Years ago, when I first started rescuing, I took in Squiggy and thought his lack of coordination and poor muscle control were caused by MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease).
But as I've gained more experience and rescued more bearded dragons, I'm realizing that something else was going on with him. I've rescued (or help rescue) almost a dozen beardies who have this same issue. It's like Muscular Dystrophy for dragons. I've even chatted with my vet about it, and there's not on the vet literature sites yet. I imagine it will be.
Unfortunately, most of the rescues with this problem come to us without a good history so it's hard to pinpoint what is the cause. I know of one beardie who was the only survivor of his clutch after they all ate poisoned crickets; she had this problem badly. The rest appear to be genetically messed up through poor breeding practices. There is no fix, no tests to run, no medicine to give. It is permanent. You can help them gain a bit more strength through swimming, but there's not much else you can do. They often are malnourished because they can't chase their insects down.
My rescue partner and I have taken in two beardies recently with this problem. Let me tell you about them.
This is Tristan, a juvenile beardie who is slowly learning to control his limbs enough to chase food. It's sweet and tragic at the same time to watch him. He's come a LONG way with my rescue partner who has him swim in the bath to gain arm & leg strength. It's hard to say how much more he will grow.
This is Harry. He was "Found" in a neighborhood near here. When we watched him walk, we realized there was NO way that he escaped. He had to have been dumped. Poor thing. He's really struggling to walk. We have to tong feed him so he can catch the roaches. :( He is fully grown, but because we have no history, we don't know if he has always had spastic muscles or if he recently developed it.
Eventually, we will be looking for special homes for these two. They will always need a great deal of care because of their muscles, including handfeeding. I suspect they will have shortened lifespans if their conditions continue to deteriorate. If you are interested in adopting a very special needs dragon, please contact me using the form to the right side of my blog. I can discuss the possibility with you.
