Baby Got Bit Pretty Bad

This is my tiniest little baby...a little girl. She and her sister share a 20T. I picked her up today and discovered she had been bit by her sister. As you can see from the pic, it looks like it may be infected. I know this is new though because I make it a point to hold each of them every day. She isn't putting any weight on it. This isn't the first leg injury I've dealt with but it is the first time one was oozing like this. What do I do to treat it? I gave her a warm bath and gently swirled the water around her and it washed it off but I'm worried still that it could get worse. I think I recall something about a betadine soak and antibiotic ointment but I'm not sure. The last one this happened to (it wasn't this bad), I wrapped it in athletic tape that I had cut into thin strips. It seemed to help and he is doing much better now. I did put up a divider in their tank, so she's safe from further injuries btw.



This is my little boy who's arm I ended up wrapping. I didn't want him to lose his fingers like he did
the toes on his foot before I got him. I still have this athletic tape, if I need to put ointment on it and wrap it to keep her from ingesting it and to keep it clean....

Aw that's too bad, you can do the betadine soaks [ about 1 part betadine to 10 parts water ] and Neosporin but you probably need antibiotics as well. Do you have a good reptile vet ? Just an FYI, don't bathe any open wound unless there's betadine in it, soaking in plain water can introduce more bacteria in to the wound.

AHBD":rbs00iex said:

Aw that's too bad, you can do the betadine soaks [ about 1 part betadine to 10 parts water ] and Neosporin but you probably need antibiotics as well. Do you have a good reptile vet ? Just an FYI, don't bathe any open wound unless there's betadine in it, soaking in plain water can introduce more bacteria in to the wound.

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Damn! I should've thought about that and used distilled water. Thank you for the 411. How would you suggest the soak? Mix enough solution to set her in or try to just soak her leg? How long would you recommend doing it? If I remember right, they don't soak up water through their skin, like iguanas do but I do know that my babies often drink the water I bathe them in... thoughts on this?

Yeah just try to soak the leg rather than the whole body. You can use a small cup or jar and let her leg dangle in it for 5-10 minutes if she lets you and do this twice a day if you can. The solution is usually 1 part betadine to 10 parts water but if it's a bit stronger it's fine. And I meant that you want betadine antiseptic in the water to kill germs, no plain water of any type because whatever germs are on your dragon, tiny bits of bug guts, feces, old skin shed or any germs from the tank will be in the water soaking in to the wound. So betadine water baths rather than plain water baths.

AHBD":399ezbbc said:

Yeah just try to soak the leg rather than the whole body. You can use a small cup or jar and let her leg dangle in it for 5-10 minutes if she lets you and do this twice a day if you can. The solution is usually 1 part betadine to 10 parts water but if it's a bit stronger it's fine. And I meant that you want betadine antiseptic in the water to kill germs, no plain water of any type because whatever germs are on your dragon, tiny bits of bug guts, feces, old skin shed or any germs from the tank will be in the water soaking in to the wound. So betadine water baths rather than plain water baths.

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OH! Gotha! Still should've thought about that but yah, I thought you were talking about wound contamination from tap water. We do a lot of art work and we don't use tap water because of all the minerals and everything that can contaminate your art work, so that's where my head was at.. lol

Yes, these things are sad to see!!! I hope the little thing gets better soon.

Something has been overlooked though.... You need to separate them now before your little one loses anymore digits. Judging from the looks of her toes (missing ones that have healed) this has been going on for a while and, it's only going to get worse, MUCH WORSE!!!
Dragons are very territorial and, do NOT like each other. This is why she doesn't gain weight like the other one, the other dragon has gained dominance over the smaller one. To top it off, a 20 gallon tank isn't big enough for a dragon that is the size you are showing in the pic. Upgrade to at least a 40g for each of them.

Hello,

I agree, do consider separating them so this doesn't happen again. I hope that the arm
doesn't get too infected to the point to where she loses her arm.
Continue to keep that arm clean, with a diluted betadine & try using either some antibiotic
ointment or even raw, unpasteurized honey for help with warding off infection.
Let us know how things are going & how the arm is looking.

Tracie

Gormagon":3fln3ugt said:

Yes, these things are sad to see!!! I hope the little thing gets better soon.

Something has been overlooked though.... You need to separate them now before your little one loses anymore digits. Judging from the looks of her toes (missing ones that have healed) this has been going on for a while and, it's only going to get worse, MUCH WORSE!!!
Dragons are very territorial and, do NOT like each other. This is why she doesn't gain weight like the other one, the other dragon has gained dominance over the smaller one. To top it off, a 20 gallon tank isn't big enough for a dragon that is the size you are showing in the pic. Upgrade to at least a 40g for each of them.

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Yah...I did separate the 2 females immediately, when I found the bite on the baby. A lot these babies were missing toes, when I took them on. The gal originally had the babies with dragons that were 6 months older. One of them tried to eat one of the babies literally. It had the baby by the head. She caught it in the act and pulled the baby out of its mouth. It's head looked horrible but she actually nursed it back to health. I took on 5 of the juveniles and 13 of the 8 week old babies. This was my first real experience with dragons, so I've been learning a lot, as I go. I know iguanas pretty good, had them off and on my whole life. I really bit off more than I could chew with these guys though, for sure. I'm trying to rehome them. We're keeping 2 or 3 of the juveniles and just a couple of the babies. I have tanks all over the place

Drache613":aqe4hphp said:

Hello,

I agree, do consider separating them so this doesn't happen again. I hope that the arm
doesn't get too infected to the point to where she loses her arm.
Continue to keep that arm clean, with a diluted betadine & try using either some antibiotic
ointment or even raw, unpasteurized honey for help with warding off infection.
Let us know how things are going & how the arm is looking.

Tracie

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I separated them immediately. Could medical grade Manuka honey be used?

Definitely! IMO, better than the betadine.

-Brandon

Claudiusx":z7tha2lp said:

Definitely! IMO, better than the betadine.

-Brandon

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Yah...I totally forgot about that stuff until honey was mentioned. I used to use it for so many things, when I was rescuing pitties!

Thank you to everyone for your input and kicking my first aid knowledge back into gear. It's silly how a person forgets stuff that was once ingrained in their mind but not surprising with me... lol!

Anyways, I just wanted to update you. Baby is doing great, her leg is all healed and you can't even tell she was hurt.

That is great news! Thank you for coming back and updating us!

-Brandon