should i go to the vet

[sam37]

hello, this is my first post on here but I feel like its pretty important. I'm a new bearded dragon owner and I bought Luffy(my beardie) from Petsmart (i know it's not the best place) but that's beside the point. I've had him for 5 months now and he is 5 months old and the hatch frame for his cage got dropped on him today and I don't know whether to take him to the vet or not. I've included a picture and the green part I circled is almost dented and fragile in a way. the red and white part is where the skin came off and the area around it is flaking. he's showing no signs of pain right now but did shake for a couple of minutes after the event happened. I'm scared this will impede his shedding process because he is still pretty small and sheds often. should I take him to the vet?
https://imgur.com/a/EP2GE pic of his tail

https://imgur.com/Sp8fQJr pic of Luffy(his name)

 

[AHBD]

Hi Sam, Luff is a real cutie pie. You don't have to defend yourself for getting him from the store, lots of healthy dragons are bought at stores. So anyway, that is a significant wound, not that it's definitely going to be a real problem but it may be. You can take him to an experienced only reptile vet, otherwise a vet that doesn't see beardies often may not give the proper treatment.

In the meantime you can put raw unpasteurized honey on it which is a powerful antimicrobial, it's better than any of the antiseptic solutions from the store or the vet . That may actually do the trick for that wound but you need to watch that the redness doesn't start traveling up the tail. The minute you see that then a vet visit is a priority + amputation will be needed. Be sure there is not a single loose bug in his tank or any loose substrate.

By the way, can you post pic's of his enclosure, including the lights ?

 

[sam37]

yes sure here you go, I put the third heater on the left when it got cold this winter because he started acting weird.

https://imgur.com/m4ArtVI Basking spot

https://imgur.com/kkUWSBG whole tank

https://imgur.com/3PZnmmX food/bath/hangout place

https://imgur.com/rTXinU1 food/cleaning products i use
^ also on this should I use substrate or carpet?

 

[AHBD]

Very nice set up, great looking basking logs . He looks very content there. What exact type + brand of lights do you have ? I can't see them in the picture.

 

[sam37]

I purchased the cage as a package and it has this listed on there ReptiSun 10.0 Compact UVB Fluorescent Bulb, and Repti Basking Spot Lamp but I remember I swapped out the heater for a ceramic heater because it wasn't hot enough. the third bulb on the left is a 100 watt all living things heating lamp

 

[AHBD]

O.K, it would be good to upgrade the coil uvb for a Reptisun 10.0 long tube bulb, it will produce uvb stronger over a much larger area of the tank.

 

[sam37]

ok thank you, I also have a couple of questions. is substrate better than carpet and when should I ween him off juvenile food

 

[AHBD]

No loose substrate, especially since he has a wound. Non adhesive shelf liner is the best, very easy to wipe up. Carpet would be O.K except it's so hard to really keep clean.

As for food, he should be eating appropriate sized insects every day. Twice a day while he's young is ideal, about 10-25 insects per feeding. You'll have people tell you they need 60-100 insects a day, but no dragon needs that many to grow healthy + strong. You should also offer greens like turnip, mustard, collard, kale arugula, and veggies like squash, green beans, sweet peppers + others.