got toe bit now acts sick

[bkeaver]

Hi there,

I have 2 juvenile females that are hatch mates hatched on 4/20. Up until a few days ago both girls were HUGE eaters. Here is the issue. a few (4 days ago or so) one girl while feeding I guess mistook the other females toe as food or something and bit it. I bled a little and I figured it would heal and all would be well with the world. well the past few days she has became very dis-interested in eating, she is alert and moves around the tank (a little) not as much as usual but still a little. my concern is that her foot is hurting her to the point where her appetite has depleted. I need some suggestion as to what I can do to get her back on track. Usually they eat lots of greens, about 100 (minimum a day) and about 75 superworms a day. She was about 80g and 13" long. She is feeling a little lighter these days although I havent weighed her. Suggestions? Thanks in advance.....

 

[Jiffy]

Sorry your beardie is not doing well.
Are you saying that the one beardie eats 75 supers a day? And what were you advising that she eats a 100 of. Just making sure I had things straight.
Anything else you can tell us about your beardies and their setup would be great. Temps, uv bulb, substrate etc.

 

[bkeaver]

sorry for the confussion.. both together they were eating 100+ crickets, huge bowl of greens and 75 superworms between the 2 of them daily and now only the one that has its toe nipped doesnt eat at all...she isnt interested in food at all.. her beard isnt black and there really isnt any other tell tale signs of distress other than for the last 2 days she has ate nothing... she did just come out of a full body shed a few days back and I know when they shed thier appetite can be a little off but I am thinking this has something to do with the with toe nip more than anything. Looking at the toe it looks black. Im going to probably take her to the vet if i cant get a warm and fuzzy feeling that she is/will be ok or get a suggestion what I could do for her

 

[Buggsy]

How long are your females? superworms are only advised for dragons longer than 16 inches as they can cause impaction. Wow, thats alot each day!

Can i just ask if they are housed together? Dragonsa are actually very teratorial and tail and toe nips are not uncommon. If one is showing signs of dominance they really should be separated. The submissive one (one with a tail nip) will be very stressed and this may be why she is off her food. May pet shops will say they are fine together, and i have heard some people have been advised they like the company, but it is untrue. Some people have housed together no proble, but these are only the minority. Most of the time one dragon will be severly stressed and can be killed by the dominant one.

On a more specific note if the toe is turning black it is necrotic (or could be, a picture would be helpful!) Are you applying any type of antibiotic ointment or iodine solution to keep it clean?? They will probably need to remove the toe to stop the infection spreading, but only a qualified vet will be able to make that decision.

 

[sara24354]

Please seperate these 2 dragons. As mentioned by the above poster,dragons are territorial and will fight sometimes with one killing the other!!!!! Males will fight tot he death,male and female will over breed-fight,2 female will fight for domination. The injured female is probably too scared to eat now,afraid of another attack and the toe does sound necrotic,a vet visit is in order.

 

[bkeaver]

these both are girls and the one didnt bite out of meaness... the one had her foot in the feeder bowl and the other mistook it for something live. I do not have males and females together my males are seperated in different tanks. these girls spend alot of thier day laying on each other basking. The one female with the nipped toe is 15" and the other is over 16". The superworms that are being fed to them are small supers not the large ones.

the nipped toed female started eating this morning.. I did take it to the vet and he removed a part of the toe... she is doing fine .....he told me to rub neosporin into the foot and he wants to see her on Monday....

 

[beardie parents]

Good choice in taking her to the vet. I'm glad she's doing better. Sometimes it's necessary to take them to the vet, other times, it seems to be a waste.

 

[sara24354]

I am sorry if I offended you. I am just going by what I have researched and learned. The laying on top of each other is also a sign of domination,one beardie is hogging all the UVB if one is covered it cannot get the benefit of lighting and heat. This is what I have researched and read.

 

[bkeaver]

Your fine, I wasn't offended at all I was just reassuring you that it wasn't due to aggression its all good.