my beardie fell off his bridge....updates

Hes actually trying to walk and can push up and hold his head up, its the execution that gets to him, so he either falls because his head goes down while walking forward or does little spins. Yesterday he crawled across his tank then spent 2 hours staring at the same white speck, hes also looking at his artwork and playing scootch the kitty with creepy kitty. she seems to be helping him to rehabilitate the muscles in his neck. The fluid is gone in the ear he most likely struck (it was clear fluid buildup from impact trauma) and hes eating, pooping, basking (the mvb light i have for him is rather intense so it makes him a warm little beardie) and the white part of his stool continues to be white. Hes finally sleeping, by instinct he refused to sleep more than 10-15 mins at a time for a few days and the first day he wouldnt sleep at all. His breathing is normal, and his personality is intact. i would have taken him to a vet if i didnt get the "we dont take them call this office...." followed by that office telling me they dont take them run around. My brother in law was even willing to pay to have him seen. his tank has been stripped down and the matresses he has have been spread along the bottom, i am making his a "play pad" for his tank bottom and he will have a ramp like bed to sleep on and bask on soon with side railings of course! i am feeding him basi and mint every other day and some beardie bites, all are dusted with repti boost. The basil i am feeding him is Holy Basil so it has added benifits of healing, parasite and infection control, and helping him breath easier along with stool softening, he eats pepper mint from a third growth plant. He still has the heating pads on his non basking side to help him stay warm enough to heal. His fat pads have reduced due to the wiggling about to get better (he does exercises) but not as much as when hes brumating and not eating at all. Mommy isnt letting him brumate this year until hes well enough to eat on his own, he demonstrated that he can chew today and spit out food he doesnt like. When hes better at controling his head mommy will build him a ramp bridge with side railings and a hide under it. No more brick bridges for him so this wont happen again.

Update: I looked at his butt to see if its starting to plump back out due to hand feeding him, and I am happy to say his butt is getting fluffy again. This is improved after just a few feedings so the bones arent as noticable and he is moving about more and even did some beardie exercises, which, were a regular thing before his accident.

Hello,

It sounds like he is slowly recovering. It does take some time though. Which MVB are you
using for him?
Is he eating on his own now, or not yet? It takes awhile for them to gain weight so be
patient with him.
Feel free to post pictures of him, as he progresses. I hope he makes a full recovery, soon.

Tracie

Drache613":39uen004 said:

Hello,

It sounds like he is slowly recovering. It does take some time though. Which MVB are you
using for him?
Is he eating on his own now, or not yet? It takes awhile for them to gain weight so be
patient with him.
Feel free to post pictures of him, as he progresses. I hope he makes a full recovery, soon.

Tracie

Click to expand...

I forget the brand, but next to the others i looked up on specs this one had a higher range of uv projection and heat field rating, he will chew things and try to eat it from my hand but hes still needing me to place it in his mouth. I did get Zilla Reptile Health Supplies Jump-Start Appetite Stimulant for him, its high calorie and will help along with the reptiboost and other things i gave him. I have started helping him to exercise his front legs (he slithered so much that his back legs are strong but his front legs getting a bit weak due to not using them as much) and hes able to push up for a longer time on his front legs and able to hold his head up. He even nuzzled my hand today and was like "mommy lets go for a walk". He knows that im just trying to help him get better, so no more displaying at me and i will post a pic of his tank with him in it. I have him on a wedge to sleep because i had to give him a tiny bit of water with the paste earlier and if i dont put him on an elevation he might asperate the water part. He did that even before the accident, hed get excited and regurgitate the liquid then asperate it if i wasnt vidulant. I already had to perform beardie CPR on him once and dont want to have to again. His wedged bed is almost done, so thats a plus. I will look for his mvb box later and post what it is.


i looked it up:UVB Reptile Light - 160W UVA UVB Mercury Vapor Bulb High Intensity Sun Simulating Bulb Lamp For Reptile and Amphibian Use i didnt see the brand but the specs are better than the mega ray which burned out in 3 months.

I came up with something he actually likes and gave him more energy than before. I put some beardie bites into a container put some of the high calory gel stuff into it with a rounded scoop of reptiboost and mix them all together. It took him a minute to realize that i was trying to feed him something yummy, and then he got really eager to eat the bites, unfortunately i forgot to pull my thumb away and he chomped down hard on it (im ok its more like a couple of deep paper cuts but hurt like heck) and when i cried out he loosened his jaw just enough so i could take the edge of my thumb out. He then chomped the bite down and looked at me with sad eyes, i was able to calm him enough to eat several more bites and received several kissies from him once he was back in his tank. He was able to eat around 10 of the bites and a few pieces of the high calorie paste/gel that didnt mix in. He now is perkier and seems to be more alert and energetic than before. i plan on feeding him that mix once a day with bites with reptiboost the second time if he seems to be hungry again. i even got nuzzles from him for giving him that food and he is fireing up a bit.... weird thing about how he does that though, he tends to fire up only parts of his body and can do more than one shade or color on seperate places! he was doing that before the accident, so i know hes doing better!

His reflexes are getting better, i left his creepy kitty in with him so he could play with her and work on his reflexes. He was doing "push ups" in the corner of the tank and his hand sent her flying back, he whiped his tail and caught her in the curve of it, then peoceeded to look at me like "see mommy i caught her" hes also climbing the walls in the corners of his tank and finally got to where he can push off and turn to land on his belly and not his back. he did demostrate partial blindness but that improved to the point that he can now follow things with his eyes and slither forwards and not in circles. i did finish his full tank rug/pad (or at least one) and hes improving on moving since its not matresses. I padded his tank bottom so that if he falls while exercising he doesnt get hurt and his heating pad is under said rug/pad without covers because hes been burrowing under them and im afraid he might get stuck. he ate about a cc or a lil more of the high calorie paste with some reptiboost mixed in yesterday and ill give him beardie bites today.


A bit of a side note for those that might think they can do the same thing i am doing.... Please call all the available vets you can first and dont just take care of the beardie on your own, I am stuck doing this on my own and losing sleep and having issues with my health due to the level of care he needs. I can deal with pain and lack of sleep and i have resources that i can pull from in order to help him to heal, and i did do the full body check and wiggle test with him. Again i do not reccomend this if yall have a vet that can take him/her. I have also dealt with injured animals and rehabilitating them from a very young age. Though this is a learning experience for me (i was forced into it by countless vets telling me "we dont take them") i am a fast learner when it comes to care of animals, and i have dealt with injured lizards before, just not beardies. i was even given the go ahead by a vet 3 hours away to continue what i am doing and that he seems fine just in need of care to recover from the fall. IF he wasnt getting better, i would have figured out how to get him to the vet that is still 1.5 hours away without him freaking out. The thing is, they are a ways away AND charge a huge sum compaired to others for seeing an injured "exotic". Again, do what you can to find them help and if you cant find help ask for advice from someone experienced in taking care of them.

Hello,

You are doing great with him! It sounds like he is really trying & starting to improve a lot.
They do tend to feel bad when they bite you because it was definitely an accident. LOL He got
overzealous & excited about eating.
At least he is exercising & moving around a good amount. Keep exercising him, because that
does help his strength. It sounds like his reflexes have gotten faster, too. Bless him.
He is a lucky little one, a new padded tank & everything so he doesn't hurt himself.
The MVB sounds good. I am not familiar with that particular brand though.
So he likes the reptiboost pretty well? I hope he gains some weight on that, it is a pretty good
food supplement for them.
It is emotionally draining to do CPR on them! I think you have a great hold on the situation with
him & it is paying off, too!
Definitely keep us posted on his progress.

Tracie

His beard is just about back to its normal color, he got some outside time due to his having to be on the floor o fhis tank and mommy held his lamp closer to him for a few minutes a couple times today. He go this time outside on mommies hand and was enjoying it (put his darker colors on to soak in that uv and heat) until mommy walked pass the ac unit to try and show him the mint plant... nope he had to struggle to get back on mommies shoulder and would have leaped if mommy wasnt in full control of the situation. he wasnt really hungry today so he didnt get anything to eat, it may be that his poopies have to catch up. when he wasnt hurt he did the same thing but would refuse to eat for up to 5 days at a time. he was still chunky but wasnt hungry. now mommy makes him eat everyday and will give him a break to poop and digest the food if hes not making a poop he pooped enough for 5 beardies the past few days before today so im not worried about the poops, if hes still having issues tomorrow and hasnt pooped a bit then ill give him basil. The question is... What type? I have holy, mammoth italian, dwarf, and regular italian. Oh and i might toss in a couple mint leaves, the combonation seems to help him with any pain or fluids he has retained and they help him poop.

Drache613":1wrq396l said:

Hello,

You are doing great with him! It sounds like he is really trying & starting to improve a lot.
They do tend to feel bad when they bite you because it was definitely an accident. LOL He got
overzealous & excited about eating.
At least he is exercising & moving around a good amount. Keep exercising him, because that
does help his strength. It sounds like his reflexes have gotten faster, too. Bless him.
He is a lucky little one, a new padded tank & everything so he doesn't hurt himself.
The MVB sounds good. I am not familiar with that particular brand though.
So he likes the reptiboost pretty well? I hope he gains some weight on that, it is a pretty good
food supplement for them.
It is emotionally draining to do CPR on them! I think you have a great hold on the situation with
him & it is paying off, too!
Definitely keep us posted on his progress.

Tracie

Click to expand...

He was especially sad because it was the back teeth and they sunk all the way in. Mommy has a rathe rawesome looking scar that may stay there for a bit and hes happy that mommy isnt mad at him anymore. i really wasnt mad at him, i was mad at myself though. He also still responds to my "calm down" signal i do with him, i either lightly cover his eyes and he lays down and stays put or i place a finger or two under his beard and stroke from the tip of his nose to between his eyes gently and he lays down and stays put. He really does need to lay off the bumper beardie thing and the parcore (sp) because hes runnin mommy ragged getting him unstuck!!
Btw thank you for the encouragementhe is now curled up over his heating pad area with his chin on his tail getting ready to sleep. Hes being soo cute!!

This morning he made a nice sized poop, he has decided that he likes zilla's omnivore diet but not the peas! there hasnt been much to report other than hes a little ball of energy....and that he fell on his face trying to walk on his front legs then acted like he meant to do that and that hes definently following close objects with his left eye, the right one is still vacant and he has bruises in front of his eyes that he keeps darkening to milk the sempathy card!! He is getting fluffy on his belly region and his tail is fuller and the old man wrinkles have reduced. He has been playing with his creepy kitty as well. when i get a few mins later ill post pics of the little guy and his showing off. 8)

sorry i havent updated in a while, the little guy is ok and as gooberish as ever, hes corrected his lazy eye on both eyes on his own and seems to focus on things a bit further away. i built a safety bridge for him complete with a sleeping chanber underneath, its in the form of a castle i will post pics of it in a bit. I had to pop the old thermometer off the back wall (he showed mommy he can get behind the tiny crevice between the bridge and the wall) but i know from feel that the optimal temp is there on the top for him, i have heat sensitive skin and can usually tell when something is too hot or too cold for him, that and hes toasty when i pick him up. Hes eating larger bites of food and even beginning to draw food into his mouth more readily. IF he never walks the same again (all of his limbs work just fine they just dont communicate correctly to lift all at once to walk more that a step or two) then ill be ok with that, i even designed his bridge to help strengthen his limbs and allow him to safely bask and climb up and down it.... but he demonstrated that he doesnt need the stairs and proceeded to jump on the wall above his cave and use his hands and feet like grappling hooks to pull himself over the wall and onto the bridge. right now hes cruled a bit squinting at his light basking, mommy put him in zen mode with the full head stroke .

him showing off before he got his bridge and his bridge sorry about the glare his light was on

Good to hear that he's doing better ! Maybe one log in the tank for another climbing option, they love wood .

Btw i figured out why he wouldnt eat the peas, mommy has to take the skin off of them first before she feeds them to him, he doesnt like the skins.....