HELP!!!

Im currently looking after a bearded dragon for a while for a friend he had a mangled looking arm when he came to me but the dragons arm is looking in very bad shape and i haven't got the foggiest on what to do pic attached

Ouch ! and it's clear this is really painful for him (note the black beard) .... poor boy

Make sure he has no particulate substrate in the tank you currently have him in and you have clean kitchen grade absorbant paper down as the new substrate while he has such a nasty open wound.

Do you know how this happened ?
Can I ask if he was sharing a tank with another beardie ?
Or if he was attacked by another animal living in the home ?

I think he needs to be seen urgently by a good reptile vet (might need a stitch or two and the wound to be cleanup and the arm checked for broken bones) . Your friend needs to up his game and look after his pet properly , this means making sure injuries are cared for and if necessary (this is) taking his pet to a vet, else you should take the beardie off this person (offer to adopt him and rehome him).
I get really pissed off when I see how some deadbeats treat their pets ....

Hopefully now he's in your care, he'll recover and be a happy and healthy beardie.

In the mean time I recommend bathing the wound in a shallow luke warm (33-34oCelsius) dilute solution of Betadiene in water , no deeper than this side fringe spikes so he can feel the bottom with feet and hands .... add the betadiene a few drops at a time until it's a tea colour and soak a bit of kitchen grade absorbant paper toweling (or cloth medical swabs if you have them in your first aid kit) for about 20 mins .... don't let him drink it.
https://betadine.com.au/products/antiseptics/antiseptic-liquid/
Since this is a painful injury for him, soak the swab and then gently rest it on the injured arm and hand.


F10 Ointment could be applied to the injury too and manuka honey (medihoney (avail at pharmacy / drug store).
http://www.vetproductsdirect.com.au/f10-ointment-25gm
http://www.comvita.com.au/store/medihoney?gclid=CMy6isX3t9MCFU0FKgod8G0F-A

apply these very gently with a sterile cotton bud.

Keep him warm , even overnight (to help boost his immune system).

If he came with a tank, make sure you clean it thoroughly to ensure he is in a clean environment in order to avoid his picking up some germs from his bedding or furniture.
If he is sharing with another beardie, they MUST BE PERMANENTLY SEPARATED , otherwise more attacks are inevitable and it will escalate.

Can you tell us what his tank is like (photos help) and what his UVB lighting is and his tanks temperatures (basking spot, warm zone and nighttime) ?
What instructions did your friend give regarding his care (feeding, etc) ?

Good advice above and definitely directions to follow in the immediate, but the bottom line here is you need to get that beardie to a certified Herp vet immediately! That black tissue is most likely necrotic, meaning it's dead due to infection, and the necrosis will continue to spread over his entire foot and continue up his arm. He may end up needing his foot or more amputated, hopefully not, but if he doesn't get to a certified Herp vet soon and get an x-ray to see #1 if anything is broken, and #2 if any bone is dead or dying, he is going to not only lose his foot and/or arm, but he's going to eventually die. He needs injectable antibiotics, oral antibiotics, and topical antibiotics, as well as pain medication and antiinflammatories because that poor guy is in a lot of pain! It's not fair to just let him suffer like he is!!!

How did this originally happen, and a much better question is HOW LONG AGO DID THIS HAPPEN, AND HOW LONG HAS THIS POOR BEARDIE BEEN MADE TO SUFFER LIKE THIS? And why is the world would someone leave their pet in this condition, after letting it suffer for God knows how long, and just drop it with someone else without getting it professional medical treatment? I'm sure his owner would take himself/herself to the emergency room pretty damn quickly if they broke their foot/leg and had black, necrotic tissue in their toes, foot and leg!

I'm sorry, but I too get extremely pissed off when people VOLUNTARILY AND PURPOSELY go out and get themselves a pet, and then after making that commitment to that living, breathing creature they fail to get them even the most emergent medical care and allow their pet to selfishly and needlessly suffering in horrible pain! I'm assuming this beardie has had this injury for a while since tissue doesn't just get necrotic like that over night, and that makes me sick. And really, really angry...

Are you able to get him to at least an emergency animal hospital ASAP? Most 24 hour animal hospitals have either a reptile vet on-call or an "exotics" vet that has some reptile experience. Normally I wouldn't recommend taking a beardie to anything but a certified Herp vet, but this guy needs to be seen NOW, like YESTERDAY, and needs to get an x-ray, antibiotics, and for God sakes some pain medication! If you let us know where you're at we can help you find a 24 hour emergency animal hospital. I hate that you have to be responsible for this but it's either you take him and pay for it now and get reimbursed whenever his deadbeat owner returns, or you surrender him to a rescue asap that will get him medical treatment immediately.

Hi guys so grateful for the feedback got a little info of the owner she brought him from the pet shop like that and he never mentioned the arm and having be inexperienced with a dragon she didn't realise any off this I've let her know about everything you've said she's feeling a foolish for never knowing ...with in regards to the vets have you go an idea of pricing as I'm a single mom and the owners going to away for awhile yet I clearly don't want to leave him suffering as my little boy adores him but approx price would be helpful I live in the telford area also should I leave lights in and should I be taking his wooded branch out

I hope everything is able to work out for this little guy. They are love-able creatures.

If you can, I would encourage you to post a photo of his setup. It's much easier to go over it and pin point what could cause a problem or what would benefit from being changed. The basics though are he should have 2 lights, one producing heat and one strip/tube bulb that would produce UVB. These lights should be on for 10-14 hours a day to simulate day time and should be off the rest of the time for night time. The substrate (whats on the bottom of the tank) should be something easy to clean regularly, like kitchen roll, non-stick shelf liner, linoleum, or tile. I would give his decorations a thorough cleaning. Anything stone or wood can be baked in the oven at 225 for 30 minutes to kill off anything that may be clinging to the surface.

As for vet pricing, for me an exam fee is 52USD and most medications or services are another 50-70USD. Depending on what medications he needs and if the vet deems x-rays or amputation is necessary, that will easily run into the hundreds. Can your friend Pay-Pal you the money? I would also suggest getting him seen quickly. It looks very inflamed with blood pooling in his toe.

Spikey1001":1hvpaxey said:

Hi guys so grateful for the feedback got a little info of the owner she brought him from the pet shop like that and he never mentioned the arm and having be inexperienced with a dragon she didn't realise any off this I've let her know about everything you've said she's feeling a foolish for never knowing ...with in regards to the vets have you go an idea of pricing as I'm a single mom and the owners going to away for awhile yet I clearly don't want to leave him suffering as my little boy adores him but approx price would be helpful I live in the telford area also should I leave lights in and should I be taking his wooded branch out

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Depends on what Spikey needs done, surgery if needed is likely to be pricey (likely needing a general), the vet will likely give you a written quote for any necessary surgery, I'm in Australia and so can not really help with an indication of vet fees, I expect a consultation where the vet examines the injuries , takes bloods and swabs and does a xrays , and a course of IM pain relief and antibiotics to tie Spikey over and stop the infection from spreading might set you back $200 or there abouts ( guessing only, people who live in your country who are on board will have a better handle on that and I think one of the mods is a vet , maybe she'll give you an educated guess ).

I recently spent near $800 for surgery on one of mine (Puff, and he never came home , dying in recovery from major surgery to remove a large abscess on his head that was misdiagonosed and was really an aneurism on his left jugular, he lost so much blood in surgery that his heart stopped so he never woke up). I'm retired and this was an unbudgeted for expense I couldn't really afford but I did without to save for it over a month or so.

I'd be hitting up the friend who dumped Spikey on you for the costs and telling her this is URGENT - or tell the vet to bill her. If she wont or cant pay, and you pay for these expenses - then Spikey is your pet from then on.