Whats wrong with Beardies legs........

[cordylidae]

tbh the the symptoms do sound like calcium deffiency more than anything as the vets has said it is it will be when you said the symptoms before you went to the vet thats the first thing that came to my head the bathing wont help anything and as you have said she has pooed it wont be impaction all you can do is give it the meds buy the new uv(i would reccomend a arcadia 12% d3+) id also make sure shes getting enough calcium dusted on her food otherwise the symptoms will get worse

also how close is theuv tube to the basking site?

[LauraandLee]

got new uv bulb yesterday!!! Any ideas when improvement will start to show???

[HadesDragons]

Does she show signs of twitching in muscles other than her hind legs or jerkiness in her movements?

"MBD" is used by some vets as a catch-all diagnosis for sick lizards - if it was MBD you'd normally expect to notice twitching, tremors etc before they lose the use of their back legs...

As a very quick bit of background, calcium is required for muscle contraction, amongst other things. A lack of calcium in the blood can interfere with muscular contraction, which is what produces the tremors, twitches and general lack of co-ordination. This is usually a gradual thing - unless all of the calcium is suddenly removed from her system, you should have noticed her going downhill, becoming less co-ordinated etc. If it's got to the stage where she is unable to move her back legs, you'd expect the rest of her muscles to be in a very bad way as well, and for there to be some degree of tremors and general weakness still present.


Are you sure she's not had a fall or anything that could have damaged her spine or legs? Does she seem to have any kind of control at all over her back legs? It seems odd that an older beardie (ie not a baby) could suffer from MBD so quickly if there have been no other signs. Impaction is still a possibility, although if she's still pooing it doesn't sound like a conventional impaction either. Have you got any photos of her or a video in her current state? If possible, try to get a video of her moving (or attempting to) and put it on YouTube or something like that...?

Personally I'd get her looked at by a different vet (make sure it's a reptile specialist, not just a regular vet who's happy to look at reptiles), just to be sure of the diagnosis...

[LauraandLee]

Does she show signs of twitching in muscles other than her hind legs or jerkiness in her movements? No nothing just started dragging her legs, she is still very active and is shedding at the moment.
There isnt anything in her viv she can fall off!!!


Will try and get pic on tomorrow if I can!!!! She is asleep now!!!

[spudsgirl]

I do hope your beardie is going to be ok, my vet was gonna give mine liquid parrifin as she hadnt pooped for 3 weeks but he gave her another week and she did in that time. Though as the vet didnt administer liquid parrifin hun you could give your beardie a lethal amount but you have beardie booked in tomorrow he may sugget this for impaction.

[spudsgirl]

I do hope your beardie is going to be ok, my vet was gonna give mine liquid parrifin as she hadnt pooped for 3 weeks but he gave her another week and she did in that time. Though as the vet didnt administer liquid parrifin hun you could give your beardie a lethal amount but you have beardie booked in tomorrow he may suggest this for impaction. Though as said it could be calcium defficiency in which case vet will give a boost of calcium via injection or give you it to take home to administer by mouth.

Hope beardie gets the ok.

[spudsgirl]

Sorry hun written it twice bloody internet connection aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!:b ash:

[LauraandLee]

Im gonna ring around vets tomorrow this is taking the !!!

My poor hope, sorry bout pic quality phone camera!!!!

Any advice pls pls!!!!!!!!!!

[HadesDragons]

From looking at that and the way she's supporting her front and her head, my gut feeling would be that it's not conventional MBD - by the time she'd lost control of her hind legs the rest of her would be in a pretty bad state as well...

Try to find a different vet who will do blood work - they can measure the calcium levels in the blood and tell you whether it's hypocalcaemia (MBD) or something else causing it.

[LauraandLee]

Well no chjange just rang around vets, and buget vets in Porth who told me - im sorry if she hasnt responsed to calcuim then nothing we can do bearded dragons go down hill very fast, and its the end for her

So getting second opionon thanks Hades dragons for link to -
Ash Veterinary Surgery Vets


Tel: 01685 722895| Aberdare Road, Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan CF48 1AT
Large And Small Pets , Exotic, Birds, Rodents, Lizards, Neutering, Spaying

APPOINTMENT MADE FOR 4.20