I woke up and my baby Savannah looks like she broke her leg

[RBhard32]

I have two beardies Savannah and Boss. I got them both in October 2013 and Boss is already twice the size of Savannah. They are housed in the same cage at the moment. I have not noticed any aggression between them and they tolerate each other dispite the size difference. This morning I woke up and noticed that Savannahs leg was pinned backwards and when I picked her up she crawled up my shirt using only her two back legs and her left front leg. The right front leg remained against her body. She did not have any abrasions but looks like maybe at some point she could have fallen and broke her little leg. I did just wake her up this morning as well. When I saw that she was not using her leg I separated them immediately so that Boss wouldn't attack her if maybe he sensed that she was hurt , and I put her on her heat rock. I did not notice any swelling but she is small so maybe it would not be evident. I have been feeding her Calcium dusted crickets, and salad mixtures. She has a healthy diet but last week I went on a one week vacation and I left her with my roommate who might not have ensured she got all the calcium she needed. If she does have a broken leg will it heal? What can I do for her?

 

[Glitch]

Sorry to hear about your baby, could you give me the full set-up? Also note that electric heat rocks (if that is what you were referring to) can be very bad for beardies, as they easily malfunction, and beardies can't sense heat well on their bellies.

Also, if you could post pictures of the leg, it would be helpful! If it is indeed broken, all you could do is take her to the vet, for their treatment, x-rays, etc.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there...I'm sorry that your baby has a hurt leg. I agree with Glitch to get rid of the heat rock, they are NOTORIOUS for causing severe burns.
So your baby was most likely bitten, even if you don't see any marks. Even if you see no aggression, beardies will go for the legs + tails of their siblings, especially a smaller one. It would definitely be best to keep them in separate tanks. The larger dragon can mangle the other one's foot, or even bite it off.

For now it may [ hopefully ] be a sprain, and in that case it can recover easily in a few days to a week. Just hand feed it now until it can chase crickets again, or you can shake the crickets up [ about 3-4 at a time ] until they are slightly crippled and slower moving so the baby can get them easily. Hopefully he'll get over this quickly.

 

[RBhard32]

Hey guys. I had my girlfriend take her to the vet and she indeed was bitten by Boss and has a broken humerus. I am extremely bummed out because I was waiting until Thursday to get paid and buy another tank to split them up. The vet put her in a little splint and gave her an antibiotic. He said she might never walk on that leg again because it was broke in half. Im upset because she was the coolest little beardie. Hopefully she will not lose the leg but she probably will. What for you guys think?

 

[AHBD]

Aw, poor li'l girl. Do you have access to the X-ray ? It would be helpful to put it up here. Is the splint one that you can see her leg, like not completely enclosed ? How did the vet get the splint on, and how is she acting now ? Will she eat ? I have seen beardies with leg wounds walk again....they generally heal well. Don't give up hope !

 

[RBhard32]

I'm having problems posting pictures because I'm typing on my phone but she is in a body wrap. It just looks like she is taped up with her arm straight back and to side. Most likely so that the bone can heal straight way. I have a follow up on Monday with vet. She had a rough day and is exhausted. She has been basking all day and she was dying for some water so I misted her and she drank. I put a cricket with one leg next to her and she perked up and wanted to give chase but was either to weak or discouraged to go after it and she was not interested in any lettuce or apple. They were housed in a 30 tall but I converted it to about a 20, with a barrier and put a heating pad underneath I have a 70 watt night light on her now and she is sleeping. Poor thing probably needs some good rest. The vet gave me Quadritop ointment to put on her cuts that I didn't see on her this morning. Boss really got a hold of her. Boss is now in his own 40 wide. I'll keep trying to post pics.

 

[Glitch]

Few things- Beardies don't need a UTH, because again, no heat-sensing from their bellies, and night-lights tend to disturb their sleep. As well, lettuce is not a staple for beardies- for proper staples, http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html has a wonderful list of what to, and not to, feed your dragons.

 

[AHBD]

Aw, that's too bad ! Poor Savannah....is this vet a real reptile vet ? I don't think she'll do well wrapped like that. I've seen babies with bitten arms heal on their own several times. The way she's wrapped up will be very stressful . You will need to hand feed her for now since she can't catch anything. Offer her a cricket...if she doesn't take it, smash it with your fingers until the guts come out, then rub it lightly on her snout. That will often work.

 

[RBhard32]

That is a good list you put up . I offer them a mixture of kale,romaine,and celery leaves, carrots with apple, and grapes everyday, but will try some of the other items for sure, and I always give them calcium dusted crickets once a day usually before I go to work and then when I get home give them some more regular crickets. I was feeding them a wax worm a couple times a week but she doesn't like them too muc Boss chows everything though. I justk finally got her to eat a couple crickets and a couple slices of apple. The vet is a reptile vet but I have to touch base with my girlfriend to find out exactly what he said. We have opposite work schedules and she took savannah today. As far as the lights and the pad I just wanted to make sure she is warm and comphy because she had such a rough day. The light I have has a dimmer so I put it on a low setting so that is still produces heat at night but doesn't interfere with her sleep. She is a good sleeper but Boss seems like he's awake a lot at night. Now that they are separated I don't have any night light on his cage. I'm more so just worried about her leg and the fact he said she had her humerus snapped. Have you heard of any bear dies with broken humerus

 

[Glitch]

I can't say I've heard of any die from a broken bone like that- of course, the things that could be harmful are stress, shock, infection, and other things that will lead to subsequent issues. As of right now though, I wouldn't worry too much.

Last week, I had a horrible accident, where my bearded dragon grabbed my crested gecko, injuring his back legs, and fracturing one badly and breaking the other- making them both useless. He couldn't be put in any sort of splint or such, so we've had to tough it out. However, he seems to be doing fine now that he's settled down, eating, drinking, and learning to maneuver and drag himself around. Beardies are even more resilient than cresties, and your girl only broke one leg. Hopefully, that means that, as long as she heals, she'll adjust find if she doesn't regain use, and I have a good feeling that she will have use of the leg, anyway. Good luck to you both~

 

[RBhard32]

<div style="width:480px;text-align:right;"><embed width="480" height="360" src="http://pic2.pbsrc.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf" flashvars="rssFeed=http%3A%2F%2Ffeed1333.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw635%2Fryan_blanchard1%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2Ffeed.rss" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" /><a href="javascript:void(0);" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_geturs.gif" style="border:none;" /></a><a href="http://s1333.photobucket.com/user/ryan_blanchard1/library/Mobile%20Uploads" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_viewall.gif" style="border:none;" alt="ryan_blanchard1's Mobile Uploads album on Photobucket" /></a></div>

 

[RBhard32]

 

[RBhard32]

 

[RBhard32]

 

[RBhard32]