Mushu is walking with a limp!!!

[Kedro5]

So i noticed this morning that Mushu is walking with a limp and his back left foot/ancle area appears to be swelled up. I didn't notice anything unusual until today as far as watching him get hurt or if he got his foot stuck on something while running around. I am just curious if there are any possble reasons why he might have a swelled up foot and is avoiding walking on it, that might not be due to physically harming himself. Even so, is there anything that i could even do to help his foot get better or is it something that he is going to be living with the rest of his life??

Any input is welcomed, as for right now i'm just worried about the little guy because he seems so helpless walking around with a limp

Thanks,

Aaron and Mushu

 

[AHBD]

Hi Aaron, how old is little Mushu ? Do you have a picture ? The first things that come to mind [ possibly ] are calcium deficiency or gout. Can you list your set up, including what type and brand of lights you use, what calcium supplements, diet, temps, etc ? That can give some clues as to possible problems. Hopefully it's something that can be corrected without too much trouble.

 

[Kedro5]

As for Mushu's age, he will have been with me for 1 year on thursday, i would assume the pet store had him for about a month or so before i got him so i would say he's about a little older than a year, he's about 18-19 inches long and healthy looking. I have a 36" Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb all the way across my tank with a basking bulb in one corner that read's 112 with a thermometer gun so the temperature should be perfect. Mushu refuses to eat crickets anymore so i switched him to supers and has been digesting them fine. I give him kale, celery leaves, collard greens, cucombers, and an assortment of veggies daily. I use Calcium Plus vitamin and mineral supplement.

I am still a little new to this website and how to upload pictures from my phone onto this website so once i figure out how to do that i can give pictures of his leg before and currently how it looks as well as my set up.... i built my VIV according to directions multiple people posted on this website with tiles on the bottom, a top catwalk top layer for him to get closer to his uvb light and a pyramid rock i built for him to bask on. Hopefully this will help, and if there are some other things that might impact how he is doing just let me know.

Thanks
Aaron and Mushu

 

[AHBD]

Your tank description sounds good, of course no one but a vet could really determine low calcium or gout, but your first mention of foot getting stuck/jammed somewhere is still a possibility if it apperaed to have developed overnight.

 

[AHBD]

Forgot to ask....what are the temps. on the cool side, and how do you give him water ? Also, your basking temps. could go down a few degrees.

 

[Kedro5]

Temp on the cool side is usually a consistent 80 degrees, and i've tried getting a lower watt heat bulb for the basking side, but because my pyramid rock is perminantly attached into his VIV it was either too low or a little high, so i chose the greater of the two and kept it a lil warm... usually mushu will lay half in his basking area half out of it if he gets too cold. The only thing that i was curious about is what exactly "Gout" is.... i've been looking into it from other posts people meantioned and as far as i've understood it' dehydration? I was under the impression that bearded dragons get water through eating their greens, because when i had a water dish in his VIV before his poop was always really watery so i removed it and just make sure all his veggies are washed and still damp when they are given to him.

 

[AHBD]

Gout is a build up of uric acid in different parts of the body, and it can cause swollen joints. It can be caused by certain medications, starvation, dehydration, improper diet. A vet can determine by X-ray and blood tests. So if Mushu primarily gets water through the wet veggies [ which is a good partial source of water ] you can start giving him more water by a shallow, lukewarm bath every other day until he's more hydrated, then after a few weeks maybe just every 3-4 days. While he's in the bath, dribble water on his nose, most dragons will drink as it trickles down their mouths. You can teach him to drink like that with a dropper or a spray bottle to very gently and slowly spray a direct stream on his nose. If you have a trustworthy vet you may want to have him checked to determine just what is wrong. It may be calcium/ vitamin related, or some type of injury.

 

[Kedro5]

Now that you meantion it, it has been almost 2 weeks since i had given him a bath. I'm hoping that it will help with his swelling up, because i did notice that he was drinking alot of the water while he was in the bath. I would definitely take him to a vet but there are none in my area that will see a bearded dragon, so as for right now i'm kinda stuck givin him baths every other day and if that doesn't work i'll have to look into seeing where the closest vet would be from me.

Thanks for the input, i feel like i learn something new every time i'm on this website! it's been extremely helpful
Aaron and Mushu