Lamp fell on Kevin!

[KevinsMama]

Oh my goodness! We had a poo! Just got home & he had devoured most of his greens & pooed! So I refreshed his salad... and... He ate 13 crickets!! I May have wasted the money on the liquid calcium. He definitely got his appetite back! Oh, I'm so happy!

Another question tho... it's the weekend which means vitamin days. I don't feel comfortable not giving him calcium right now. So should I mix the 2, skip the vitamins, or stop stressing over the calcium & keep the normal schedule?

I do feel I'm overreacting over the calcium, but CALCIUM=STRONG BONES & I feel it's super important right now.

Any advice anyone has to help us through all this is greatly appreciated!

I will likely start a recovery thread in the morning, so as to get a fresh start. I will post a link here for everyone who is interested.

 

[3magpie3]

Happy to hear he's already feeling better - that's fast. A great sign.

I would personally stick to the normal schedule. It's not like calcium will have an immediate effect on his bone healing. Maybe someone else will say otherwise.

Look forward to his recovery thread! Please throw the link in here.

 

[KevinsMama]

Hi everyone! I just want to track Kevin's recovery so that it can be accessed in the future by other owners and myself. Plus it makes me feel better!

Original thread with x-ray can be viewed here:
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=239010

So it's Sunday (Christmas Eve) & our 1st day on the recovery path. Kevin seemed more tired earlier last night, as was I, long, rough day, so we had lights out @ 6:30. Apparently we both needed extra sleep & I didn't get up to turn his lights on til 8! (I've purchased a timer now, just gotta set it up)

His good morning pic!

I had seen others mention raising his night temp to boost his immunity so plugged in his CHE for the 1st time ever & he slept @ 80° (would love input on this)

He got right up & was looking around within 5mins of lights on. I gave him his Metacam (0.01ml) @ 9 but it's such a small amount & I'm so inexperienced that I'm unsure if he actually got it. He struggled a lot & I was worried he would hurt himself! He immediately laid down, head & all, in my hand for about 2mins, then I put him back in his hospital tank.

He just had breakfast about 9:45 & ate 9 herptivite crix, which I'm so happy about! I also put in his normal listed greens h squash, but he doesn't usually head to that til closer to noon. He's taking the crix from my hand again & when I dropped one he fell over trying to catch it so I will be exclusively hand feeding for the 1st bit, til he can manage a little better.

I'm having a lot of trouble getting his temps right with insufficient small lamps & needing his basking spot to be on the floor. His cool side is good, staying around 79-80° but his hot side is getting to hot. I'm using the Zilla mini dome with a 50watt halogen mini bulb. We have a 25watt also but it had previously blown so I'll be heading out today to get a replacement. All out other bulbs are getting WAY to hot or nowhere near hot enough. It's currently at 112° & he's hanging out along the outsides of it.

I will do an update tonight after dinner. If ANYONE has any advice on anything I'm doing, I will adjust it willingly. I really only want the best for Kevin & am trying my best but I am not the slightest bit experienced with Beardies in the 1st place, definitely not with an injured one. I did get a lot of kudos from the vets office that I've gotten everything right thus far & he is very healthy. I owe all that credit to reading threads here constantly for the 1st 2weeks or so & ditching everything I originally purchased & buying all new everything! So thanks to everyone in this community. I've only had him a little shy of a month so I can't say much but I'd hate to imagine how bad this coulda been had I stuck with the "kit" i originally had for him! I'm gonna go take a pic of his tiny hospital tank to upload for constructive criticism as well!

Here is his tiny 10g tank (the only thing useful in the kit) that the vet recommended I keep him in to limit movement

There's nothing to climb on, newspaper to prevent his splint catching, & salad offered on a lid to prevent climbing into bowl. All this was vet recommended & I hate it!

Top view as you can see he is lingering on the edges of his light due to temp being too high.

Thanks for reading!

 

[KevinsMama]

Started a recovery thread this morning!

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=239065&p=1833545#p1833545

Any advice at all is greatly appreciated!

Thank you everyone for helping me thru all this. I've been an emotional wreck but coming here has really helped.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Reminds me of George the Bluetongue's broken left upper arm when he was very boisterous juvenile and who comical he looked with in his very stiff shoulder + arm cast which made his left arm poke out straight from his shoulder like he was sort of 1/2 crucified.... didn't slow him down at all, he just bull dozed his way past anything his poking out arm hung up on.

He was prescribed CalciVet given orally every day , and combined antibiotic-anti-inflammatory-pain relief IM injections every 2nd day for a month while his broke bone was mending.

 

[AHBD]

It's good to see the little guy ding well. You're doing everything right, thankfully he still has an appetite....many small beardies with such drastic changes in health + environment would not be eating. You can offer water on his snout to give him a drink, and if you can, get something to suspend the heat lamp just a bit so it's farther away + the temp. will be just a bit lower at the basking spot. A night temp. of 80 is fine but no more than that.

And tell him not to munch on his splint anymore.

 

[KevinsMama]

It's good to see the little guy ding well. You're doing everything right, thankfully he still has an appetite....many small beardies with such drastic changes in health + environment would not be eating. You can offer water on his snout to give him a drink, and if you can, get something to suspend the heat lamp just a bit so it's farther away + the temp. will be just a bit lower at the basking spot. A night temp. of 80 is fine but no more than that.

And tell him not to munch on his splint anymore.

Ha! I did tell him his splint isn't a snack!

He seems to not being doing as well as I thought. He hasn't moved from the same position in about 2hours & keeps closing his eyes. I'm a bit worried he's in pain & didn't get his Metacam this morning. Not really sure what to do about that. I can't risk giving him another dose. I'm about to try to offer him some more crickets to see if that makes him feel better.

Or he may just be bored with nothing in his tank. I worry about that too. Basically I worry about everything, especially this eye closing deal ?

 

[AHBD]

Yes, this is going to be stressful for him, nothing to do and having at least some degree of pain.

 

[KevinsMama]

Yes, this is going to be stressful for him, nothing to do and having at least some degree of pain.

So you would say the eye closing is ok? As far as I know, I have everything set up appropriately.

Also, we tried to raise that light but apparently it's super strong. Even raising it 8in did no difference! I did go grab a 25watt & am waiting on the temp reading for it. I also grabbed a 60watt regular house bulb to pop in there if need be. But it's LED & soft white so likely a waste...

 

[KevinsMama]

Oh, quick question! Does anyone have any bathing suggestions? Can't get his splint wet but he was just starting to get comfortable with baths & I'd hate to lose that progress. Obviously it's gonna happen either way but I'm not real sure on how to keep him clean & he is in the middle of a shed.

 

[AHBD]

No bathing at all. For hydration just drip water on his snout very slowly until he begins to drink. I raised loads of babies from the egg, they don't need baths really. I hydrated them with a spray bottle but in your case you don't want him to get really wet so the drip method should be fine.

 

[KevinsMama]

I need some help....

Kevin doesn't look good. He is eating somewhat normal but other than reaching to my hand to take the crickets, he is not moving from one spot. I caught him with both eyes closed a few minutes ago after eating. And I think I saw hive shiver a little two times. Like a cold chill. But his temps are running good now after messing with his lights a bunch. But that was a couple hours ago.

I'm hoping I'm overreacting but it's such a huge difference from normal & doesn't feel right.

Should I call the emergency line since it's Christmas or chill out?

Also, this isn't his black bearding is it? Just a lot of stress marks?

 

[Gormagon]

Sounds pretty normal, for what he's been through. Just relax, take a couple of deep breaths and, be patient! You have done all you can do for now. No, that is not a black beard!

 

[KevinsMama]

Sounds pretty normal, for what he's been through. Just relax, take a couple of deep breaths and, be patient! You have done all you can do for now. No, that is not a black beard!

Ha, thank you. I was pretty certain it wasn't black beard but since I've not seen him do it or find pics of one this little doing it, I had to be sure ????

I backed off a little, instead of checking on him constantly since it's just along me analyze everything. I actually Googled beardie acting weird after broken leg. Typing that in made me realize how ridiculous I'm being! His whole little life is chaos right now. Duh!

He only ate 5crix for dinner but I'm sure he's fine. I just gotta relax lol. Thank you for the input!

 

[KevinsMama]

Merry Christmas!!

Kevin is looking & acting a ton better this morning. Lights on @ 7 like normal & greens offered @ 8:30. Just finished giving his Metacam & eating some crickets. He ate 12! Woo!

I got my husband to help with the Metacam this morning cause I had too much trouble yesterday & it went much smoother! I went to set him back in his cage & he didn't want off my hand & I couldn't resist. I let him hang out on me for about 10mins before going back in to eat.

I have made a boo-boo & didn't prepare for everywhere to be closed & stock up on crickets so he won't have enough for dinnertime tonight. So I was wondering if it would be an ok thought to give him some mealworms then or no? I know they are a major no no. I only have them cause I was told to get them when I got him. He LOVED them at the beginning of our time together but when I seen here that they are advised against, his next poo had a whole one in it so we stopped immediately. But would it really hurt to use them for 1 feeding, along with the few crickets he will have left or should I do something else? Everything got hectic & I stupidly didn't pay attention to how many was left.

Also, he has a little poo on his splint now. I lucked up & was with him when he pooed yesterday & immediately moved him away from it to prevent dragging thru it but apparently not quick enough. I can't get his splint wet & it's too dry to wipe away with a q-tip so idk what I can do to remove it. I don't want it on there, harboring nasty bacteria but I don't have a lot of good choices.

Otherwise, he is looking incredibly well & happy today! He still falls over a little when trying to turn, but I think he will adjust more in days to come. We are getting there!