Arm Amputation

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My beardie Mahavi got and infection in his arm that’s caused massive swelling and bleeding and he’s gotten antibiotics twice and none have worked and treatments have been ripping my poor guys infected scales off causing him to bleed so I stopped that treatment. He is scheduled for an amputation from the elbow down on his arm and has only been eating bugs, won’t touch leaves anymore. Anyone has experience with beardie amputation? Nervous and want him to come out alright. His arm looks really gruesome, SEVERELY infected and they don’t know how, except that it needs to go. Want his recovery from surgery to go well.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Aw, poor guy !! Did the vet scrape at it so it bled so much ? Beardies can do well with amputation, some even survive having a limb bitten off from a cage mate at times. Many " tripod " dragons have hardly any trouble getting around after losing a limb. How long have you had him ?
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
First question : Is the vet even qualified to treat reptiles ?

Have you had a second opinion from AN EXPERIENCED REPTILE VET / SURGEON ? I would locate the best local reptile vet and get then to examine your dragon BEFORE allowing any amputation to proceed.

Has the vet ever taken blood samples to determine the most effective antibiotic ? or just been guessing on what is causing this issue ?

My advise would be get hold of some F10 barrier antiseptic ointment
https://vetproductsdirect.com.au/f10-ointment-25gm?___store=vpdaustralia (I'm sure any GOOD vet will have this in stock in the USA)
and apply this to the injury and ask if debriding the infected area to remove any infected / dead tissues, and more effective antibiotic treatment is going to work .
 

Drache613

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Hello,

Wow that looks painful! What was the initial cause of injury?
I hope Mahavi is doing well. Many dragons end up with missing arms, legs, etc so he should
be fine & will adjust.
I definitely recommend using some raw, unpasteurized honey or manuka honey on the wound
to help keep it from further infection post surgery.
When are you taking him in & are you positive that amputation is really needed?

Tracie
 

allykanyce

Member
Original Poster
Where I live there’s only one exotic vet and the rest are a oof two hours away. They said blood tests can’t be done on bearded dragons as far as surgery goes only on cats and dogs but they think he’s strong enough to pull through. All they knew was that he caught a severe infection and think it maybe started with a cricket bite. He has lots of trees and his hammock in his tank and fell off once due to his arm injury and it made it a little worst. My sweet guy got dropped off for surgery 2 hours ago, I’ll post pictures of how it went.

As far as honey goes the doctor recommended that along with wrapping it daily. Once I took the honey soaked bandages off, it would stick to his scales or puss and rip it off so I stopped wrapping it. He’s in the middle of shedding too which didn’t make it any better.
 

Claudiusx

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Hi there,

that's unfortunate it doesnt seem your vet really knows what hes doing, or is at least not being honest with you about bloodwork.
I'm really hoping the surgery goes well. It should, it's relatively straight forward depending on how far up hes going to be cutting.

Yeah I would definitely not use the gauze, just the honey. The honey acts as the protective barrier anyways, so the gauze isnt needed.

Hoping for a good update when you pick him back up :)

-Brandon
 

Drache613

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Staff member
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Hello,

Any news on the surgery yet? I hope everything went well. Please let us know how he is
doing.
Bearded dragons get blood work done, quite often actually. I guess the vet doesn't know how
to do a blood draw on a reptile perhaps.

Tracie
 

allykanyce

Member
Original Poster
106148-6365590994.jpg
106148-8229574412.jpg

The surgery went well. He’s on one antibiotic and one pain killer. It’s difficult to give him medication since I can’t grab him behind his arms anymore then pull his jaw down. I had to sneak it in while he was eating. Hope he got the full dose because I put it in quick. I don’t feel comfy giving him anymore needles, including in his condition so I’ll probably take him to the vet everyday for administration. He’s eating and sleeping a lot and still trying to crawl around so it’s a good start! Have him in blankets with a heating pad underneath for tonight so I can monitor closely. Thank you guys for caring and checking on him!
 

Claudiusx

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Staff member
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Aww poor fella'

I'm glad the surgery was a success though.
What antibiotic is he taking and for how much longer?

Make sure to keep his tank nice and clean to lower the chances of infection at the site. Honey can be used too still.

-Brandon
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Injecting pain relief to a dragon.

Above the kidneys is the key.

I was told by my reptile to choose location on the back near the shoulder blades, and carefully between scales and just under the skin - really a two person job , one to immobilize the lizard , other to handle the needle and syringe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKwv88nTlx8

I expect the syringe supplied by the vet will be mixture of pain relief & antibiotics and you'll need give an inject every other day or so to help the dragon with pain relief.

I'd have the dragon on a few layers of clean kitchen grade absorbant paper towels and i'd be removing all opportunities to climb (other than the hide's top) , and replace the paper as soon as you any excrement or exudate on it.
F10 antibiotic barrier ointment is what is needed to keep the wound infection free.

Very important to keep him warm 24 hours / day while the wound is healing , this will help boost his immune system and help him fight off any infection due to the original infection or post operative infection.
Careful of the site turning septic , there doesn't appear to be a drain or a sterile wick there to allow it to drain while healing - if an abscess forms inside the site ( due to the site be stitched closed) this can result in a nasty systemic infection.
The blanket is probably not a good idea as it will harbor germs unless you sterilize it every day.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Oh no, the vet took the entire arm off, it looks like? Poor thing!
How is he doing this evening?
How long do they feel he needs antibiotics right now? Be sure to keep him hydrated while
he is on the antibiotics also it will help out his kidneys.
I hope he sleeps well & is feeling better!

Tracie
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Drache613":1g113esq said:
Hello,

Oh no, the vet took the entire arm off, it looks like? Poor thing!
How is he doing this evening?
How long do they feel he needs antibiotics right now? Be sure to keep him hydrated while
he is on the antibiotics also it will help out his kidneys.
I hope he sleeps well & is feeling better!

Tracie

I was shocked by that too.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Any updates for us, how is your boy doing this evening?
I hope he is feeling a lot better & more alert after his surgery & medication wearing off.

Tracie
 
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