Baby with a bad foot-Please Help

[volcanicasher]

Hello, A week ago I went to a reptile expo and my family and I bought three baby bearded dragons. One of the babies now has what appears to be a necrotic toe and another doesn't appear rotten but it is barely hanging in there, back left foot, the long middle one and the one in front of it. Unfortunately we are co-habiting and I know this is bad and I know the risks and I am currently urging my dad to let us separate them but he thinks the bite happened because I am "stressed" (Sorry but a baby having two broken toes is something worthy of stress.) and right now I can't afford to buy two sets of lamps and two tanks (I have a job and I have paid for everything for the dragons so far, so I am saving now to separate them but he only lets me spend 20% of what I make) so please just tell me what I can do to help the dragon, we are getting betadin tomorrow. (her name is Dopey, I am almost positive it is a she but may be to young to tell (all three are 7 weeks) she is my sister's. The one that has been doing the biting is my dragon, currently named Beau but will probably be changed due to me checking again and finding that they look like a girl) I will post pictures as soon as I can if that will help.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Poor little Dopey ....

I know you are worried about her.

If it's a matter of money (vivs from pet shops are expensive) that's making dad reluctant to separate the three , plastic stackable tubs (with see through plastic sides, clip on lids and wheels about 100L are IDEAL for beardie rearing tanks and VERY CHEAP.

If you want I can advise you how to set up three rearing tubs let me know I'd be only too happy to help you set up a "temporary" stacked or side-by-side three rearing tub set up for your three little beardies.

Will also be helpful if you posted images of Dopey's bad foot and the current tank . Use XIMG to upload photos.

Back to little Dopey's sore infected foot,
---if you buy a 10ml disposable syringe and a metal decanting needle (the blunt type)

illustration of decanting syringe (in this case a 5ml version)
---and have some Betadiene in the first aid chest ,
---boil some water and let it cool and place the boiled water in a clean plastic drink bottle ,
---then take the syringe with needle attached and draw 2ml of betadiene into it
---then make up the rest of the 10ml with boiled cool water ,
--- this is now ready to use.
---A small egg cup or spirits nip glass can be nearly filled with the diluted betadiene and
--- you need to immerse the sore infected foot in this and let it soak for about 15 mins to 20 mins at least once per day, this will help kill any germs on the surface and help clean the bite.

Can also apply medi-honey (manuka honey) to the wound , it has antibiotic properties.

Dopey MUST BE KEPT separated from the bitter/s else more attacks will happen , they can easily take an foot or hand off , or even kill each other in dominance disputes. Tell dad this is very serious and more attacks will happen unfortunately

I urge you to get Dopey to a good Herp vet ASAP as it's likely the infection will spread without proper treatment (antibiotics) .

 

[volcanicasher]

Thank you for the information. My sister has gotten up and seen it and panicked, I have seen a post similar to what has happened to Dopey and I read it to her and she has calmed down

As you can see the two damaged toes look horrible, even though it is dark, it's obvious. I feel so bad but there is nothing I can do to get my dad to understand how urgent it is we separate them. (He thinks she will be fine with no lamp in our home in WASHINGTON at NIGHT. Yea, no it's only 63F right now and I won't be surprised if it dips lower.) I just sanitized the whole tank and everything in it with hot water and a little bit of soap (rinsed everything down to ensure there was no soap left on their stuff) I will probably be up later tonight so I will keep my little troublemaker out as long as I can. (Also they get along fine. They are all clutchmates and I feed them salad together but I usually feed them their live bugs separately to reduce feeding responses from each other, which may be the case here but I can't be sure.)

 

[volcanicasher]

Another quick note for the picture, there is no blood, it's just red so if there was blood it is dry now.
I will post a better picture in the morning.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Ouch .... I can well imagine shé would have panicked ....

What I recommend for the short term is you get mom or dad to take you the nearest bigbox (shop) and there buy three tubs (like https://www.bunnings.com.au/all-set-109l-storage-container-with-lid_p2583376 .... 109L will be perfect rearing tubs and you can either stack them or set them on the floor or a bench/desk so they are side-by-side).
If there are no other animals in the house (ESPECIALLY CATS) you can safely set them up side-by-side on the floor or bench with no lid on them , this is the cheapest setup (I'll explain later), if there is a cat in the house , best to set them up either in a stack (one-on-top-the-other) or side-by-side BUT with lids on and securely clipped (locked).

There are lots of ways you can set up multiple tanks or tubs to rear hatchings and juvenile bearded dragons , the choices are side by side sharing T8 10%uvb or higher tubes or T5 10%uvb or higher tubes in reflector hoods or basking basking globes or MVBs , or stucking the tubs if floor space is limited.

Some examples
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=233480

 

[volcanicasher]

Cool, thank you for the diagram, I'll talk to my dad about doing that for separation. He wants to put dividers in the tank but that would give them only a 10" x 12" space each :/ which even with how much we handle them would definitely not be enough. I'll figure out a place where we could put the tubs and no cats haha, just a ball python so they would be fine with no lid.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, I agree that large plastic storage totes will be perfect for now. I raised beardies for over 20 years and the totes will be a good home until they are nearly sub- adult size. Here's how I set up my hatchlings. The branches are from outside, so the cage decor costs nothing. Just get clean branches and pop them in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes to kill any potential bugs. [ Be sure the branches don't touch the actual heat elements in the oven ] Then set them up like I have here in my picture. Babies love to climb, but keep the branches low, the babies thrive in a simple set up like this.
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/29895/full

Then all you need is the lights. The storage totes usually cost less than $15 at Walmart or Dollar store.

Your baby's toe may just shrivel up but not actually become infected. Can you post pics in better light ? Is he walking on that foot ?

 

[volcanicasher]

Both toes look like they will fall off shortly, she is walking on it, but sometimes when she stands still she lifts it up a bit. What other than betadin can be used? Anything I can put on it right now?

 

[AHBD]

Yes, you can put Neosporin on it.

 

[volcanicasher]

Ok I will put neosporin on it asap. Thank you for your input

 

[volcanicasher]

Hello, just updating everyone on how she is doing, I have been treating her regularly with diluted betadine and neosporin afterwards. Her foot is just about healed, the dead toes have fallen off and she is doing great. My friend is supposedly giving me a free tank so I will be able to separate Bonnie (Beau has been renamed because I double checked and found she is female) My dad and I are going to figure out how and where we will set up her new tank (40 gallon very similar to the tank she is in now) I really home to put my art skills to work and make one of those foam board platforms for her!

 

[AHBD]

That's great news ! Just an FYI, I've seen many beardies at stores, expos, my own babies at times that lose a few toes and the babies generally do heal very well if the biting stops and they are in a reasonably clean tank with no loose substrate. A bitten toe nearly always heals, so just keep him from getting bitten again and he'll do just fine with a toe or 2 missing.