Lamp fell on Kevin!

[KevinsMama]

I got a mysterious, anonymous email that said " spoil Kevin, spoil Kevin, spoil Kevin !! "
Any idea who it was from ? It's too hard not to want to spoil him looking at that adorable face.

??? I really do just wanna spoil him right now. It breaks my heart to look at him but if I'm giving him what I know he wants, it makes it so mucb better! I know if I keep up the hornworms, not only will he get more bratty & addicted to em, I'll get addicted to seeing how happily he eats them! Besides the fact they are so dang expensive. My jaw dropped when I finally found some then seen the price.

I think I am gonna have to use a little tough love with the crickets tho. It's likely I've already spoiled him with trying all the different worms.

Hunger strike, here we come...???

 

[SHBailey]

Does he like dubias? They're about the best for nutrition and easy to take care of too. The only drawback is that they're usually a little more expensive than crickets.

Most beardies go nuts for hornworms, but you don't want to get more than they can eat in a few days because they grow really big really fast -- not a long shelf life.

Glad to hear that he seems to be doing well otherwise.

 

[KevinsMama]

I'm not actually sure if he likes them yet. I just ordered a few to try them out. If he does, I'm gonna star my own colony. He decided he would eat crickets again this morning so that's good lol.

He's doing really well... most days. Yesterday was an off day but he looks good again today so yay! Just taking it a day at a time now.

 

[3magpie3]

Happy to hear he's doing well!

I think he'll like the dubias. I prefer dubias myself. Even though they're roaches, they look more like pill bugs, they don't bite, they don't climb, they are silent, and if they get out they can't reproduce in your house LOL.

 

[KevinsMama]

Went to a friend's baby's birthday party... came home to see that apparently Kevin decided he's done with his splint. He somehow managed to get completely out of it. He was basking on his blanket & the splint was lying off to the side. So great...

It's late Saturday, vet is already closed. Cherry on top, tomorrow & Monday are holidays so, you guessed it, vet is closed.

No idea what to do now...

 

[AHBD]

His name obviously needs to be changed to Houdini. How is he walking ? Did you observe the vet putting the splint on and maybe try yourself ? If not, just see how he does, he shouldn't do much damage in 2 days.

 

[KevinsMama]

It was an amazing little stunt. Especially seeing as he chose the day that I was gone for a good part of it. Sneaky little guy.

My husband actually redid it. We checked to see what it was made up of & he went & bought the stuff & did a great job! It was just taped to his tail with athletic tape. My 9yr old had to hold Kevin while he did it cause I was worried I'd see him suffer lol. But apparently he did good & just hung out. Pretty proud of all of them!

 

[AHBD]

Good deal.

 

[SHBailey]

I always thought that looked kind of uncomfortable the way they had his leg taped to his tail, so I don't blame Kevin/Houdini for wanting to get it off. Great job fixing it by your family in the meantime, but hopefully you can get him back to the vet for a recheck soon -- I suppose they might want to do another X-ray to see if the bone is healing the way it should, since it was such a bad break. I wonder if there isn't some way they could put a small splint on just the part of the leg that's broken. I also can't help but wondering if any good reptile vet has ever tried to put one of those conical collars on a bearded dragon to keep them from messing with their injuries... :?

 

[KevinsMama]

I always thought that looked kind of uncomfortable the way they had his leg taped to his tail, so I don't blame Kevin/Houdini for wanting to get it off. Great job fixing it by your family in the meantime, but hopefully you can get him back to the vet for a recheck soon -- I suppose they might want to do another X-ray to see if the bone is healing the way it should, since it was such a bad break. I wonder if there isn't some way they could put a small splint on just the part of the leg that's broken. I also can't help but wondering if any good reptile vet has ever tried to put one of those conical collars on a bearded dragon to keep them from messing with their injuries... :?

I don't think they can make anything reasonable cause his little thigh is only about an inch long. He really is being a little Houdini tho. He has slipped outta 3 homemade splints now. My husband has become very quick at the little tedious job & is trying to come up with a better solution. He has a lot of shed on that leg & it's stressing me out so I take advantage of every chance I can to moisten it a bit & apply aloe a little. I'm worried it's gonna be yet another issue he will have once it can come off permanently.

I can totally feel his uncomfortableness with it being bound up like that. Every time I walk in there & he's removed it, he just looks happier lol! Last time happened earlier today and he had actually hidden the splint over in the corner behind his bed & wouldn't look at me. I think he was trying to be slick about it!

The ones we are doing are so much like the vets that it's actually very disappointing. One of my tires finally gave out yesterday & we've went broke so I won't be taking him down there again until the weekend. As much as I worry & stress, I'm very certain he will be fine with this until then. I'm gonna ask for another xray just to check it & that they take their time & find a better solution.

He's such a little trouble maker!

 

[AHBD]

He has a new past time now and he is good at it. Silly dude, how is he getting around with the splint off ?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh that is pretty tricky! LOL I guess he probably is all proud of himself. They sure do love
keeping us on our toes. I guess he is feeling better, if he keeps getting it off. Then, he tried
to hide it? LOL Houdini is appropriate right now.
Things always happen over the holidays though, conveniently!
It sounds like he is eating pretty well also, which is a great sign.

Tracie

 

[KevinsMama]

He has a new past time now and he is good at it. Silly dude, how is he getting around with the splint off ?

He does really good actually. I mean, he just drags the leg around, but he moves more. He definitely hates the splint, I don't blame him either.

He's super inactive either way. At least when I'm in the room. That's the only thing still concerning me. But then again, he was kinda lazy to begin with.

He does eat great! A ton. I measured & weighed him yesterday & he has went from 9in/26g to almost 9 1/2in 32g in a week. Well a little over since I had just checked the day before the accident. And we have even had those spells of not eating here & there. I'm not sure if that's good weight gain or not, I'm just happy there is some gain!

He's certainly a little trooper. And a handful. This morning I realized today marks him being with us exactly a month. Brought him home Dec. 2. What a month! I could've sworn it's been longer lol! I told my husband & he said we spent that much money on him his 1st month?! He pokes fun but I've noticed he's gotten quite attached to.

 

[SHBailey]

Too bad you can't explain to him that his leg may not heal properly if he won't keep the splint on. That's hilarious that he hides it when he gets it off :lol: , but if he's still dragging his leg around and not able to put any weight on it, then it doesn't sound like it's healing very well without the splint, but it may still be too soon to tell. I don't know if an experienced reptile vet would threaten orthopedic surgery to put in some tiny little titanium screws to hold his little femur together until it heals, since he refuses to allow the splint to stay on, but then I suppose he might find a way to mess that up too, not to mention that it would probably be very expensive, and it sounds like you've already got yourself a 24 karat "golden dragon."

The fact that he's eating well and gaining length and weight is all good, and even the fact that he's feeling feisty enough to keep taking off his splint and hiding it may also be a good sign. And even if he ends up walking with a limp later on, he's still lucky to have a couple of human "parents" who are willing to take such good care of him in spite of his own efforts to sabotage things.

Many bearded dragons tend to be couch potatoes (or in their case, perhaps basking platform potatoes), even healthy ones. If yours has had enough energy to pull off that many splints and even drag one of them into a corner, then my guess is that you probably don't have anything to worry about as far as his activity level is concerned. :wink:

 

[KevinsMama]

Well, Kevin has been doing ok. He's still very pitiful looking, just lays in the same place all day, staring at the wall. His appetite is still fluctuating a lot, also. He's been poking once a day, right after breakfast. We've been having some funky weather lately but today and yesterday was fairly nice so I took him out & sat in the yard, using my belly as a basking platform I think he's really gonna miss it when the baby comes. She will wiggle underneath him & he cocks his head to the side trying to look at what's under him! ?? Very cute!

I've noticed a couple of worrisome issues, however:

#1: The exact spot where his break is, his scales have looked like they've withered and died? That's the only way I can describe it. They've turned this horrible yellowish brown color & just look weird. I've got a couple thoughts on this. It's either, the bruise healing, looking weird or he was shedding & had no way to remove the shed from that area. I honestly think it's the shed but I'm worried it may harbor bacteria & cause a problem. Is there anything I can do for this? I have several aloe plants & have dropped a small dab on the area a couple times before bedtime as I read not to do it while basking. Why is that? I can't actually touch the spot to do much, since it hurts him.

#2: His front legs are very weak. If he actually does try to move (once in a blue moon) they are extremely shaky. He won't even move forward to catch a cricket if I drop him. Husband says it's cause he's spoiled & knows I'll catch it for him but he has yet to see his struggle when moving. I've been dropping little drops of water onto his snout throughout the day but mostly he just let's it drip down or absorb? I was giving him a hornworms a day to help with hydration, but they've grown WAY too big for him now & I'm not really planning on getting more soon. I've read dehydration can cause shakiness? I'm more worried that due to the break, his body is sending all the calcium to the break & he isn't getting enough to his front legs. He rarely even pushes up on his arms & can't even climb an inch over the lip onto his little bed. I have the Reptisun T8 but finally ordered the hood & t5 ho bulb which will arrive sometime next week. I've got Flukers Liquid Calcium & he kinda actually loves it but idk the correct amounts to give him or if I even should alongside his cricket dusting. I have been doing one drop on his snout every other day but he's so teeny, I'm worried I'm gonna o'd him on it!

I plan on taking him to the vet in a week to get another xray to see how he's healing & check out everything. I'm gonna ask for the regular xray for his whole body cause I'm a little worried there may be more damage elsewhere, but we were to focused on the obvious injury.

If ANYONE can help me with either of those issues, I would be forever grateful!