Help! Baby Beardie's arm is completely loose!

[tori51498]

Hi! Yesterday my 3-month-old baby beardie, Boba, front right arm got smashed! Boba's front arm drags and looks completely loose. His fingers on that arm still move but when he walks his arm just drags across the ground! He seems to be in pain because he tries to bite when I pick him up. There isn't any swelling that I can see and it is not stiff. He is still able to move his other limbs just fine but he's been resting/sleeping mostly since the accident happened. I can't take him to the vet till next week when my paycheck comes in but I wanted to see if anyone else has seen/heard of this before and can tell me if it's most likely dislocated or broken. I will upload a picture once I get home from work.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi! Yesterday my 3-month-old baby beardie, Boba, front right arm got smashed! Boba's front arm drags and looks completely loose. His fingers on that arm still move but when he walks his arm just drags across the ground! He seems to be in pain because he tries to bite when I pick him up. There isn't any swelling that I can see and it is not stiff. He is still able to move his other limbs just fine but he's been resting/sleeping mostly since the accident happened. I can't take him to the vet till next week when my paycheck comes in but I wanted to see if anyone else has seen/heard of this before and can tell me if it's most likely dislocated or broken. I will upload a picture once I get home from work.

Please post a pic--- we need our vet tech mod on here to take a look -- it sounds terrible from the way you described it -- how did it get smashed? He needs to see a reptile vet if you have one -- heres a website for you www.arav.org please type in a bigger cities zip code if your in a small area -- I hope your not using a coil for a UVB -- they are inadequate and will not help him heal --- you need surface basking temps taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- 105-110 -- basking bulb needs to be a solid clear bright white bulb --- please no colored bulbs no daytime bulbs-- examples of bulbs are Flukers - Exo Terra Intense -- Zoo Med Repti basking or Arcadia Halogen -- I would look at investing in a ceramic heat emitter for night time temps of around 80 since he is hurt -- they produce only heat and no light -- you wont need that emitter once hes healed but it will help him keep his immune system up while he is not feeling good --- if you need help w/ the UVB please ask --
@Drache613
@AHBD

 

[AHBD]

Poor little Boba, how did it happen ? Is it bleeding ? Sometimes the arm can be injured and they will leave it hanging at their side rather than use it. It could be a sprain or a break .

 

[tori51498]

Hi! Yesterday my 3-month-old baby beardie, Boba, front right arm got smashed! Boba's front arm drags and looks completely loose. His fingers on that arm still move but when he walks his arm just drags across the ground! He seems to be in pain because he tries to bite when I pick him up. There isn't any swelling that I can see and it is not stiff. He is still able to move his other limbs just fine but he's been resting/sleeping mostly since the accident happened. I can't take him to the vet till next week when my paycheck comes in but I wanted to see if anyone else has seen/heard of this before and can tell me if it's most likely dislocated or broken. I will upload a picture once I get home from work.

 

[tori51498]

Please post a pic--- we need our vet tech mod on here to take a look -- it sounds terrible from the way you described it -- how did it get smashed? He needs to see a reptile vet if you have one -- heres a website for you www.arav.org please type in a bigger cities zip code if your in a small area -- I hope your not using a coil for a UVB -- they are inadequate and will not help him heal --- you need surface basking temps taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- 105-110 -- basking bulb needs to be a solid clear bright white bulb --- please no colored bulbs no daytime bulbs-- examples of bulbs are Flukers - Exo Terra Intense -- Zoo Med Repti basking or Arcadia Halogen -- I would look at investing in a ceramic heat emitter for night time temps of around 80 since he is hurt -- they produce only heat and no light -- you wont need that emitter once hes healed but it will help him keep his immune system up while he is not feeling good --- if you need help w/ the UVB please ask --
@Drache613
@AHBD

I posted a picture. Can you please check it out?

 

[tori51498]

Poor little Boba, how did it happen ? Is it bleeding ? Sometimes the arm can be injured and they will leave it hanging at their side rather than use it. It could be a sprain or a break .

He got loose and escaped in the process of trying to catch him we accidentally slammed our wrist down too fast and his arm happened to get caught right underneath. it was awful. He isn’t bleeding. And I just checked up on him and he flinched his arm back so he did move it but barely.

 

[KarrieRee]

Please get him out of the sand --- please use some paper towels for now -- we need Tracie to help on this matter --- please go over your lighting UVB coil or a tube -- surface basking temps please and how your getting them?

 

[AHBD]

Oh, sorry I didn't get back until now. Well that might be a sprain but also might be broken. Only an xray can tell but if it's a sprain it will heal on it's own. Keep his basking areas a little lower so Boba doesn't have to climb to bask . How's he doing , is he eating ?

 

[tori51498]

Oh, sorry I didn't get back until now. Well that might be a sprain but also might be broken. Only an xray can tell but if it's a sprain it will heal on it's own. Keep his basking areas a little lower so Boba doesn't have to climb to bask . How's he doing , is he eating ?

Yes he is eating, there still isn’t swelling, and I also put him in some water so he could float for just a minute. (I read that can help) I have a heating pad so he’s been laying on that quite a lot.

 

[KarrieRee]

Yes he is eating, there still isn’t swelling, and I also put him in some water so he could float for just a minute. (I read that can help) I have a heating pad so he’s been laying on that quite a lot.

Dragons heat w/ their backs - the heating pad is good to keep ambient temps warmer- please put a dish towel over it and on low- I would recommend getting a heat emitter they produce heat w/ no light- as far as wattage what size is the tank?

 

[tori51498]

Dragons heat w/ their backs - the heating pad is good to keep ambient temps warmer- please put a dish towel over it and on low- I would recommend getting a heat emitter they produce heat w/ no light- as far as wattage what size is the tank?

40 gal. And I removed the sand and put down paper towels in the meantime, should I change that to a dish towel instead?

 

[tori51498]

40 gal. And I removed the sand and put down paper towels in the meantime, should I change that to a dish towel instead?

Also I started to noticed today he is starting to lift his arm sometimes

Dragons heat w/ their backs - the heating pad is good to keep ambient temps warmer- please put a dish towel over it and on low- I would recommend getting a heat emitter they produce heat w/ no light- as far as wattage what size is the tank?

also I started to noticed he is starting to lift his hurt arm, barely! But I also noticed that because he can’t use his front arm he walks funny on his back legs? Is that to be expected?

 

[KarrieRee]

Also I started to noticed today he is starting to lift his arm sometimes

also I started to noticed he is starting to lift his hurt arm, barely! But I also noticed that because he can’t use his front arm he walks funny on his back legs? Is that to be expected?

He may be in pain using it- I would get his basking decor low so he does not haft to climb- use rolled up dish towels for him if you haft to and make sure you have good surface basking temps-- use a dish towel to cover the heating pad - you want ambient temps at night around 80--- the ceramic heat bulb for a 40 gal try a 100 watt start there-- you may need to go lower wattage it's going to be trial and error- I would get a 60 watt too you can always take one back - place it on top of screen center of tank - use your temp gauges check first thing in the morning -

 

[AHBD]

It's good that he's eating and has moved the arm a little. Don't poke or it or try to get him to move it. Be super careful and don't handle him unless you really need to. Can you post a video of him , maybe tomorrow ?

 

[tori51498]

It's good that he's eating and has moved the arm a little. Don't poke or it or try to get him to move it. Be super careful and don't handle him unless you really need to. Can you post a video of him , maybe tomorrow ?

Yes, I’ll post a video. I try not to handle him too much but I do feed him meal worms outside his tank. Because he has sand in his tank and the worms dig into the sand. But since I temporarily moved the sand out of his way. I guess I can put the worms inside his tank so I don’t have to bother him too much in the mean time. I left some greens in his tank while I was at work and he ate them all so that’s good. He does move a lot more today then he did yesterday. And he’s still having regular bowels. But something that I noticed is, when he’s about to shed his skin turns pale of whiter. His good arm is turning pale/whiter but his hurt arm is not turning that color. So I’m starting to worry that he’s not going to shed on that arm…