Off balance beardie? Please help

[trinage]

Hi guys, Bethany here,

So i'm quite worried at the moment, within a day or so my 4 year old beardie has completely lost her balance when walking, i've given her a bath which she seemed fine in, waddling her way up and down the bath (confusingly though she sometimes went in circles?) after i took her out and she was dry and warm i put her on the carpet to see how she was as she seemed a little off balance this morning, when she walked she kept falling over onto her side, her legs seem fine but it's her balance...completely out of the blue so strange, i've put her back in her tank and she is currently basking but i'm very confused...I'm literally in and out of bursting into tears at the moment i'm so worried.

i'm ringing up a vet tomorrow to see what advice he can give me over the phone as i have no means of transport at the moment and there is no rep vet were i live. Strange thing is her eyes are alert and fine, she was active when in the bath, but also keeps tilting her head back and going side to side...i feel awful i hope it's nothing i've done

Please any advice would be great :/

 

[Justdragons]

I dont know what is going on with her and i hope for all the best. Its worth checking her ears? she may have poked out her ear and is losing her balance maybe?

 

[Umbral]

Let us know the outcome, it may help people who have this issue in the future.

 

[dragondude]

Only thing I can think of is, that some sand substrate (if that is your substrate) may have gotten inside the ear canal therefore affecting its sense of balance.
Like I said, it's the only thing I can think of.
Good luck and all the best.

 

[Jlaw0786]

Don't get to worried about it (I know it's hard not to), but I currently have a baby bearded dragon and this has happened to him twice already and he's only a couple of months old. it is a result of sand or very fine dirt substrate etc getting inside the ear canals and affecting her sense of balance, I have replaced my sand with coir peat and there has been no problem since.. She will "hopefully" recover over the next few days or even a week or two just make sure she keeps eating because they can lose there appetite while this is occurring. Another thing it could be is that sometimes when they eat food items too large for them or they accidentally eat some substrate it can cause impaction and this can press on there spine and affect the nerves, but being a 4yr old that has never had this problem I highly doubt this to be the reason. I hope she recovers and all is fine...

 

[maddog-1979]

never seen it in older bd's myself. i have had hatchies who eat too much tho and the food presses on nerves and they lose their balance until they poop it out. i would go see a vet

 

[gregcranston]

This has happened to my oldest beardie a couple of times over the years, and I know its not pretty. Both times it was an inner ear thing, I'm not sure if it was sand in there though, because it happened to him when he was on a newspaper substrate. But when they get a bit dehydrated their inner ear can dry out, so yes the bath thing is a good idea, but also try and get it to drink plenty of fluids. In both cases mine recovered within about 2-3 days. Hope that helps.

 

[gregcranston]

How is the beardie now?