Beardie Fell On Back

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My beardie fell off my shoulder, I'm about 5 foot from where he fell, onto his back. Normally if he falls onto his back in my hand, he will start wiggling around to get right side up, but he just stayed there, almost motionless. I put my hand in his cage for him to get off and he was pulling himself by his front legs, almost like he couldn't move his back. I see no bugle in his back, but I'm not sure. I'm really scared and worried about him. I would take him to the vet but there isn't a good one in my area that specializes in reptiles. The one vet around that says they do, but didn't seem to know what to do about mites when I went there for day on the job. And I also don't have the money for a vet appointment if he ended up being hurt. Please help me.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
It still may be best to take him to your vet. They can at least take an xray + provide pain meds. If the dragon will still move around tomorrow without looking like he's in pain [ black beard, gaping ] then he might be O.K

Can you post a video of him moving ?
 

JewelsJones

Member
Original Poster
I would try but he is on his hammock basking. I would take him out of the cage but my kitten tries to eat his tail or feet. I'm sorry I can't at this time but I'll try to as soon as I see him moving around in his cage.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Poor guy! Please do try to post pictures of him so we can see if anything looks off.
It sounds like he could be injured though. It's important to try & get him some care,
if at all possible, so he wont be in too much pain.
Let us know how he is doing.


Tracie
 

JewelsJones

Member
Original Poster
I would take him to the vet but I don't have the money. Vet appointments can be anywhere from $33+. If the problem continues for 2 more days, about the time I can gain the minimum vet appointment amount, then I'll definitely make sure he gets to the vet.

How do you post pictures? I'm new to here so I don't know how to add things in.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Two things I am very concerned about :
1) standing/walking about with the dragon on the shoulder
2) allowing a cat to have access to your dragon

Regarding (1), this is very dangerous and not something to be encouraged, they can easily leap off, and if bigger ( they don't cling like Velcro like a hatchling can ) and can easily slip off / fall off / roll off , and if they land on a hard unforgiving surface are very likely to do extreme serious injuries to their arms/legs/ back / shoulders/ hips / neck / mouth or internal organs.
Please - no more shoulder surfing for your beardie and only allow him to go there if you are sitting on the ground/grass / carpet/ lounge or bed so if he falls again, he'll not fall far and will land on something more forgiving.

Regarding (2) , this is much more serious .Please keep the dragons and the cat away from each other, it only takes a second for a cat to attack the dragon to inflict a lethal penetration wound from it's fangs or claws, and while the injury might appear minor , if it has broken the skin and penetrated the tissues , the nasty bacteria & viruses on the claws and fangs and in the cat's saliva are lethal to a reptile ( and it inevitably ends very badly because a very drug resistant systemic infection sets in and kills the reptile ).

Please get your beardie to a good reptile vet if he's in any way off tomorrow , as they are extremely good at hiding it when they are injured or ill until they are essentially no longer capable of doing so and are critically ill or in extreme pain.
A vet visit and xrays will not cost very much and are well worth it ,even if it turns out he's perfectly fine.

My advise is :
>> lock the cat in another area of the house when dragons are out,
>> and NEVER ALLOW the cat to have access to the room where their vivs are located ,
>> and if the vivs have mesh lids replace the mesh lids with cat proof solid (heavy) timber (plywood) lids (cats are very capable of breaking into vivs with mesh lids and only need to tear open enough mesh to get a arm in to be able to snag a lizard with a claw and drag it out to torture it mercilessly .

All cats will do this , they do it because it is fun to them and they enjoy it.

Cats and beardies can NEVER be friends PERIOD , NO IFS NO BUTS. Allowing them to interact IS A RECIPY FOR A DESASTER and will end in tears and badly for the dragon.
 

JewelsJones

Member
Original Poster
Kingsofnobbys,
thanks for the tips. Regarding (1), I rarely walk around with my beardie on my shoulder, unless my hands are full or he crawls up onto my shoulder. He is also about 6 months, not full grown, not very active, and has sharp claws, so i thought he would hold on tightly when going to my bedroom, but I was wrong he fell onto the carpeted floor.
As far as (2), I don't allow them to be near one another unless my kitten is too fast or my beardie runs out of my reach. I don't allow Hope, my kitten, to go near his enclosure at all, and even if she did I have a solid metal mesh lid with heatlamps on it. The only reason Hope and Qibli, my beardie, are in the same room together is because Hope can't be near my dogs for 9 days, just incase she brought something from the humane society, but as soon as it's those days are over I'll make sure to take your advise about how to keep them separated.
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
I'm going to echo everything that Kingofnobbys has already said, he's spot on correct, and it obviously doesn't matter if you only put him on your shoulders once in a while, obviously it only took once for him to possibly seriously injure himself. Same thing with the cat, do not have them out together at all, not even supervised while this kitten quarantine is going on, you just said yourself that "they only are together if he slips out of my hand or my kitten is too fast"...So just please keep them completely separate while the kitten is allowed in the room he is in, and after the quarantine is over just please keep the beardie room off limits. We're not being harsh, were trying to save you from having a dead beardie. He already may have a serious or life-threatening injury, like a broken spine if he is still dragging his back end/legs. That's what that means, that he has an injury of some sort to his spine. So if he's still "dragging himself around with his front legs" and not using his back legs, then you need to get him to an experienced reptile vet, as obviously there are no home remedies for a broken spine.

Another thing that worries me after seeing his photos, forgetting the possible serious injury from the fall, is that you say he's 6 months old, but he looks quite small for 6 months...It could just be the photos, but how long is he from snout to the end of his tail in inches? Your setup sounds alright, so I'm not sure what the issue might be...What is his regular daily diet (not since he's been injured, but regularly since you got him)? What is his main live feeder insect, and how many does he eat in one feeding session? How many feeding sessions does he get per day? What about other foods like greens? And what Calcium and multivitamin powders do you use, and how often? Just want to make sure something isn't off, better to catch it now.

You really need to prepare to have to take him to an experienced reptile vet for an exam, an x-ray, and pain meds and antiinflammatories at the absolute minimum testing and treatment. Dragging his back end is a very bad sign, and if he develops a black beard then you really don't have a choice, as that means he's in a lot of pain.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
O.K, thanks for the pics....is he walking any today ? That's very important right now. Cute little bugga, what's his name ?
 

JewelsJones

Member
Original Poster
As far as shoulders and cats go, I know not to do it anymore and after the first time my kitten got to him, I'm not taking him out till she is out of the room. I'm going to see how he does tonight, since I'm at work, and if he doesn't seem right, I'll definitely try to make sure he gets to a vet, althought I'm not sure if there is a good one for reptiles around.

As far as his size goes, I think he is about 10 inches. I had him in a 10 gallon for the first month I had him and now he is in a 20 gallon. I know they need a 40 gallon minimum, but I can't find one near where I live. He eats live mealworms about 10, occasional grasshoppers 5, and the occasional treat moth. He eats grapefruit, carrots, green beans, and zucchini. I just switched him over to a buffet blend to help him get the right amount of calories and it has freeze dried crickets and mealworms, but I haven't seen him touch it. He gets one to two feeding sessions, once in the morning and one at night, but always has some food in his bowl. I don't have any calcium or multivitamin to put on his food, and when I did have calcium powder it wouldn't stick onto his feeder insects. He won't eat crickets, unless they are freeze dried.
 

JewelsJones

Member
Original Poster
I haven't seen him walk today but this morning he was on his branch. I'm not sure if he dragged himself or used all his legs. His name is Qibli.
 

Mysty

Juvie Member
Personally, I'd borrow money for a vets appt ASAP. Reptiles are not very good at expressing pain. Its impossible to know if something is seriously wrong or if your beardie was simply shocked and a bit sore.

For the future, you may want to set some money aside each week in case of rare emergencies like this.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Qibli, that's cute. :) It would be good to set him on the floor of the tank to see him walk. He probably can use his back legs if he climbed his branch. Beardies can almost never climb when they have a spine injury or unable to move their back legs.
 
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