beauford is biting himself

[beaufordsmom]

hello, i have a few questions-

Beauford is 6 months and 5 days old. I have had him for several months now. when i got him he had a small curve in his tail, which over time has become more prominent. i will post a pic tomorrow, as he is sleeping right now! Anyway, i noticed about the begining of november that the very tip of his tail had turned black, and then one day it was gone. i treated it trip- ant and peroxide and it healed up great. another couple weeks had passed and it happened again but it was about a 3/4 inch chunk this time and it took a couple weeks to fall off. cleaned it up good as new, it looked good. and TA DA it happened again, only this time i caught it, Beauford is biting himself, and not a little bit, like big huge chomps that cause him to rip off the scales and bleed. So he gets lots of bath and lots tail cleanings. so, i am wondering if this is caused by the crooked part of his tail because he only has about an inch to go and he is there? or is there something else that i can do for him? i know alot of you are going to say have a vet amputate it but that is about 250 miles away, so is he going to stop? am i doing the right thing? Aside from this he seems to be very healty, he is doing everything normally, he has been really porking down the greens and has slowed a little on the crickets and worms which i know is normal as they age, he gets him vitamins and calcium like he should and i really just don't know what is going on so any input will help. thanks!

 

[twyliteskyz]

geese i dont know, if it were me id supply him with some kind of worms , maybe he doesnt like crickets but still wants something to eat other then veggies, i dont know if he is big enough for superworms, but if he was i would try that

 

[beaufordsmom]

i have been giving him super worms for the lastmontha and he loves him. the tail biting started before them though and he keeps it up?

 

[twyliteskyz]

i have been giving him super worms for the lastmontha and he loves him. the tail biting started before them though and he keeps it up?

him, well i figured he would stop once he started to eat something he really likes like that, but if hes still biting even though you give him all the worms he wants, i dont know what to say. hopefully an expert will know something about it here

 

[Pleaides]

hello
is he housed alone or with a mate? if hes with a mate/s, they may have injured him and he could have started to hack at it because its injured and annoying him?
also could it be possible its a retained shed and hes trying to get it off?
theres are the only 2 explainations that i would think or know of.
if it isnt these id recommend perhaps pm'ing a moderator, they will be able to help so much better.
hope ive helped

 

[beardie parents]

I noticed you said you put peroxide on his tail. Peroxide is a no-no for beardies. Jasper's tail had to be amputated because his previous owner put peroxide on his tail. Peroxide will kill all of the beardies skin, the healthy skin as well as the non-healthy skin. Use Neosporin instead also you can use aloe vera but DO NOT use the peroxide.

 

[beaufordsmom]

he is housed alone since i got him, but he was with others when he was little and the kink in his tail has been there since i have got him. Thanks for the info on peroxide, i had read on several sights to do this and it sounded like a good idea to ward off infection but i am glad to know the truth.

 

[beardie parents]

I heard about peroxide first on this site. I believe Jasper's mom was the one who mentioned it one of the first times. Tracie (drache613) was another. Peroxide is great for humans but toxic for beardies. I have some in my house but I make sure to wash my hands after having peroxide on the and before handling any of my girls. I recommend you pm drache613. She may have some ideas about why your beardie is doing what he is. I have read about that when they chew on themselves it could because of a nutrition problem. I don't remember anything else, that's why I suggested to pm Tracie.

I hope you get this worked out somehow.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sorry you have had problems with his tail. As suggested, hydrogen perioxide is cytotoxic which means it kills ALL cells good & bad. Use betadine diluted down to disinfect the area, along with neosporin or polysporin on the affected areas to ward off infection.
As far as biting himself, he either has some shedding problems, infection in the area, or is hypocalcemic.
You mentioned that he had a small curve in his tail when you got him & it has gotten more prominent?
That is indication of metabolic bone disease. Did you treat that when you got him? Is he on liquid calcium 5 times per week?
What type & brand of UVB light are you using, is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light? How old is your UVB light?

Tracie

 

[beaufordsmom]

he is not on the liquid calcium but if it will help i'll do it what is the best to use? He is currently on the powdered. I have been using the neosporin on the bites and it is staying a nice (well as nice as it can be) color. he seems to bite it until it dies then he rips it off and starts over. he has a reptiglo 10.0, i am ordering a reptisun 10.0 because them are said to be the best? his bulb now is a coil and he is about 12 inches from it at the top of his log. He has just shed his tail and his legs and i make sure to check his feet and tail to make sure he isn't retaining any shed and he doesn't seem to. Although when he shed his tail last time there was a little tiny chunk at the end that didn't come off by itself because of his bite marks, but i got it off immediatly.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

GREAT you are ordering a Reptisun 10 because the Reptiglo 10's are horrible for UVB output. They are very poor & there have been quite a few cases of dragons succumbing to metabolic bone disease while under these lights, not to mention some eye damage if they were too close.
It unfortunately emits low wavelength of UVB which is not very safe & it doesn't have favorable wavelength for D3 synthesis which is most likely the problem here. No matter how much calcium you give if he is not synthesizing enough D3 he simply will not absorb his calcium properly.
Yes, right now I do think the liquid calcium would be by far the best for him. You can order it from Veronica at: http://www.beautifuldragons.com
Or here is the specific link:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Meds.html#Calcium

It sounds like you are staying on top of the shedding issues. Continue with the ointment to help ward off any infection. Could you possibly wrap the end with gauge? It is hard for it to stay on though. The thin wrap that goes underneath athletic tape so it doesn't stick to the skin would help adhere to the scales a little bit & it has no adhesive on it.

Tracie

 

[beaufordsmom]

here's an update.........after this last post, Beauford had seriously stopped eating his insects, but he was eating his salad everyday. He started to turn a lighter color like he was going to shed, then he crawled out of his cave one day and he was pure white. this happened a few days in a row and after several hours or a bath he would turn a more normal color........after about a week and a half of this he shed and is eating his BIG salad everymorning and eats about 15 supers for dinner... ...his color came back beautiful and he is active and interactive again. he is back to puffing up his beard at me when i walk by in the morning which he continues until i pick him up and say good morning, then he is happy to bask on his log and watch spongebob. within an hour he is staring at me with his mouth open and i fill his bowl with his veggies and he has breakfast. he is also doing the open mouth thing because he now insists that i spray the water from his bottle directly into his mouth (i guess that way i know he is hydrated). He seems to have stopped biting his tail, it has never became infected and it looks good on the end. It is gone about up to the kink, but i still don't know if he will try and remove it, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him anymore. I compared the tail width with his brothers and he seems to be nissing about three inches of it, which would put him at approx. 18 inches but he is around 15 1/2. I have ordered the liquid calcium and also another liquid multivitamin from http://www.beautifuldragons.com and i can't wait to get them and try them. i will be weighing him later today to figure out the correct dose. Few, so anyway all is well in Beaufords world!!! I will post a pic of him and his tail as soon as i can. thanks everyone for their input and wisdom!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello Danielle,

Great that Beauford has been improving, & is eating his salads & superworms & is staying hydrated.
I would love to see a picture of his tail, did you ever post a picture of that? You are sure there is no infection of that area?
The liquid vitamins & liquid calcium from Veronica is great so he should do very well on them. It is very easy to dose your dragon with the liquid calcium. It is .1ml per 100 grams of bodyweight of your dragon.
It sounds like he has gotten alot better, & has even shed too. I am glad we could help out with him.
Let us know how he is doing, & if you need further help too.

Tracie

 

[beaufordsmom]

i just weighed Beauf and he is 318 grams (even with his missing tailtip)

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

So, Beauford needs .32 ml of calcium, daily.
That is a pretty good weight with his missing tail tip.

Tracie