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Thread: Ataxia in Bearded Dragons?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    662

    Default Ataxia in Bearded Dragons?

    Hey everybody. Once again, I'm back and my beardie is having another issue. It's a long post, so bear with me. For the past few months, he has been having the most horrible time moving around. He is unable to walk or run. He has no control over his back end. His back legs slide underneath him and he falls over often. During this time, I just though that maybe his toenails were too long or he needed something more grippy to walk on (I have smooth floors). While carpet and the grass outside seemed to give him more traction to walk on, he still wasn't able to walk normally. Suddenly, I realized that he could have MBD. I didn't know how this could have set in, though, because I had been doing everything right since day one of bringing him home (I've had him since January 2010 and he is close to 5 years old now). I used calcium supplements, multivitamin supplements, MVB lights, regular outside time in the sun, etc. and I still do all of this.

    And so, Monday, Jan 27, I took him to the vet. The vet placed him on the floor and he started walking. Immediately upon seeing his back end wobbling, she said he has something called ataxia, which is loss of motor controls. She said it could have been from him eating something too large. Now, back when I brought him home, he was only five or six months old, and the only crickets I had at the time were pretty big ones. I believe I only fed him a few crickets everyday because they were so big. He never had a problem digesting them, however, and after a short amount of time I was able to get some that were the perfect size. Since then, I have always fed him appropriately sized crickets. Also, keep in mind that this ataxia struck a few months ago. Prior to this, he always used to run around like a wild lizard. The vet then suggested that it could have resulted from an old injury or a fracture. So they did an x-ray and, to my relief, it came out excellent. No injuries, fractures, and no MBD, thank God! His bone density was really good.

    So the vet told me to soak him everyday and allow him to swim so that he can get his back legs moving more easily. Similar to water therapy. She said she would do some research to find some other causes and possibly find out if there is anything ''degenerative'' that can affect bearded dragons. Now, while I'm very happy that he doesn't have any MBD or any fractures, I'm still heartbroken that this struck him in the first place. He can't walk without flipping over. I'm very upset and I want him to able to walk around and run like he used to.

    So has anybody else ever come across ataxia? Is it even curable? What causes it? I need a hug :(
    1.0.0. English Budgie (Peanut)
    1.0.0. Red-Eared Slider (Rocky)
    1.0.0. Bearded Dragon (Gomek)
    www.youtube.com/SnakeEyes223

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
    Posts
    9,505

    Default

    No, I have never heard anything of ataxia before. I know that some animals drag their back legs on the ground when they want to mark their territory. But that falling over is not normal. Did your vet do any blood work ? Is he eating well ? I hope everything is fine with the organs. I'm happy to hear that he doesn't have any MBD or fractures. Please keep us posted and don't worry for the long thread. The more we know the better ( takes the guessing out ). Here is your hug . Good luck with everything.

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