Baby Beardie with a swollen limb

[skifflexie]

Hi guys,

I have just recently gotten three more little beardies (2 weeks ago). They are clutch mates and were housed together for the first week. They are now separated.

The largest one (the only male) has a swollen right back leg. It happened last week (I noticed it on Wednesday). I took him to the vet on Friday. The vet wasn't too much help. All she said was that it looked to be trauma related (a bite or falling). All she suggested was to soak him twice daily.

Now its monday and its still swollen. He has a good appetite and is active.

Here is his set up:

29g
reptisun 10.0 tube
basking: 90-101
cool side: 65-70
humidity 29%
lights come on 10am go off 9pm
tile substrate
eats: medium gut loaded crickets
large mealworms (on occasion), collard & mustard greens.
calcium dust 6 days a week, multivitamin 2 days a week.
Since the injury I've also been giving him reptiboost.


Any ideas on what it could be? or any suggestions on what to do to help him?







Also my oldest dragon Santata I rescued from petsmart he had nipped toes and a nipped tail. His toes healed great, but his tail didn't heal as nice. It looked pretty good for the last couple months but in the last few weeks its gotten a little dark. When I consulted the vet about it her exact words "thats normal, it could be tail rot or a fungus, all you need to do is snap his tail with your fingers" I said no local or pain meds, or anything? and she replied "nope just snap it with your fingers, their tails are meant to break...." I will not be breaking his tail... the vet that everyone has suggested that I see for my dragons is currently out on knee surgery...

anyways, he has a similar set up as the one above...

Do you guys have any suggestions on his tail?

Heres last month:



Here is today:

 

[brittani299]

Hello . First off your vet is retarded. I wouldn't go back to them. Your babies basking spot is a bit low. It should be between 105-110. Also I wouldn't feed mealworms at all. They can cause impaction and aren't nutrious at all. Your adul beardie has tail rot it looks like. It looks to be the beginning stages of it. My female had it and I caught it before it got bad. Get some benodine iodine and mix it with water so it looks like weak tea. Dip your beardies tail in the mixture for 5 minutes about. Then get some Neosporin and put some on your beardies tail. The tip will probably fall off but it looks early so you will be ok if you do with. It regards to the swollen limp on your baby I would message Drache613 (tracie) she is a monitor on here and knows a lot. She might know.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. I read on here swollen limbs like that is either mbd or gout. I think you need a blood test for you to know what it is exactly.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Was the limb swollen when you got the dragon?
I do agree though, it is most likely from a previous injury but it doesn't look like a bite though, correct?
For now, I would lower his basking spot to where he doesn't have to do much climbing to reach his basking light. Hopefully that will help with healing.
You can also do a warm water bath therapy daily to soak the foot/ankle area.
Is he limping on it?
How close is the UVB to him?

Tracie

 

[skifflexie]

Hello,

Was the limb swollen when you got the dragon?
I do agree though, it is most likely from a previous injury but it doesn't look like a bite though, correct?
For now, I would lower his basking spot to where he doesn't have to do much climbing to reach his basking light. Hopefully that will help with healing.
You can also do a warm water bath therapy daily to soak the foot/ankle area.
Is he limping on it?
How close is the UVB to him?

Tracie

No I didn't notice any issues when I received the dragons. The breeder did say that he only used powersuns and that they were the best... (Im currently ordering arcadia 12% tube lights, but in the meantime they have 10.0 reptisun tubes. His basking spot it lower than normal, but I positioned it were if he want he can climb closer. I don't have a measuring tape, but if I had to guess his lowest basking spot would be 10in away, his closest about 6 in away... He does favor the limb a little when walking and climbing, but still uses it. The first day I noticed it, he was holding out straight away from his body, like some do when they are "sexy-legging" but it was obviously not a sexy leg moment... I asked the vet I went to about pain meds or antibiotic and she didnt want to do either. I'm gonna call around, but everyones fav reptile vet in town is out.I can't really afford to go to another vet who just looks at it and tells me to soak it.... So just to make sure I have my facts right, it could be be a trauma related injury, or gout- in which case a blood test would be needed to confirm; what is the prognosis for gout and treatment? How does a beardie develop gout?, it could be MBD- from lack of uvb or calcium, although the others from his clutch look good. Should I change the ratio in which I dust? I ordered some higher quality feeders (dubias and Phoenix worms) but they all arrived dead, so I'm waiting on the weather to warm up a little before I order a replacement.


I'll start calling more vets today, but I should be asking for a blood test? And possible xrays to determine bone density? Is that correct?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Your tank setup looks good but maybe try placing the tube bulb underneath of the screen so he can get stronger unfiltered UVB. Use the 3M Command hooks to secure the light fixture underneath of the screen.
I think at his age, it is most likely going to end up being calcium related.
The Powersuns are decent but there have been some reports of ones that don't emit a lot of UVB. If he had them too far away then the UVB may not have been very strong.

He is too small for a blood test but an x-ray would be the primary way to determine bone mass & density.
I think the 6 days per week is great but you could consider switching to liquid calcium for a little while in case he is having trouble with absorption for some reason. I don't think at this point it would be gout. For full blown gout cases, they will need medication for life most of the time. Let's hope a few of the husbandry & supplementation changes help him out!
I am sorry your worms arrived dead, poor things. Did they not put a heat pack in with them?
Since an injury is suspected, that will cause the swelling locally also.
Are you giving a warm bath daily to help with any pain or swelling?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[skifflexie]

Hello,

Your tank setup looks good but maybe try placing the tube bulb underneath of the screen so he can get stronger unfiltered UVB. Use the 3M Command hooks to secure the light fixture underneath of the screen.
I think at his age, it is most likely going to end up being calcium related.
The Powersuns are decent but there have been some reports of ones that don't emit a lot of UVB. If he had them too far away then the UVB may not have been very strong.

He is too small for a blood test but an x-ray would be the primary way to determine bone mass & density.
I think the 6 days per week is great but you could consider switching to liquid calcium for a little while in case he is having trouble with absorption for some reason. I don't think at this point it would be gout. For full blown gout cases, they will need medication for life most of the time. Let's hope a few of the husbandry & supplementation changes help him out!
I am sorry your worms arrived dead, poor things. Did they not put a heat pack in with them?
Since an injury is suspected, that will cause the swelling locally also.
Are you giving a warm bath daily to help with any pain or swelling?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

There's no screen on his cage, that way he gets the full UVB. They did put heat packs in with the worms, but the shipping took over a week, and then it got lost at a sorting facility. He is getting warm baths daily. He is still eating like a champ. I'm going back home this weekend to take my dog in for his yearly check up. (He only goes to one vet lol, he is 150lb) anyways I worked for this vet and they are amazing, but he doesn't see reptiles. But he is going to do an X-ray for me, and try to help, at least until the well known and well liked reptile vet is back. I will be traveling a little over and hour with the little beardie, any suggestions?