Helping Treat Broken Leg

[Aicara]

Hello!

Currently handling nursing my beardie back to health after his leg broke last night due to an unlucky accident. He went to a vet last night but to a reptile specialist this morning to get X-rays where his forearm was confirmed to have a break in it.

My Beardie's name is Haku, he turned 2 years old just under a month ago.

Overall the vet was extremely happy with his health and everything else she saw in the X-rays and from what I told her. She was only concerned about the broken arm. It's been bandaged up and put into a splint against his side so that he can't move it around, which I'm taking him in to have re-bandaged weekly.

I guess I have some concerns and would like to try and get some helpful pointers for things I can to help the healing process? At the moment I"m doing as the vet instructed, increased temps so that they're on the warmer side (without being too high, of course), rearranged his tank layout so there's minimal climbing and making sure he had a comfortable basking spot. I also have some medication for any pain relief as well, he usually has this with a bit of food a few hours before I turn his lights out.

In himself, he is very happy, perhaps a bit mopy but I would be too if one of my arms was strapped to my side. He's learned to do a one-arm push-up and can walk along a little bit with that one arm. I'm trying to prevent him from moving much at all but I'm relieved that he can move enough to rearrange himself if need be. My biggest concerns that I need some tips for are:

- UVB
I am taking him outside for some natural sunlight as much as I can, but I do work 4/5 days of the week so I'm worried about him not getting quite enough UVB. In his tank, he has a Repitsun .10 tube but his tank is quite tall and with him not being able to climb, I worry he's not going to get close enough to get the UVB he needs as it's on the highest part of the tank wall. If I'm taking him outside for some natural sun a couple of times a day, would this help balance that out?

- Tank Size
As mentioned, his tank is quite tall and is 65 gallons in size. As he's still quite spritely in himself, I'm worried about how much he's going to move around. Should blocking off part of his tank be something that I should consider doing? I'm still trying to work out the best set up to accommodate him during this time.

- Healing
As I'm sure all of you can understand, I'm worried sick about the healing process. The vet sounded extremely confident, but she did mention the chance of pinched nerves or ruptured blood vessels leading to possible amputation (as a worst-case scenario). Thus far there has been no sign of blood loss to his foot, the toes that are visible from the bandage remain flexible and normal in their colour. She said that if there was a problem in this area, it would be something that we notice over time as it heals. I was just wondering if anyone has had prior successes with broken limbs in their beardies healing and can offer some kind of reassurance?

Thank you for any help/advice anyone can offer!

 

[kingofnobbys]

Remove opportunities for climbing is a biggy.

Get hold of some VetaFarm Calcivet , and give this daily by mouth to help with bone repair.



This happened to my male bluetongue as a juvenile, arm was surgically repaired with a specially made pin inserted into the broken bone , and placed in a shoulder cast to completely immobilize it while it repaired .
Having a left arm poking out perpendicular to the chest never slowed my George down at all , he simply kept on bulldozing past every obstacle he encountered including my neck .
He really churped up the days he got his mixed antibiotic - pain relief injection ( must have been good stuff! ).
6 weeks later the cast was removed and his arm was good as new . He's now over 10 years old and never had another issue.

 

[Aicara]

Already removed any chances for climbing, tomorrow I'm going to close off part of his tank to keep him from roaming around too much as well.

As for the Calcivet, from searching what you've listed what I've found is for birds. Is there a version of Calcivet specifically for reptiles or is it something that can be used for both? Just want to make sure before I purchase anything to give to him.

His arm has been secure to his side from the shoulder down with bandages as well as some padding underneath to make sure there's no discomfort and still room for him to breathe and such. I can't grab I picture right now because he's asleep and I don't want to move him around too much after the day he's had but the arm is completely immobilized from the shoulder down. It sounds similar to what you've described. I'll try and get a picture tomorrow morning. The vet said nothing about doing surgery on the arm during the consult but I can at least ask the question about when I see them next week depending on how Haku goes. Really glad to hear that your Blue Tongue made such a good recovery with his leg!

 

[kingofnobbys]

Already removed any chances for climbing, tomorrow I'm going to close off part of his tank to keep him from roaming around too much as well.

As for the Calcivet, from searching what you've listed what I've found is for birds. Is there a version of Calcivet specifically for reptiles or is it something that can be used for both? Just want to make sure before I purchase anything to give to him.

His arm has been secure to his side from the shoulder down with bandages as well as some padding underneath to make sure there's no discomfort and still room for him to breathe and such. I can't grab I picture right now because he's asleep and I don't want to move him around too much after the day he's had but the arm is completely immobilized from the shoulder down. It sounds similar to what you've described. I'll try and get a picture tomorrow morning. The vet said nothing about doing surgery on the arm during the consult but I can at least ask the question about when I see them next week depending on how Haku goes. Really glad to hear that your Blue Tongue made such a good recovery with his leg!

Yes it ( designed for birds ) , this is what my reptile vet told us to get , and gave to us to take home when we brought George home after his arm bone reset under a general.
Beauty with Calcivet is it's very nice tasting , we have never had any difficultly getting a skink or dragon to take it from a syringe by mouth , I've tasted a drop on my finger tip and it's sweet so your dragon will think it's getting a sweet treat.

It's also very easy to work the correct daily dose for the reptile , same as for the same body weight in a bird ( instructions on the bottle ).
I keep a bottle in my refrigerator at all times as part of my reptile first-aid kit.