Can Beardie bites get infected?

[BlackRobin]

Hi there
I was just administering some coccidia treatment to my 7 year old and got a bit complacent about keeping my fingers away from his mouth. We were having a tussle over whether he was going to take his medicine and my thumb slipped into his mouth. Bear-trap jaws clamped down and cracked through my thumbnail! I've never been bitten by him before and my main concern is around the sort of bacteria that might be lurking in his mouth. I've washed and dressed my thumb with antiseptic ointment, but should I be concerned with infection?
Cheers! Mary

 

[Some87]

You could ask a pharmacist at Walgreens or cvs to see what you can to to prevent an infection.

 

[BlackRobin]

It's been quite a few hours now and it looks totally fine so I think it should be ok. I'll just keep it clean and antiseptic on it. And be more careful when I give him his dose tomorrow! First bite in 7 years, he is so placid when I'm not sticking my thumb in his mouth

 

[Siren]

It could still get infected. Any open wound can. But bites especially due to bacteria in the saliva and reptile mouths are not known for their cleanliness. Just keep doing what you are doing, watching and treating it. If it begins to swell, looks discolored, and be painful, see a doctor.

 

[Claudiusx]

Wow bit through the nail?
Might sound odd but can you post up a picture of this for us? lol.

Any antiseptic should do fine at keeping the bite clean. It might get a little red and infected but it shouldn't be anything serious at all. Especially since it seems you are already taking preventive care.

-Brandon

 

[BlackRobin]

Wow bit through the nail?
Might sound odd but can you post up a picture of this for us? lol.
-Brandon

I could but it's not very exciting anymore I'm afraid. The area under my nail is really bruised but you can only see little red marks where the nail is cracked - it isn't split in half or anything super-gruesome. There is just a cut on the other side from the other side of his mouth.
I have an adult leopard gecko too and he has never bitten me, but he gave the vet a really wicked bite when I took him in for a yearly check-up last week! The vet wanted to check inside his mouth but Steve the gecko wasn't keen :lol:

 

[Some87]

I guess I'm still lucky my leopard gecko is still very young. Only time he bites me is when I was hand feeding him.

 

[BlackRobin]

I guess I'm still lucky my leopard gecko is still very young. Only time he bites me is when I was hand feeding him.

I use these big long tweezers for feeding my gecko. If you hold food in your fingers and he goes in for the kill it can be a bit scary!

 

[Some87]

I can't get mine to hand feed anymore. He won't even look at my hand when I'm holding a cricket so I just let 1 lose at a time till he eats it.

 

[BlackRobin]

Do you handle your gecko much? I'm curious as to how much other gecko owners interact with them. Steve is a few years old and he is very handleable. Obviously a lot more skittish than the beardies and you have to be really gentle with him, but he is actually very friendly towards me and will walk onto my hand of his own accord. He also comes racing out of his caves to see anyone who comes up to his tank.

 

[Some87]

Mine is still very young at around 20 to 25 grams. Just yesterday night for the first time he walked onto my hand and once he did that I took him to my bed to interact with him for about 10 minutes. I used to hand feed but it was taking me a long to to because I was doing that with crickets. Once I can some dubia in and get the colony started ill hand feed again. I just changed from a 10 gallon to a 20L yesterday too and his personality changed. It's like it's not even the same gecko. Before in the 10 he would only go to the cool side of the tank to poop and that's it. In the new tank it's like 50/50 now on each side.