Broken leg!??

[Freddiw1]

Hi,
So yesterday I noticed my bearded dragon is limping on his front right foot. It looked a little swollen. I looked it up and it said it could be fractured or broken. The thing is, my family and I are going to Europe to visit family and he is going to my friend to take care of him. We really Can't afford to take him to the vet, I know we're going to Europe but we didn't pay for that. My mom is saying we can do it ourselves, but I don't think so. Today he's still not putting it on the floor, and limps on it. We're leaving next Monday! I really need help!!!!

He's In a 40 gallon tank
He has a mercury vapor bulb
He gets calcium d3 on his veggies
He eats crickets and superworms everyday
He has paper towel on the ground so it can't be impaction

PLEASE HELP ME!!!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....can you post a few pics of it, or even a video ? To get pics on here you can upload them to a site like Photobucket then copy/paste the url/img here.

Is he housed with another dragon ? If so, remove the other one ASAP to another tank. Other possible causes....could he have gotten it stuck under a rock or something in his tank ? What type of mercury vapor bulb do you have and how old is it ?

 

[Freddiw1]

He is by himself, he couldn't have gotten stuck, but he has a hammock with a robe cave under it and a piece of driftwood to use as a little ladder or something and so sometimes when my mom or I put crickets in his tank he jumps off the hammock a little so I'm thinking when my mom did it he might have injured himself. I'll try to send a picture. It looks like a normal leg just a little swollen. The Mercury vapor bulb is 3 months old

 

[Freddiw1]

He is the picture I tried to take a video but it didn't work to upload


Also I meant to say rock cave not robe cave

 

[AHBD]

He looks like he has some great colors . The leg doesn't look bad at all, probably just a sprain that can heal itself. I don't use any type of fabric [ including hammocks ] in my tanks, it's not natural and beardies can get their claws stuck in them.....for now take the hammock and the straw looking thing out and leave a low basking platform for him so he can't jump or fall from any height and can get around easily.

 

[Freddiw1]

Thank you yes he's adorable. And the hammock is the straw thing. It's not actually straw, it's kind of sisal rope kind of. But thank you so much. So should I not take him to the vet?

 

[AHBD]

I can't say or make that decision. It would be ideal if you were going to be home watching him, you could give it a few days or a week to see if there's improvement. Of course if it got worse, with even more swelling you'd want to get attention then. If you do take him to a vet, be sure it's one with beardie experience. The vet would do X-rays and possibly prescribe an anti inflammatory and possibly pain meds. My guess is that it will heal itself, but it's your decision whether to take him in. Your pet sitter will have to administer any meds. if you are leaving soon.

 

[Freddiw1]

Yea we are going to be watching him for a few days. Our vet for our dogs has a bet with a bearded dragon and she treats reptiles so I think she would have experience. But thanks for your help

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, it doesn't look bad. They can sprain the muscle or area around the joint when jumping or from a fall but not break anything. If the swelling doesn't get any worse then that is a great sign.
You have a few days before you leave so I would just watch it to be sure it doesn't swell up anymore. If it does then it would be a good idea to take him in for an x-ray to be sure nothing severe happened.
He is a beautiful boy!
Which brand of Mercury vapor bulb do you use?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[Freddiw1]

I use the PowerSun mercury vapor bulb. And thank you yes he's beautiful, I love him dearly

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is he doing today, any improvements on the swelling yet? Is he using the leg any?
I hope he is feeling better & getting around also.
The Powersun should be sufficient, how old is it & how close is it to him?
Let us know how he is doing. I know you are going to be leaving soon.

Tracie

 

[Freddiw1]

His swelling has gone down, but he still limps on it, I haven't really dared to take him out of his tank to walk around because I don't want to irritate it. He's usually pretty close to the lamp maybe 2-4 inches away but I have lowered all his furniture so he doesn't fall or have to climb so now he's maybe 7-10 inches away. The mercury vapor bulb is 3 months old. He seems to be getting around his cage okay he's always in a new spot. Thanks for checking in

 

[AHBD]

Good sign that the swelling is reduced. It will take a little time to heal up all the way, but he should [ hopefully ] be improving pretty quickly.

 

[Freddiw1]

The bottom of his foot is a little swelled is that bad?

 

[AHBD]

Are you sure, compared to the other foot ? Can you post pics ?