Long story...fair warning...
So, usually, when I go on a trip I take my dragons with me. All six of them. Under normal circumstances, I simply do not travel when I have babies. Period. However, my last trip was an unexpected family emergency during which I happened to have one baby dragon left of my last clutch. Due to room restrictions, etc., I was forced to leave this baby with a close and trusted (or so I thought) family friend of mine who actually has several dragons of her own. I left him with his own cage, his own food, his own greens, his own lights, thermometer, and strict instructions (even though she knows well enough how to care for a bearded dragon).
However, despite her knowledge or my instructions, she shirked her duties to this baby long enough to allow her dragon to viscously attack him. She called me immediately after it happened to inform me of the incident...referring to it as simply a nip. She assured me it wasn't bad but she was unable to send a pic. I instructed her to put antibiotic ointment on it and watch it close for infection. She agreed. I checked in frequently but she said it looked fine.
After dealing with an awful end to my family emergency I returned home to find my baby beardy with a nasty looking infection in his leg due to what was not a nip but severe bite right below his knee. It now appears he is going to lose the majority of his leg due to this very nasty bite which seems to have broken the bone below his knee. At this point the leg is literally just dangling.
Since this emergency was very long distance and completely unexpected I returned home with no means to seek medical attention for this baby. This is really a first for me as my dragons are a top priority in my life. But now I'm finding myself at a complete loss financially. I washed the wound and debride it well ONE TIME ONLY and carefully with hydrogen peroxide (not recommended) because it needed to be cleaned effectively and quickly as the infection appeared to be very thick and spreading. Since then I've used sterile saline wound wash, povidone iodine (diluted), and antibiotic cream twice daily. It appears to have made a significant improvement although I'm not convinced. My main concern is that before I got to him the infection seems to have spread to slightly above the knee. :`(
His home temp is 95 at current but adjusting (we've just turned the air on for the summer), as for size I will just say it is huge, he has a 10.0 UVB lamp properly adjusted to his basking platform which he remains on a lot. He is eating very well (wax worms occasionally, Dubai roaches as a staple, collards, mustards, butternut squash, green peppers, peas as a treat, seedless watermelon for hydration, distilled water, calcium powder a couple three times a week, and a multi-vitamin once or twice a week). He's very active (although you can tell he's in pain). In fact, he is placing his tail over and around his wounded leg to protect it...but also to mimic a missing limb. It's like he's accommodating for the missing part. Amazing actually. He uses it to leap from the floor of his cage to his basking platform regularly.
Anyhoo, all that said and given his will to overcome, I'm willing to do absolutely anything (I can't stress this enough) to help this little guy survive. So, is there anything I can do for him besides what I'm doing. I've heard of medicinal grade honey, silver, and all sorts of other suggestions to prevent, stall, or treat infections. Again, I can not get to the vet for two weeks. So, home remedies are all I can go with. If there is anything I can do...please let me know. Putting him down is not an option!
So, usually, when I go on a trip I take my dragons with me. All six of them. Under normal circumstances, I simply do not travel when I have babies. Period. However, my last trip was an unexpected family emergency during which I happened to have one baby dragon left of my last clutch. Due to room restrictions, etc., I was forced to leave this baby with a close and trusted (or so I thought) family friend of mine who actually has several dragons of her own. I left him with his own cage, his own food, his own greens, his own lights, thermometer, and strict instructions (even though she knows well enough how to care for a bearded dragon).
However, despite her knowledge or my instructions, she shirked her duties to this baby long enough to allow her dragon to viscously attack him. She called me immediately after it happened to inform me of the incident...referring to it as simply a nip. She assured me it wasn't bad but she was unable to send a pic. I instructed her to put antibiotic ointment on it and watch it close for infection. She agreed. I checked in frequently but she said it looked fine.
After dealing with an awful end to my family emergency I returned home to find my baby beardy with a nasty looking infection in his leg due to what was not a nip but severe bite right below his knee. It now appears he is going to lose the majority of his leg due to this very nasty bite which seems to have broken the bone below his knee. At this point the leg is literally just dangling.
Since this emergency was very long distance and completely unexpected I returned home with no means to seek medical attention for this baby. This is really a first for me as my dragons are a top priority in my life. But now I'm finding myself at a complete loss financially. I washed the wound and debride it well ONE TIME ONLY and carefully with hydrogen peroxide (not recommended) because it needed to be cleaned effectively and quickly as the infection appeared to be very thick and spreading. Since then I've used sterile saline wound wash, povidone iodine (diluted), and antibiotic cream twice daily. It appears to have made a significant improvement although I'm not convinced. My main concern is that before I got to him the infection seems to have spread to slightly above the knee. :`(
His home temp is 95 at current but adjusting (we've just turned the air on for the summer), as for size I will just say it is huge, he has a 10.0 UVB lamp properly adjusted to his basking platform which he remains on a lot. He is eating very well (wax worms occasionally, Dubai roaches as a staple, collards, mustards, butternut squash, green peppers, peas as a treat, seedless watermelon for hydration, distilled water, calcium powder a couple three times a week, and a multi-vitamin once or twice a week). He's very active (although you can tell he's in pain). In fact, he is placing his tail over and around his wounded leg to protect it...but also to mimic a missing limb. It's like he's accommodating for the missing part. Amazing actually. He uses it to leap from the floor of his cage to his basking platform regularly.
Anyhoo, all that said and given his will to overcome, I'm willing to do absolutely anything (I can't stress this enough) to help this little guy survive. So, is there anything I can do for him besides what I'm doing. I've heard of medicinal grade honey, silver, and all sorts of other suggestions to prevent, stall, or treat infections. Again, I can not get to the vet for two weeks. So, home remedies are all I can go with. If there is anything I can do...please let me know. Putting him down is not an option!