Our bearded dragon seems to have limited or no use of his rear legs? Could his aquarium be too small?

Question

Our bearded dragon seems to have limited or no use of his rear legs? Could his aquarium be too small?

Answer 1

can you see its struggling to use its back legs? or does it just not move and sits around all day?

when i was working at a pet shop there was a bearded dragon in there, it was fine just lazy and chose not to move much, so i'm pretty sure he's fine :)

Answer 2

Don't know about the impaction, its possible but far more likely is a lack of calcium in its diet. A common problem with inexperienced people keeping lizards.Do you have a calcium supplement to sprinkle on its food?

Answer 3

Oh my.

Maybe you should check and see what his previous owner did to him or let the lizard crawl about the room freely for a couple of mins everyday.

Hmm, it may be calcium deficenancy. Do you dust his crickets or mealworms with a special calcium supplement powder?

How big is the terrium? It should be around a 50 gal so he can have a large environment. Anything smaller is unacceptable.

Answer 4

have u got it on a loose substrate like sand or ground walnut because it sounds like impaction which can kill your beardie u need need to see a reptile vet asap or its gonna get really bad

dont house beardies on loose substrate e.g. sand it's one of the worst thing u can do to a beardie u need something like un-treated terracotta tiles

beardies in the wild live in a hardrock desert NOT a sandy desert  

it could be MBD normally caused by lack of UV light or badly placed UV lighting sometimes by lack of calcium. this can also kill your beardie and needs vet attention and possibly modification of your current set-up

Answer 5

that could be a possibility but my assumption from that description is that your dragon has a impaction. Did you feed it something large or do you have bedding like walnut shells, calcium sand, etc? A dragon dragging their rear legs is typically a sign of a impacation and you may need to take it to a veterinarian if you do not know how to take care of it properly as this could be serious. Give you dragon a bath and rub it's tummy to help the dragon pass the impacation as you should feel something hard in it's stomach.

here is a web site exlpaining the problem:

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Avoid-I...

addition: we would need more information to advise on what may be the cause of this. These are just our best guesses but w/ more information we may be able to give you something definitive

Answer 6

It is very possible that your bearded dragon is suffering from MBD (Metabolic bone disease). It happens from a diet insufficient in calcium and vitamins. Also, if you do not have the proper lighting, the reptile cannot absorb Vitamin D(3). Which is needed for the absorbtion of calcium. I would take him to a vet to get checked out. Also another great point from a user that was already stated.. he could be impacted. It is one of the first signs of a severe impaction of the intestines. Its important to seek expert help, they can help more than anyone on a yahoo answer group :) Good luck, wish you the best with your beardie!

Answer 7

It all depends on what you have been feeding him. Sometimes if you feed him really big crickets or a large pinky mouse he will get obstructed and wont be able to pass it. if you havenmt been feeding him anything large. He should be alright. and also sometimes if his vitamins are low he wont move around a lot. how big is your aqarium or tank. and how big is your beardie?