2 swollen fingers- One is red one is just puffy

[Buddy- The Bearded Dragon]

Hello, I'm new here. I usually get my beardie information here when I have a question, but this time I have a question that I can't find in the search bar that relates to my bearded dragons health right now. Today when I was feeding my beardie, I saw that one of her fingers is really swollen and it looks red and I saw another one that just looked bigger than usual. I'm more concerned about the red one. It's kind of lifted and idk if she's doing that because it hurts her or if it's like that because it's swollen. I can't take her to the vet to find out but I really want to treat it so it doesn't get worse and so she gets better if it hurts her. If this helps, her enclosure (we built it ourselves) has mesh all over as walls and she likes to climb on it when she's roaming around. I read that that may be the reason some beardies hurt themselves like this. Should I get a new enclosure or is it something else?? Please help!

 

[Chris.]

the red bulb should be removed entirely. they are not good for them. if you need extra heat you can get a heat emitter. they put out heat but no light.

Exactly. A heat emitter is a good option if you need night time heat. At night you do not want any light at all!

Only during the day you want all your heat to come from lights. They are dessert animals, that like high illumination.

 

[Buddy- The Bearded Dragon]

Exactly. A heat emitter is a good option if you need night time heat. At night you do not want any light at all!

Only during the day you want all your heat to come from lights. They are dessert animals, that like high illumination.

Yeah I always turn off her lights at night and keep them on all day. Good to know! Thank you again!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Let us know how the finger is doing. I hope that the
raw honey works well for him.
Definitely use a ceramic heat emitter instead of a
red heating bulb, for nighttime.
Which UVB light have you decided on for him?

Tracie

 

[Buddy- The Bearded Dragon]

Hello,

Let us know how the finger is doing. I hope that the
raw honey works well for him.
Definitely use a ceramic heat emitter instead of a
red heating bulb, for nighttime.
Which UVB light have you decided on for him?

Tracie

Hey! I have been putting her finger in raw honey and I haven't noticed any changes but hopefully I will soon. I usually put her finger in the honey and just coat it with a toothpick and take her a bath afterwards so she's not sticky. I noticed that when I touched it to move it, she did flinch and bobbed her head once, which she does when she's in pain (I know this because when I used to try to help her with her shed she used to do it and try to run away from me so I figured it was a sign that she was in pain)

I've decided to save up for another type of bulb that isn't red and that a user here recommended for me. Here's the link- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006L2UC...efix=basking+bulb+arcadia,aps,216&sr=8-2&th=1

If this one doesn't work or I don't like it, I'll switch to another type of light that hopefully I can install that another user has also recommended- Amazon.com

So yeah. Thanks again for all the recommendations and the interest in my beardie. I'll keep you posted if I see any changes!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Poor girl, it does seem that it hurts her. I hope it starts feeling better soon. Has it gotten any less
swollen though or reduced in size?
That basking bulb from Arcadia is fine, it should be nice & bright for her.
Keep us updated on how she is doing!

Tracie

 

[Buddy- The Bearded Dragon]

Hello,

Poor girl, it does seem that it hurts her. I hope it starts feeling better soon. Has it gotten any less
swollen though or reduced in size?
That basking bulb from Arcadia is fine, it should be nice & bright for her.
Keep us updated on how she is doing!

Tracie

Thank you! I hope she gets better too.

I noticed that it's no longer a red color, it's starting to turn pink so I'm guessing that's a good thing. It's still swollen though. I think the only way she can get better is to stop climbing the mesh all together but she can't do that until we replace it, and since she's very active it's going to be even harder. What I'm thinking I should be doing is to start taking her out of her cage more so she can waste all her energy exploring around the house and when she goes back in her cage she won't have the needs to climb the mesh and go crazy since all her energy is gone. That way when she's in her cage all she has to do is eat, sleep and bask in her lights. I'm hoping that the reason it's turning pink is because the honey is working, so I'll keep doing that every day. Also, would it help if I also leave the finger sitting in betadine? I heard that helps. Another thing too, is it ok if she eats the raw honey?

Thanks on the info for the light! I'll definitely consider getting it for her. I'm sure she'll love it.

I'll keep you guys posted on how she's doing! Thanks for all the help and care that you guys have given me and my beardie

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That's great her finger isn't as red now, it sounds like it is healing up slowly. Keep treating with the raw
honey, it is most likely helping out. It is perfectly safe if she ingests the honey, no problem at all. You
can soak the finger in a diluted betadine for a few minutes.
The color change could also indicate possible pre-shed?
She definitely needs to stop climbing the mesh so she doesn't continue to irritate her finger.
I hope she continues to improve!

Tracie

 

[Buddy- The Bearded Dragon]

Hey guys! Some new info on Buddy. I've been putting her finger in honey for a few days now and it's starting to return to it's normal color. Sadly, it's still swollen but hopefully that goes away soon.
I just had a few quick questions regarding her health but not her finger.

Today after dipping her finger in honey I put her in the sink to take a bath (which I believe she was enjoying) and then I saw her doing this all of a sudden. (Still need to post video because it’s saying that the file is too big) She just kept kicking and scratching the sink and getting really low on the ground and kinda kicking. Just an fyi, she does that all over the sink, not just the edges so I figured she was trying to swim and not escape? Btw if you see here breathing heavily, she wasn't doing that before, I guess she got camera shy and started acting nervous lol. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Another thing, I saw that she has a little bit of this black on the tip of her mouth (1st file) I believe it's shed because before her bath she had some dangling skin on it but if it's rot or something else please let me know.

Last, I noticed that her fat pads on her head behind her eyes are kinda flat. Anyone know what I should do or what I should feed her to raise those pads?

Thanks again for all the replies and the interest in my Buddy!

 

[Buddy- The Bearded Dragon]

Post in Buddy The Bearded Dragon Board

padlet.com

Once you watch the vid, plz delete site. Thank you!

 

[Chris.]

Looks like she just doesn't really know what to do with the slippery surface and the water. Almost like she wants to dig.
In general you don't need to bath her if she's nit dirty as it has very little benefits for her. If anything it poses some risks if she aspirates some water.

Can you post a picture of the finger?

The tip of the snout could be anything but doesn't look concerning to me.

 

[Buddy- The Bearded Dragon]

Idk why in the picture it looks different, but in person the finger looks less pink and I can definitely see the difference from the first day of me seeing her finger like that to now. Every now and then I see that she does move that hand slowly so I can tell that it's still giving her some discomfort, but I'm glad that it's slowly healing! Also, sorry if I'm not taking close up pictures, kinda hard to do it without a phone in hand lol.

Regarding the baths- I don't usually do it every day or every 2 days like I'm doing now. It's just that now that I'm dipping her finger in honey and since she moves around and gets the honey all over her, I have to take her a bath so she won't be sticky. Usually I would like to give her a bath once a week. I'm kinda glad that she's getting more frequent baths now so that she can get a hold of more drinking water. But welp, I guess I'll have to change the routine soon lol.

Thanks for the info on her mouth! I'm glad it's not concerning. I'm sure it's just shed since right now I noticed that some of her bottom lip is turning white.

Thank you for the quick reply and all the help.

 

[Chris.]

A bit hard to see but looks like it is progressing

Yeah they do weird stuff when they shed, my boy will turn really pale, then dark orange and the shed is actually not white but dark orange. The new scales under this will stay grey for a few days and then get back to his normal colors.
My girl is more standard: dark-white-normal...

 

[Buddy- The Bearded Dragon]

A bit hard to see but looks like it is progressing

Yeah they do weird stuff when they shed, my boy will turn really pale, then dark orange and the shed is actually not white but dark orange. The new scales under this will stay grey for a few days and then get back to his normal colors.
My girl is more standard: dark-white-normal...

Cool beans! Thanks for the info. I'll still keep you guys posted on how she's doing. Right now I'm just happy that she's getting better and also that's she's shedding so she'll get bigger lol. Thanks again!

 

[Buddy- The Bearded Dragon]

Hey guys! Update of my little weirdo's finger-

It's getting better! It's no longer pink, it's starting to go back to her regular brown whitish color. It's still swollen but I can see that it's gone down a bit. She's still babying it but not as much as before but I'm going to keep treating it with the raw honey and hope for the best. Thanks again for all the help you've given me! It's helped my beardie a lot. Hopefully she's learned her lesson and will no longer climb on the mesh until we get it replaced. If she hasn't then I guess I'll be back here for another post, stay tuned!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It is looking a lot better now, that's wonderful. I'm sure it feels better for
has as well.
You can post anytime you would like, post pictures, etc & just to let us all
know how things are going.

Tracie