I have a Bahaman Anole that we got when she was a few weeks out of the egg.
She is now about 8 months old.
She is developing lumps in her joints, which seem to be getting worse, and also seem to be affecting her front toes.It seems to be mainly affecting the rear legs, but her front toes appear bent ,also. She is eating and drinking fine, but obviously her mobility is down.
I'm not sure what is going on, and I'm also not new to anoles. I've never encountered this before.
Anyone have an idea of what's up?

Tell us about your set up, specifically your UVB source and anole's diet.

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Eco Earth, or Bed-A-Beast substrate, 75 watt spot beam for heat, and a Repti-Glo 5.0 UVB flourescent, 15 watts. They are timed for 8.5 hours of on time. She has branches and hanging plants at various levels both near the heat light and the UVB. Diet consists of 10 day crickets dusted with ReptoLife plus.

It could be Metabolic Bone Disease. It doesnt sound like you are leaving the lights on enough. MOst reptiles require at least 12 hrs on 12 hrs off or proper light cycle.

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I too would guess either Metabolic Bone Disease or possibly even gout. How old is the UVB bulb? And is there anything between it and the lizard that could possibly be blocking the UVB?

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Hello,

I will also concur to the Metabolic Bone Disease. Swelling/inflamation of the libs is often one of the first noticeable signs of this illness.

If the screen between the UV light and the anole are smaller than 1/4", very little UV is penetrating. If the light itself is older than 4-6 months, it needs replacing.

If you have glass bewteen the light and the anole, zero UV is penetrating.

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Also, in addition to a ~6 month UVB lifespan on the bulbs, fluorescent UVB's can only effectively project the UV rays about 10-12 inches, and that's with ideal screen width. If the anoles are further than that they're not getting enough UVB.

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That's kinda what I was leaning to......Metabolic Bone Disease.
I think I'm gonna try a different powder with ideally zero phosphorus.
The light is getting close to 6 months, and I planned on replacing it, as they do lose efficiency.
Is the joint problem something that will reverse somewhat with better supplements and lighting, or is she destined to be how she is?
She seems quite well otherwise, but I don't want to prolong suffering if she has no chance of getting any better.
I appreciate the replies so far, and hope for a positive answer on what her chances are.

After watching her for some time, I found that she could move her rear legs very little, if at all. She is just moving about on the front legs, the rear legs are nearly immobile. It was really hard to tell till I watched her for quite a while.
I'm thinking things are too far gone for her.

They may not have gone so far that you need to think about dimmer possibilities for her. A lot of lizards get along with hind end immobility as long as full paralysis has not developed.

As far as the distance for the UV tube - with the good fortune of being able to use a meter...6"-8" is the MAXIMUM distance to the animals back...not necessarily to the basking area. The decay rate drops dramatically after 8"-10". If she's not too flighty...get her out in the real sun for about 20 mins daily. It may not reverse the joint swelling, but it's possible the paralysis can be largely overcome.

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Veronica
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