nails worn off

[utahraptr]

I haven't posted in a while, Ibut tonight Everest had a bit of a problem. He decided he wanted out of his tank today while we were at work. He wanted out so bad that he clawed at the door and slate tile enought that he wore the nails off four of his toes on his back feet. Two are worn down so much that they were bleeding, the other two are at the toe (no nail left). I've given him a long soak to clean off the blood, and treated his feet with neosporin and reptile wound healing aid, and wrapped his feet up. I can take him to the vet tomorrow, they're already closed and I don't know of any emergency vets around here that deal with reptiles (I'm in a new area after moving, his regular vet is about 40 minutes away).

He is on a slate substrate. I went through his tank tonight, cleaned everything with clorox to fully disenfect it, took out all the tile and washed that, cleaned all the glass... After putting back the tile, I covered those with a soft towel and covered that with paper towels. That way if he's scratching tomorrow, at least it's on something soft. And I can easily change out the paper towels.

So any other ideas on what to do with him? I'm not sure why he did this, he usually scratches a bit if he has to poop (he hates to poop in his viv, so he scratches and we let him out to do his business in the bath). But he's never done this before. Anything else I can do to make him comfortable or help him out?

 

[utahraptr]

Just a quick update, I checked his feet again to change the bandaids and put on new neosporin (something his vet recommended back when Evie had a cut on his tail). It's not just his nails, but the bottoms of his toes as well. He has three cuts on one foot, two on the other, where he wore down his scales or maybe cut them on the slate? He also has two nails that were bleeding (one on each foot), and his other nails are worn down to the base. The cuts and nails aren't bleeding anymore, they're cleaned off and fully wrapped. Right now he's basking before bed, and he shouldn't move much during the night, so the bandaids shouldn't fall off.

 

[diamc]

Oh, poor thing. You're sure he's a male, right?

Have you double checked his temps to make sure they aren't too high? When the seasons change, I usually have to make an adjustment to either the basking height or bulb wattage. What type of thermometer are you using?

Is he able to view any other beardies? Have you done anything to change his setup lately?

Do you have any Betadine on hand so that you could add it to the water to make it look like weak tea and soak him in that to help with the soreness?

 

[utahraptr]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

I'm sure he's nale, from an unpeasant experience with a seminal plug last summer. He's a frilled dragon, so a little different setup than a beardie. His bulb is a MegaRay 100 watt, he has an additional 100 watt bulb for extra heat (both are on during the day until it gets warm enough outside, then just the MegaRay is on). His viv is 5 ft tall, 4 ft long, and 2ft wide, so it doesn't get too hot for him. I have an AcuRite thermometer/humidity reader to check his temp/humidity, it's about 85 right now (lights are off and he's asleep). But it gets up to around 100 to 105 in his basking spot during the day, his cool side stays around 68 to 80 depending on the height (cooler in the bottom).

The only other lizard is Merlin, she's on the other side of the room by the window. No female frillies. Both Evie and Mer are getting more active as it gets warmer, I've let them run around in the bedroom when I'm home so the can get exercise in there - they don't do well in the rest of the house on the hardwood/tile floors lol. And they're both out at night, sitting with us on the couch.

I don't have any betadine, but there's a drug store nearby and I can stop there and get some. Should I still plan on making a vet visit tomorrow, if the vet is able to see me? I can take Evie in to work with me as well, rather than leave him in his viv, so I can watch him and make sure his feet stay bandaged, as well as let him soak in a betadine bath.

 

[diamc]

Oh, I didn't realize he was a frilled, sorry. It certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to have him checked by a vet. Let us know how things go.

 

[utahraptr]

Hey, that's ok, I forgot to mention in the first post that he's a frilled. lol. Similar to a beardie, but different setup.

His feet are doing better, they're all wrapped up and have neosporin on them. I got him some betadine today and gave him a long soak, which he enjoyed a lot. He did glass dance a bit tonight, but I had his slate tile covered so he couldn't open up the cuts again, or wear down his nails even more. He's being very good letting me wrap up his feet, and take care of him, and he was excellent sitting in the bath, not trying to jump out or splash around. He is climbing a lot, even with his back feet and nails worn down, so hopefully he'll make a fast recovery. I'm hoping his nails grow back, there are tiny bits left his inner toes. So I'm going to keep hs slate covered to give them a chance to grow back.

I ordered him some hornworms as a special treat, and they will hopefully by Friday and should make him feel better