Pygmy cham, not using back legs

[nasi8one]

This morning I woke up and found my little girl supporting herself using only her front legs. I thought she was just climbing around getting ready to hunt her food down. I came back from work to see her still only using her front feet. She has moved around her home but just dangles her back legs off of branches. Could she have fell and broken them? if they are broken will they heal? super worried for her, and have read vets can not help due to their tiny size. sorry for the bad picture, but it shows her legs just hanging.

 

[ReptileLove18]

im so sorry your girl is doing this!! i am definitely not experienced enough to offer advice on this, i have asked ferretinmyshoes, a wonderful member who is an experienced reptile vet to check this thread out! in the meantime can you please copy and paste this form into your reply filling in your answers, it may help us figure out what could have caused this.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

 

[Carlton]

This morning I woke up and found my little girl supporting herself using only her front legs. I thought she was just climbing around getting ready to hunt her food down. I came back from work to see her still only using her front feet. She has moved around her home but just dangles her back legs off of branches. Could she have fell and broken them? if they are broken will they heal? super worried for her, and have read vets can not help due to their tiny size. sorry for the bad picture, but it shows her legs just hanging.

Looks like some sort of spinal injury to me. In addition to the dangling legs you can see an area where the skin color is different too which implies some sort of nerve trauma. It might heal on its own with time. However, another idea...might also be a sign of an intestinal problem. Some lizards get hind leg paralysis if they eat overly large feeders or get impacted. Very hard to say for sure! In the mean time, maybe restrict her to a smaller space with lots of comfortable cushioning so she can lay off her feet if she chooses.

 

[nasi8one]

hameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?* female brev of unknown age. been in my care 1 month
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?*only when putting her in her home
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?*smallest crickets i can buy
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?*vitamins and plain calciym 1 a month
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?*misting twice daily. i have seen her drink
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?*no parasite check. her stool and urate look normal
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.*

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?*glass 10 gallon with screen top
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?*no lights, scheduale is our normal scheduale. sun up to sun down
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?*day time is around 75 night time is about 70s. if temps drrop i use a space heater to maintain them
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?*humidity is 70-80 lowest ive seen iwas 50. created by misting
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?*artificial. eco earth substrate. and spaggnum moss
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?*no fan or high traffic
Location - Where are you geographically located?* los angeles

current problem is she is not using her back legs. she is showing a lighter coloration by her legs.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about

 

[nasi8one]

Looks like some sort of spinal injury to me. In addition to the dangling legs you can see an area where the skin color is different too which implies some sort of nerve trauma. It might heal on its own with time. However, another idea...might also be a sign of an intestinal problem. Some lizards get hind leg paralysis if they eat overly large feeders or get impacted. Very hard to say for sure! In the mean time, maybe restrict her to a smaller space with lots of comfortable cushioning so she can lay off her feet if she chooses.

Thank you for your input, i noticed the coloration by her legs aswell. ive made sure the cricket i put in are the smallest of the bunch but it can always be a possibility. i really hope she gets better. it hurts me to see her struggling like this

 

[nasi8one]

im so sorry your girl is doing this!! i am definitely not experienced enough to offer advice on this, i have asked ferretinmyshoes, a wonderful member who is an experienced reptile vet to check this thread out! in the meantime can you please copy and paste this form into your reply filling in your answers, it may help us figure out what could have caused this.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

thank you! I has hoping ferretinmyshoes would see this! I hope there is something i can do to help her heal correctly

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Looks like some sort of spinal injury to me. In addition to the dangling legs you can see an area where the skin color is different too which implies some sort of nerve trauma.

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say! The skin discoloration is an indication that it's more than just the legs affected. If she had broken her legs somehow it wouldn't cause the discoloration. Discoloration of whole areas of the body, such as the tail, could indicate a potential neurological problem, like a spinal fracture, or pinched nerve due to organ enlargement or eggs. Perhaps she needs to lay - it's too hard to tell from that picture if she looks gravid. If her back legs aren't functional she may not be able to, or she may be able to pull it together enough to lay and then be better. Increase hydration as much as possible. Make sure she does have dirt to lay if you do move her. Unfortunately not much to do for tiny little pygs when they show problems like this. The best you could do would be an anti-inflammatory, but at her size even a super small diluted dose could kill her kidneys so I wouldn't even do that. Be prepared that she may not recover...

 

[nasi8one]

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say! The skin discoloration is an indication that it's more than just the legs affected. If she had broken her legs somehow it wouldn't cause the discoloration. Discoloration of whole areas of the body, such as the tail, could indicate a potential neurological problem, like a spinal fracture, or pinched nerve due to organ enlargement or eggs. Perhaps she needs to lay - it's too hard to tell from that picture if she looks gravid. If her back legs aren't functional she may not be able to, or she may be able to pull it together enough to lay and then be better. Increase hydration as much as possible. Make sure she does have dirt to lay if you do move her. Unfortunately not much to do for tiny little pygs when they show problems like this. The best you could do would be an anti-inflammatory, but at her size even a super small diluted dose could kill her kidneys so I wouldn't even do that. Be prepared that she may not recover...

I am preparred for the worse. thank you all so much. ferretinmy shoes, you have always been such a big help and it is always greatly appreciated. she did not look gravid at all, but she does have dirt to dig in if she needed to. Would minimizing her branches be of any help? I would assume not having vertical climbing branches would help keep her from climping up. It saddens me to see her in this condition. i really hope she pulls through. i had just placed a order for another pair to keep her company.