Panther back legs work, but he avoids using them

[Furcifer Brussis]

I have a male panther who doesn't use his back legs or feet much. He's always resting on his perch (or where ever), gripping it with his front hands, his tail anchored around something but his back legs hanging. When I pick him up he will use his back legs and he can grip with them just fine. But for some reason over the last few weeks he has been letting his back legs hang most of the time. He eats like he always has. He's getting calcium dusted crickets or mostly dusted superworms and he is kept outside in the South Florida sun. He gets at least 1 daily shower from the misting system. Any ideas?

 

[ataraxia]

Hi, How old is the chameleon?
Pictures of the chameleon?
What kind of calcium do you use? Brand and type.
Are you feeding super worms as a staple?
When was his last stool?

 

[Furcifer Brussis]

Hi, How old is the chameleon?
Pictures of the chameleon?
What kind of calcium do you use? Brand and type.
Are you feeding super worms as a staple?
When was his last stool?

Sorry for the delayed response but i talked to my son who has been doing the feeding everyday for the last month and found out he has not been dusting the crickets or superworms. I can see his upper leg muscles are swollen and very tight. I have been making sure he has access to a full day of aun and gave him a mouthful of liquid calcium yesterday. I can already see his leg muscles have loosened up. I gave him another mouth full of liquid calcium today and i will update you on the results. Hope it was just lack of calcium.

 

[carol5208]

Sorry for the delayed response but i talked to my son who has been doing the feeding everyday for the last month and found out he has not been dusting the crickets or superworms. I can see his upper leg muscles are swollen and very tight. I have been making sure he has access to a full day of aun and gave him a mouthful of liquid calcium yesterday. I can already see his leg muscles have loosened up. I gave him another mouth full of liquid calcium today and i will update you on the results. Hope it was just lack of calcium.

Can you please post some pics? Lack of calcium would not cause swelling or tightness like you are describing. It could be a condition called gout which just as in humans is painful and that may explain why he is not using his legs

 

[Furcifer Brussis]

Can you please post some pics? Lack of calcium would not cause swelling or tightness like you are describing. It could be a condition called gout which just as in humans is painful and that may explain why he is not using his legs

Thank you so much for the help! I'll try and send a picture but don't know how to do that on this forum yet. If it is gout, what can i do about it?

 

[carol5208]

Unfortunately, not too much. Pain meds can help and in extreme cases surgery to remove the uric acid deposits. Let's hope it is not that. Does he have any lumps that are hard on his joints? You can post a pic by clicking on the paperclip to the right of the white smiley face above. Once you do that it will let you attach a pic. Or scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "manage attachments" and you can download from there. You have to click on "post reply" first.

 

[Psychobunny]

This does sound like gout, the very thing I am treating Squee for, and he
wasn't using his legs and arms much either, would just dangle them.

You need to take him to a vet for a blood test to see if his uric acid is high.
My vet put Squee on Allopurinol, and after a month, he is improving.

But you must not wait to get him diagnosed and start medication.

 

[carol5208]

This does sound like gout, the very thing I am treating Squee for, and he
wasn't using his legs and arms much either, would just dangle them.

You need to take him to a vet for a blood test to see if his uric acid is high.
My vet put Squee on Allopurinol, and after a month, he is improving.

But you must not wait to get him diagnosed and start medication.

Did he have any gout that was visible? Just curious when you said he was improving...you mean he is moving around more?