Help my bearded dragon took a huge fall not using back legs

iDream<3

Member
Original Poster
Hi, I need help! My bearded dragon fell off my 2 story balcony on Memorial Day. He was alert but not using his back legs. I immediately took him to the only open Vet for an emergency visit. They just looked at him, pinched his leg and said it wasn’t broken and sent him home with pain meds. They told me to take him to a exotic animal vet for a follow up. They would not do X-rays or diagnose there. I didn’t know this before I went there because they told me they saw bearded dragons . I used the only funds I had for that visit over $300. I don’t get paid till next week so I have been watching him closely until then.

He started to show slight improvement in his back legs as he walked on day 3 but since then he started to have trembles on his stomach and will only eat worms. I have been using calcium with vitamin D daily since then and giving him drops of water each day. He only has one more day of pain meds and I don’t know how to help him. I can’t find any help online. He is still dragging his backs legs, hasn’t pooped since before this happened. Despite trying to soak him. Please help me help him.
 

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Rocky2022

Sub-Adult Member
Beardie name(s)
Rocky, Ruby
OMG - this is too difficult for me to read - (I can't get past the 2nd sentence). I just wanted to pop in to say I hope everything works out for you and your beardie!!!!
 

iDream<3

Member
Original Poster
OMG - this is too difficult for me to read - (I can't get past the 2nd sentence). I just wanted to pop in to say I hope everything works out for you and your beardie!!!!
Yes, I know I’m sorry. It’s even more difficult for me to talk about. I am still in disbelief it happened myself. Even worse I couldn’t even be there or it would have never happened. We have the patio fenced in closed he only goes out supervised to sun bathe but he roams and loves to sleep in my living room and the door was left slightly opened on accident. He always races to run out and had enough time to climb the fence that’s there to protect my pets from falling through. I hope he gets better too! Ty
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hopefully he'll regain movement but only time will tell . Is he on Metacam aka Meloxicam ? It's a pain + anti inflammatory so it may help reduce swelling in the spine if that part of the problem. Not pooping is normal after an accident + then on pain meds., he should go soon so try not to worry about that. Best wishes for a good outcome !
 

iDream<3

Member
Original Poster
Hopefully he'll regain movement but only time will tell . Is he on Metacam aka Meloxicam ? It's a pain + anti inflammatory so it may help reduce swelling in the spine if that part of the problem. Not pooping is normal after an accident + then on pain meds., he should go soon so try not to worry about that. Best wishes for a good outcome !
Thank you! Yes, he is on Metacam 0.05ml I have one more dose left for him. I don’t want him to be in pain. What can I give him to eat? I can barely get him to eat some worms but I read they shouldn’t be eating worms. Also should I try and build a spleen for him? because he still tries to get around. He is happiest when he is out of his tank sleeping but I’m not sure if I should be letting him because of injury as well as not getting enough heat.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Find a reptile vet ASAP and get any friends + family that can loan you just enough to get him seen at least one time. Tell the new vet that you already spent big money + hopefully they'll get more Metacam and advise you if there's anything else you can do. Don't try to rig anything up for him, just keep all his tank furniture low so he can't try to climb + fall.
 

iDream<3

Member
Original Poster
Find a reptile vet ASAP and get any friends + family that can loan you just enough to get him seen at least one time. Tell the new vet that you already spent big money + hopefully they'll get more Metacam and advise you if there's anything else you can do. Don't try to rig anything up for him, just keep all his tank furniture low so he can't try to climb + fall.
Ok thanks. I am working on it. I changed his tank.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Goodness that is quite a fall & he is still alive? What did he land on, square on the ground, a
tree, etc? I am shocked nothing is apparently broken....but, what has likely happened is that
his spine is injured to some extent.
Has he had any blood in the stool at all? Definitely look for blood in the stool, discoloration on
the abdomen meaning blood pooling possibly, bruising, etc. Is his beard normal color?
Too bad the vet couldn't or wouldn't do any x-rays for you, that would have been very helpful.
The metacam should hopefully help out for him. He wont be able to stay on that long term though,
because it is hard on the liver.
I recommend trying to get him on some liquid serrapeptase, which is silkworm enzyme. It helps
with pain, swelling, inflammation, etc & is all natural. So he can stay on it long term, while he is
healing.
I agree, changing his tank to where he doesn't have to get around much is ideal! Can your family
help, at all?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 

iDream<3

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

Goodness that is quite a fall & he is still alive? What did he land on, square on the ground, a
tree, etc? I am shocked nothing is apparently broken....but, what has likely happened is that
his spine is injured to some extent.
Has he had any blood in the stool at all? Definitely look for blood in the stool, discoloration on
the abdomen meaning blood pooling possibly, bruising, etc. Is his beard normal color?
Too bad the vet couldn't or wouldn't do any x-rays for you, that would have been very helpful.
The metacam should hopefully help out for him. He wont be able to stay on that long term though,
because it is hard on the liver.
I recommend trying to get him on some liquid serrapeptase, which is silkworm enzyme. It helps
with pain, swelling, inflammation, etc & is all natural. So he can stay on it long term, while he is
healing.
I agree, changing his tank to where he doesn't have to get around much is ideal! Can your family
help, at all?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
Yes! I couldn’t believe it he was still alive and alert when found him. his front legs were arched up and he was looking up towards us. His beard was black. He landed on a Small rocks. He appeared to be okay from looking at him but once he started moving around we noticed his back legs. His beard and body has been normal color since.

The main reason I took him to the vet was of course pain meds but I needed those X-rays done to be sure nothing is broken, it wasn’t his spine and was no internal bleeding. I had no idea they wouldn’t do the X-rays or I would have waited because that ER visit was double the normal and I could had the extra 100 or so for the X-ray that day. I just started working more recently and just had a huge tires expense they helped me with 2 days before this happened. I am trying to find somewhere that has a X-ray charge lower then starting at 200 and exam 80-100 but I am working on it. One vet said to just watch him and if he gets worse to take him in. But I don’t want to make the mistake and lose him.

He has not gone poop since the day before it happened so I have no way to see if blood is in the stool. But no visible bruising. I do see some some small dots on his tummy. I will attach the photo and the one where his stomach twitches.

Thank you I will try the silk worm enzyme. Can you tell me if it’s ok for him to eat wax worms and meal worms? That is about all I can get him to eat a few a day. I don’t want him to stop eating and adding calcium too also don’t want to give him something that is not helpful to his healing.

His tank has already been cleared out so he can move around easily he just has a shallow bowl with water (hoping he goes poo in) and a low climb area he can lay on the stay warm.

Thank you!
 

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