Healthy bearded dragons should be seen utilizing all of their legs normally. Never should they be seen dragging their back legs or not using them in a way they should. They would use their legs to grab onto branches or walk to their basking spots naturally.
But if you’ve seen your beardie dragging its one leg or both in his or her daily routine, best to assume there is something wrong with their guts or limbs that cause them to drag their legs.
If your bearded dragon dragging its legs profusely while doing the things it does daily, it might indicate that your beardie has experienced gut impaction, suffering from Metabolic Bone Disease, or bearing kidney failure. Though all significant ail aside, your beardie might just be taking the weight of its legs. Sometimes due to infirmity, they tend to drag their legs too.
We’ll go through all five possible reasons why your bearded dragon is dragging its legs. Potential reasons ahead might denote how severe your issue is with your beardie dragging its legs around, so it’s best to pay a visit to your trusted vet.
If there are many more mishaps rather than just your bearded dragon dragging its legs, schedule an appointment right away as there’s not much you could do at home to help. The earlier you make your call to the vet, the more time you’ll spare your dragon.
Reasons Your Bearded Dragon Is Dragging Its Back Legs
The reasons varied from as major as MBD and as minor as slacking off. Whatever statements below that resonate with your beardie’s condition, seek help once you identify why.
Dragging their limbs isn’t normal and could lethally affect their bones, abdomens, and kidneys.
Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD)
Given the situation where your bearded dragon is dragging its back legs profusely, it might have MBD or Metabolic Bone Disease. MBD happens when bones in their body are weakened, it becomes so fragile that it easily breaks or fractures.
It happens so because the body pulled so much calcium from the bones to sufficient itself and left the bone frail. When the bones are weakened, the limbs also fail to function normally.
Thus, causing your bearded dragon to drag itself by the back legs.
Gut Impaction
Gut impaction happens when your beardie ate something too big or chunky that it couldn’t be broken down regularly by its digestive system. The size of the mass determines how much it affects their lower guts.
The mass blocking the intestines leads to the impaction to the bowel. Impaction can cause paralysis of the hind legs if unpassed stool pressures on the sciatic nerve.
Renal Lymphoma
Acute renal failure is a kidney disease that is usually caused by chronic dehydration and toxins from a pestilent habitat and unfit sustenance.
Infectious particles, either from the food or habitat, go through their renal system and infect their kidneys later. The infection evokes the growth of a tumor called adenoma.
Adenoma then causes excessive swelling on your dragon’s lower abdomen and limbs therefore it fails to function regularly.
Infirmity
When bearded dragons get old, they will not be as active and wished to just rest most of the time. They’ll rest their legs which looks worrisome to us but they are oftentimes fine.
Just like humans, as we age, we tend to do fewer activities involving the movements and spur of our legs. But do keep in mind that diseases commonly occur in aged animals, they shouldn’t be dragging their legs although they’ve reached infirmity.
Slacking Off
Maybe your beardie isn’t experiencing serious ailments like MBD or gut impaction, your beardie might just be slacking off and being in their idle state.
They will leave their limbs dangling off the branch, or just let it sit idly without much control if they wish to chill and take the weights off. This shouldn’t happen often though.
If your beardie does this routinely, best to visit your trusted vet to identify the real situation.
What to Do If Your Bearded Dragon Is Starting to Drag Its Back Legs?
Don’t panic, identify and handle your diseased bearded dragon with extra care. An observing eye and a calm mind will be helpful when it comes to recognizing and transporting it to the aid your pet needs.
Recognize The Symptoms
Symptoms for the causes above are almost similar to each other. It is mandatory for you to take your beardie to the vet immediately the moment you see it dragging its legs. The symptoms can be shown as:
- Constant stress
- Suspicious fatigue
- Constipation or not being able to excrete regularly
- Bowed limbs and arched spine, also known as a greenstick fracture
- Trembling and twitching limbs
- Problem with Regurgitation
Bring It to The Vet
Once you recognize the symptoms and at least one of them is exhibited in your dragon, bring them to the vet immediately. There’s not much you could do at home to treat them better.
Ways to Prevent Bearded Dragon From Dragging Its Back Legs
It is best to prevent your bearded dragon from dragging its back leg before it happens. Prevention is always better than cure.
Customized Diet
Not all bearded dragons have the same type of diet. It all depends on their species, age, and appetite. Some need more of a certain type of nutrient and some need less of it.
Consult a vet to have knowledge of what your beardie should or shouldn’t be eating. Cater their body with more water and greens to improve their digestive system.
Proper Housing & Care
Avoid putting unnecessary decorations that’ll serve as obstructions instead. They might hit them by accident and get injured later on. Always handle them gently and only when necessary.
Let them out to the sunlight once in a while and let them bask in the joyful warmth of natural sunlight.
UVB Light
Check on your UVB light once in a while, those lights can look like they are functioning well in plain sight but we’re blinded by the rays that are exposed to the dragon.
The UVB could be less and less effective every day without us noticing until it affects your bearded dragon. UVB light is responsible for beardies’ digestive system as it helps absorb calcium.
Their body counts on the rays to dictate when to eat and rest, the body would react negatively without it.
Conclusion
To be brief, seeing your bearded dragon dragging its back legs could display major hints like suffering from Metabolic Bone Disease or minor things like infirmity and slacking off. On top of that, it could be a gut impaction instead.
Monitor your beardie’s routine carefully to have an educated guess on what could be the cause. Think of how they were fed, what they were fed, and so on, you’ll get a clue sooner or later.
But if you still had no idea, do visit a vet as soon as you can since it might be much more of a hazard than the eyes observed.
