Uneven walking

[chemprentice]

I've recently noticed that Spike has some issues walking and using his back legs. When he does walk around, he is very slow and doesn't book it as fast as he usually does when outside. I'm thinking his nails are too long, which may be why he is not walking as smoothly. How do you recommend trimming his nails, if it's necessary? He's still quite young (5 months) and so I'm wary about using nail clippers on his nails. Would filing them with a nail filer help, or should I just let him walk on pavement more to naturally trim down? He does have a basking stone under the basking lamp that he can use to file his nails, but he doesn't really move around much for his nails to remain trimmed. He also seems to be slowly using his back legs, and I'm not sure if there may be health-related reasons for it.

 

[Eduardo Hernandez]

His nails is definitely not the problem. Has he pooped recently? I know if they’re constipated it can sometimes block their back legs from being functional.

 

[chemprentice]

His nails is definitely not the problem. Has he pooped recently? I know if they’re constipated it can sometimes block their back legs from being functional.

He actually did poop for the past two days after adding some romaine lettuce to his food. His diet for the past two weeks has consisted of spring mix and weeds, and curiously enough, he didn't poop for 5 days straight on this diet until after I added some romaine with it, after which he pooped the subsequent day. Is it possible that one of the weeds I'm feeding him is causing constipation?

 

[RosemaryDW]

His nails aren’t too long at five months. Russians have crazy long nails.

A change in diet at any time can temporarily change bowel habits, it doesn’t mean there is a specific “problem” weed. I assume you are giving him regular soaks and he’s going to the bathroom again so the diet should be more or less fine at this point.

I can’t tell from that video if there is anything wrong with his back legs because I can’t see them? Can you show us more specifically what concerns you?

 

[chemprentice]

His nails aren’t too long at five months. Russians have crazy long nails.

A change in diet at any time can temporarily change bowel habits, it doesn’t mean there is a specific “problem” weed. I assume you are giving him regular soaks and he’s going to the bathroom again so the diet should be more or less fine at this point.

I can’t tell from that video if there is anything wrong with his back legs because I can’t see them? Can you show us more specifically what concerns you?

Here's another video of him walking around outside from November 2017. Is there supposed to be a very small gap in between his plastron and the floor when he walks? It's something I've noticed since we first got him, that he doesn't lift himself up to be level with the floor when he moves around.

 

[RosemaryDW]

He looks fine to me but I’m no expert. If you don’t hear from someone knowledgeable in this section, you might post a recent video in the healt forum.