BAD CRICKET BITE

[Mackymoo799]

Luna is an almost 6 month old female bearded dragon. About a month ago she got impacted but after 2 weeks she made a bowel movement and the last 2 weeks she has been doing great! That is until last night she got chewed on by a cricket pretty badly. I had never even noticed that there was a cricket in her setup until now, and I never noticed and type of injury before today. Last night when I was turning her lights off for bed she was in basically perfect health which is why it was such a shock to me today! Here is a picture of the wound:

I soaked her as I normally would, and I made sure to clean the wound with water. I then applied Triple Antibiotic Ointment and put her back into her cage after I cleaned it and of course got rid of the cricket. I just want to make sure she is going to be ok? It seems like a very large wound considering how small she is. It didn’t really seem to be bothering her at all though, she was still active as usual but she did not eat anything when I offered her food.

 

[fcooper]

I'm sorry to hear your dragon has been bitten. The best thing to do is to see a vet. The reason is that cricket bites are very prone to infection that becomes systemic and life-threatening. Systemic antibiotics may need to be prescribed.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, that looks like it probably hurts. I'm sorry that happened to her.
It probably will need some type of vet care. You can get some raw, unpasteurized honey or
manuka honey to put on the wound daily. I would honestly steer away from betadine right
now since it is a raw, open wound. The honey is excellent & should help to ward off an
infection. I would recommend covering the wound at night, with gauge, just to keep dirt
& debris off of it. Definitely double check the tank for any stray crickets at night.
They sleep so soundly that it is easy for the crickets to bite them.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[Gormagon]

It is always best to count how many you put in and, how many he eats so this doesn't happen. When I used to feed crickets I would feed in a different tank "for this reason".
As AHBD has said, the raw honey application is a very good thing to do in this case. It has all natural healing and preventative properties and, is all natural....no chemicals!!!

 

[Mackymoo799]

Thanks for all of the replies! I will get some of the honey today, and I will take Luna to the vet on Monday. Ever since she got this injury she hasn’t wanted to eat anything, I have oxbow critical care, would that work as a meal supplement until she wants to eat again? I have offered Dubia roaches (her favorite) and lots of leafy greens from a container of spring mix. She ate just a small amount of watermelon with calcium powder but normally she goes right after the roaches.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That sounds good! I am glad however, you will be able to get her to the vet on Monday.
Let us know how that goes & what he says after the visit.
That's good you had some critical care on hand to help out also. Hopefully she will have a
better appetite soon, once her skin is feeling better.

Tracie

 

[Mackymoo799]

As it turns out, the vet I would normally take Luna to is on vacation so I spoke to a nurse that has a little experience with bearded dragons over the phone, she gave me a lot of the same tips that you guys have given me and she said that if it starts to look infected that I can bring her down and someone can look at her although there isn’t anyone really experienced with bearded dragons. Luna has actually been doing really good though, she has started eating again and has even started eating leafy green vegetables she has been pooping normally and active as always. Here is another picture of her wound that I took while I was cleaning it and soaking her:

 

[AHBD]

Looks better already . Did you put honey on it ? And it's best not to soak any animal with an open wound, it just puts more bacteria in it that's in the water from her own feet, poo, etc.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That's great Luna is doing better & has started eating again. Hopefully she is feeling better
now! The wound definitely is looking much improved from the other day.

Tracie