Broken baby tails :(

Hey all!!

We adopted 2 little beardie babies with broken,bent tails. Is there anything I can do? Will it ever bother them?? They are eating and pooping hehe.

Here are some pics!















Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Abby x

Anyone??

Their tails will probably die and fall off eventually. They might need vet care if the tail becomes infected.
Also, you really should consider seperating them as soon as you can. Dragons generally live better alone. And it will keep them from further injuring their tails (or any other limbs, for that matter ).

On another note, if you could take the time to answer the following questions, we can make sure your set up is correct. It will give your little ones the best chance to heal if everything is set up well.

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

Will the tails definitely fall off? I will take them to the vet when they are a little bigger.

I have another beardie that is 10 months old too:





But a few questions please!!!!

1) How often must I bath them?? They really are tiny at the moment (head to tail around 3 inches)
2) they are only eating tiny crix once a day, only 1 or 2 at a time, is this enough??
3) is there no way I can splinter the tails up? I dont mind if they lose their tails, they are loveable pets!!
4) do you think a vet visit is in order for them to check the tails??

They are pooping each day (if you can call the tiny spots poop hehehe)

Thanks again!

Abby x

How old is your dragon? I think 4 weeks
How long have you had your dragon? 3 days
How long is your dragon? roughly 3 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? no idea, they too tiny to handle
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 3foot
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? paper towels
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? fluorescent
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Reptiglo 8.0 20w
How old is your UVB bulb? a few months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 11 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? yes, 40w spot light bulb
What are the basking temps? 35c (95f)
What is the cool side temp? 26c (79f)
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?on the basking log
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. tiny crickets
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? every evening
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Green Jungle, banana flavoured Calcium, every feed
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? yes
Do you bath your dragon? How often? not yet, dont know how often for tiny babies??
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? I mist a little every 2 days
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? yes another baby
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? no not yet

Abby x

Chances are the tails will come off. Especially the one that is severly bent.

To answer your questions:
1) How often must I bath them?? They really are tiny at the moment (head to tail around 3 inches)
Once a day is best. At minimum, every third day.
2) they are only eating tiny crix once a day, only 1 or 2 at a time, is this enough??
They could still be going through relocation stress. Eventually they will be eating about 50 crickets each, per day.
3) is there no way I can splinter the tails up? I dont mind if they lose their tails, they are loveable pets!!
I don't think so. An x-ray would need to be done first.
4) do you think a vet visit is in order for them to check the tails??
I would wait a few days. Keep an eye on their tails, coloring, appetites, etc. If you see changes or something seems "off" with them, then I would definately take them in. But right now, they are way too tiny to do surgery on - even if the tails do need to be removed.

Thanks for answering the list of questions. The only minor changes I would make are: 1) seperating them, 2) try to get them closer to the UVB bulb (6 to 8 inches is ideal), 3) offer them some tiny bits of greens. I know my babies always love having a bowl of greens in with them, and 4) the calcium you are using may be turning them off of crickets. Try getting repcal calcium with D3 - it is in a white tub with a pink label. They should get this one feeding a day, 5 days a week. Also, pick up some herptivite (vitamins) made by the same company. Its a white tub with a blue label. They should get vitamins one feeding a day, 2 days a week.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated on them.

I gave the babies a bath for the first time. I can not explain how small they are I dont want to break them anymore than they already are!!!

I was as gentle as possible, they dont seem to like the water haha. then again neither does my big dragon!!!

Abby x

If I were you I'd feed them at least twice a day.

poor lil itty biddies They are so cute!

I hope all goes well with the tails. I aggree, I think they will eventully fall off below the broken spot, especially with the lil guy that has the one bent really sideways. I am sure though that as long as you can keep an eye on infection they will be good to go tails or not.

I am not familiar with dragons as small as that, but how old are they? They look a little underweight/malnourished. If they were mine I would take them to the vet to be checked for MBD. One the one, it looks like his head is out of proportion to his body, is he emaciated? It could just be the camera angle.
I would take them to the vet just to be safe. If there is any thing wrong with them it would be good to get a head start. Just my opinion.

I may be totally incorrect but I dont think they should go to the vet just yet. They are very tiny - probably too tiny to medicate and too tiny for much to show up on an x-ray - when I took my little guy to the vet at 4.5inches, the vet agreed he was too small for much to show up in an x-ray. I would make the changes suggested before - raise the basking spot so they can get 6-8 inches from uv and also raise the temps a little - somewhere around 105 - 110 is good for the little ones! The tails may go very dark towards the bent part and will probably come off during a shed - just keep an eye for any changes in the shape of the tails.

I just wanted to add - they are absolutely adorable.... I know what I want from Santa now! lol!!

Hi...Do you already have a reptile vet? If not, you need to find one. Don't rely on a puppy/kitty vet. If you don't have one, check http://www.herpvetconnection.com

I worked for a vet for 8 years, so I am going to tell you what we did. At that young age, we did not sedate them, just put lidocaine in the tail so they couldn't feel it. He also made up what we called his "infection injection" to give them. That is the only antibiotics used so their tummy never got messed up. It has been 3 years, so I can't remember all he had in it but I know there was PPG (penicillin) & vitamin B12. The vet snipped off the tail & sometimes put a dissolvable stitch in the end of it.

I am really concerned for the one that has the break the closest to its body because if it does get infected, it doesn't have far to travel get to the body. Once it becomes systemic, it is a big problem. I wouldn't wait to see if it will get infected. By the time it shows, it might be too late.

Did the person you got them from tell you how it happened?

When you take temps, do you leave the probe on the basking spot 45 minutes to get an accurate reading? It needs to be 100-110 for babies. But that also means you need to soak them in warm water to their armpits daily so they don't get dehydrated. They will get used to it if you do it daily. Even if they don't like it, it really is a necessity.

Also, you need to offer crickets at least twice a day, preferably 3 x daily til they are eating more at a time. Eating only a couple a day, just isn't enough for them too grow. It is like human babies have to eat a small amount every few hours cause they can't hold much at a time.
Good luck
Patsy
Don't walk away while they are soaking, just like you wouldn' for a human baby.

Thank you for all of the comments and advice.

They are only a few weeks old and as small as my little finger.

I dont have a reptile vet yet, my other dragon has never needed one. I live in South Africa. As far as I understand the babies hatched like this out of the egg. Of the 20 odd eggs that was incubated, only 6 hatched. I do offer them food more than once a day (I work from home) but they dont eat much. I really cannot explain how tiny they are.from the head to the end of its body (excluding tail) they are about 1 and 3/4 inches. I have turned up the heat a little for them now and the uv light has been moved lower. I really dont want to take them to a vet at teh moment, they are too tiny for any kind of medication. A needle its the size if its legs!!!

Will keep everyone informed how they do over the next few days.

Abby x

I think the tank that they are in is too big for them to catch the crix.

Can I put them each into a 5litre tub that my crix come in with a few crix inside, that way the crix cant run very far

Thank you!

Abby x

I think the tank that they are in is too big for them to catch the crix.

Can I put them each into a 5litre tub that my crix come in with a few crix inside, that way the crix cant run very far

Thank you!

Abby x