Leg is cold, stiff, and dark.

Hi everyone. I'm concerned about my bearded dragons health. I first noticed the issue 7 days ago and immediately took him to the vet. His whole body was rigid and he was very very weak. He was unable or too weak to move his back legs. His eyes were sunken. A chunk of skin came off this foot at the vet, the size of that red spot. Vet prescribed 14 days of oral and topical antibiotics. The following day, he seemed stronger, and for a while it looked like he was getting better. The stiffness went away except in his longest toe on that foot. He shed a chunk on his knee where it is lighter, and out of caution I've been applying antibiotics there as well. I gave him a bath and brushed him all over with a fine toothbrush, during the bath the darkness on his knee seemed to wash away, and it is now a very light area.

Here is an image of his leg. It is cool to the touch, and the whole foot feels very stiff.
http://imgur.com/a/m93vp
This picture was taken day 6 of treatment. I gave him a bath and brushed him all over with a fine toothbrush, during the bath the darkness on his knee seemed to wash away, and it is now a very light area.

His beard is very black and has been since the issue began, although it does look lighter today.
He used to have no issue getting around his terrarium, but now he struggles to climb his perch, though he does manage.

I adopted Trip from the humane society in November, they had no idea what his health condition was, as they found him in an abandoned house. I had him tested and treated him for pinworms within a week. He had just finished treatment for Coccidia when this started.

Poor Trip, the foot looks very infected. Hopefully the antibiotics will clear it up and the foot won't go septic and the infection spreads. The patch on his knee looks like a shunk of shed....did you say that came off ? His beard is black due to pain + stress but at least he looks like he isn't malnourished on top of everything.

Is your vet very experienced with beardies? Hopefully he'll get the right treatment and start doing better. You can skip the baths and the scrubbing [ may be painful ] , maybe give a bath once a week. Offer water dripped gently on his snout via syringe/eyedropper or spray bottle. Mop up any excess water that pols under him. It might take a few minutes to get him to drink but he'll need hydration while he's on antibiotics. A probiotic like Acidophiliz + or Benebac or even soy yogurt can help keep his gut flora balanced. Best wishes for you + Trip !

Hello,


Oh the foot does look infected, poor guy. He doesn't look emaciated however, which is good news.
The antibiotics should clear that up hopefully.
Be sure to keep him hydrated also, while he is on meds so he wont get dehydrated. I am sure that it hurts him some which is why his beard is dark right now.
Try to keep him around 80 overnight to help boost his immune system.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

http://imgur.com/LTcBUDR

This is Trip's leg yesterday. It looks worse to me, but I wanted a second opinion.

The leg looks a bit dark, but the ointment is making it hard to tell exactly what it looks like. [ Aside from my computer being on the darker side to boot ] Can you post a pic in better light and when his leg has no ointment on it ?

http://imgur.com/zTFbwvU

Is this a better image? The skin on the leg toward the hip feels...loose. Hollow.

I hate to ask this but, did someone recently trim his claws? They look to be mighty short to me. This could be the cause.

Hello,

I hope the foot isn't either infected or becoming necrotic. How did the vet visit go?
It could be some ointment which can cause discoloration. Does it seem like he is in pain?

Let us know how he is doing.


Tracie

His claws were not recently trimmed. He seemed to be in less pain yesterday. His beard was no longer nearly as dark. He's been eating and drinking more.

I really can't tell what if anything is going on, like Tracie said the ointment has discolored it, although there is also some redness which indicates some type of infection.


And yes, those claws are actually very long.

http://imgur.com/2h64D2q

I apologize for the poor images. I washed all the ointment off, this is what his leg looks like with nothing on in.

Yes, there is a red area that seems like infection underneath. As long as he seems to be getting better jut keep an eye on it. Is he still on antibiotics ?

Does it look like it's getting better? To me, when compared with the first picture, it looks like it is getting worse, there are more dark toes, and it is more swollen. The discoloration is moving up his leg. Yes, he is still on antibiotics.