and eaten for the first time today since it happened which excited me greatly. He seems to have more movement control over his tail which hes using to facilitate movement and we were told that he may not have a broken spine and that he may be lucky enough to regain partial or full use of his legs. Any additional info you guys can offer is greatly appreciated and thank you all for the well wishes.
How is your dragon doing tonight?
So you do see some swelling right now?
I hope nothing is broken. It is most likely a bad sprain but it will take some time to heal up though. At least the tip of his tail is not dark right now.
You can soak him in a daily warm bath to help him with pain management. Metacam is a good anti-inflammatory to use for him with his injury.
Let us know how he is doing.
He is doing better today. He doesn't seem to be in any pain unless he tries to climb on something, so we took all of his climbing material out and added an extra heat lamp to make sure he is staying warm enough. He's eaten again today a little bit. what does it mean if his tail tip turns black? Right now we are taking it day by day, so hopefully it will heal and he can have use of his back legs back. Thanks again everybody! I really love you guys!
He is doing better today. He doesn't seem to be in any pain unless he tries to climb on something, so we took all of his climbing material out and added an extra heat lamp to make sure he is staying warm enough. He's eaten again today a little bit. what does it mean if his tail tip turns black? Right now we are taking it day by day, so hopefully it will heal and he can have use of his back legs back. Thanks again everybody! I really love you guys!
Great, that is always recommended to take out any climbing apparatus from the tank so he can't hurt himself further.
I hope he is doing better today. Just give him some time to heal up & hopefully he will eventually regain the use of his back legs as soon as any swelling goes down.
At least he doesn't seem to be stressed or in pain right now.