I went to feed my female yellow Ackie today
And noticed she seemed off. On further investigation I realized she is dragging her back end. She is still able to move her legs but can’t really walk on them or use them for climbing.
I managed to get a same day vet visit at a different vet than I typically go to. My vet didn’t have any openings. The exotics vet did an x-ray and exam costing me $370. He said he couldn’t find anything wrong. He said he didn’t see any Mbd,blockage, retained eggs, or fractures. Any thoughts? I plan to get her an appointment at our normal vet asap but they aren’t open till Monday.
Dragging back legs could be indicative of articular gout. That spot on the rib might be a tophi and not something on the table as the vet stated - ribs is one of the places the uric acid will collect. Dubia very high in purines.
Just to clarify, I've been through it myself with a young monitor who I was feeding mainly Suriname roaches and I was over-supplementing. Adjusted diet after that.
Bones all seem healthy, so no MBD. I don't see any apparent blockages, what are your perams? Maybe it's just run of the mill lethargy from maleneutrition? If it's only the back end, it could be spinal. That wouldn't necessarily show up on an X-ray. Does she react to sensory input on the back legs?
She has healthy body condition.
She is currently in a 4x2x2 enclosure but I’m in the process of upgrading her to a 6x2x3.
She has two heat bulbs and her hot spot is 130-140. She has a 12% Arcadia linear UVB that was replaced end of April this year.
Also has an Arcadia grow light for the plants. Her enclosure is bioactive. Ambient humidity is 40% avg but fluctuates a little depending on the day. Her substrate allows for burrowing and humidity. Top layer of substrate is relatively dry while deeper layer are more saturated with water
She eats Dubia reach’s as a staple and other bugs for verity. She eats every 2-3days
She’s always a good eater but is also small for an Ackie. I swap between calcium with d3 and calcium without
Also have reptile vitamins that gets dusted on her bugs
Holy shit that's nowhere near enough substrate. Air humidity is too high as well. Needs at least 18", ideally 24" for a female. This can cause dehydration and chemical level management issues, ie worse gout, or what's happening now. They get their moisture from the ground when they burrow at night. Also those lights are tiny and evidently not hot enough since she has to get so close to them. You need a rock stack to absorb more heat for basking. Also get a pair of Arcadia 100w floodlights Par-38 instead, those are practically the minimum for their temps. I'd ideally get mine 4 of them but his enclosure isn't that large.
Air humidity should be as low as your environment allows. You do not want to risk a respiratory infection. Ground humidity should be 90% about 6" down. Top needs to be completely dry for shedding control.
Those fingers look like early gout to me for sure. I cured mine of gout by cutting out roaches. Now he can eat them again if I gutload them and keep them hydrated.
Update!
She is doing a lot better!
She is able to walk around perfectly now for short periods. Can’t do much climbing still but major improvements. I’m thinking it was a minor injury. I’m so thankful she Is doing better but I’ll still follow up with my main exotics vet
A friend of mine also pointed this out to me and said it definitely looked misaligned or broken
But I’m not an expert at reading x-rays so I have no idea what to make of it
As far as cage environment I’m literally in the process of moving her to a larger enclosure with a lot more substrate.
Her temps are good. I live in a humid state naturally the humidity isn’t super low. And the humidity given is based on her cool side. She has two 75w halogen Arcadia bulbs they put off a surprising amount of heat. The substrate is definitely deeper in other areas of the enclosure but I will agree it’s not the recommended 18-24 inch’s . I’m doing my best here. She likely has a back injury. I already have another appointment for Monday. As of now she’s set up in a hospital enclosure to keep her movement to a minimum.
I totally get it. I was in the exact same position as you and sadly with first ackie, she passed shortly after I moved her from impaction. My current guy now is just a wild animal in essence, but he’s aggressively healthy.
I want to prevent anyone from the same experience I had because of a myriad of misinformation around ackie care from pet stores mostly.
If your humidity is like 10% higher than your states ambient there’s not much you can do and it should be fine. If you want to try something temporary you can get a plastic bin and fill it with substrate as a dig box while you work on the other enclosure. Best mix is 2 parts organic additive free topsoil and 1 part play sand both from Home Depot. Cost me about $50 for 500 lbs for my enclosure. Holds burrows and humidity well and crusts the surface for a nice dry layer.
That’s the substrate I use. I’ve done extensive research but no matter what I read it seems to be wrong 😑. I did have a dig box for a while but she had no interest
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u/sevenbrookslizardco 4d ago edited 3d ago
Dragging back legs could be indicative of articular gout. That spot on the rib might be a tophi and not something on the table as the vet stated - ribs is one of the places the uric acid will collect. Dubia very high in purines.
Just to clarify, I've been through it myself with a young monitor who I was feeding mainly Suriname roaches and I was over-supplementing. Adjusted diet after that.