Stuck shed + Floppy arm/Not using her arm?

[kakequinn]

Hey guys, I've got a couple of questions.

I have a bearded dragon who is about 10 inches, give or take an inch or so, who started to shed her two front legs.They started getting pale at the same time(around feb. 26th), she has completely shed the left arm but the right hasn't shed yet and I noticed today that it looks a bit swollen.

I also noticed that she isn't putting much pressure on that leg.She prefers not to put any pressure on it and normally tries to hold it to her side like when I'm holding her and when she is basking.When I was looking at it, I was slightly moving it to see if she has any tension in it and wanting to pull it away or keep it in place...Nothing.I can move it without her trying to pull it away, her other arm I can't, she pulls it away.I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the shed or because she jumped off the back of the couch onto a bag of puppy pads..I don't think it would have had anything to do with it, but maybe it does?

I'm going to be putting towels under her basking log just in case she jumps/falls because it looked like she may have slipped, I want her to have more cushion under, just in case.

But...I was wondering if I can do anything to help with her shed to come off? No pieces are coming off of it, I soak her every day to every other day.

And the floppy arm...I can put a little pressure on her chest, close to her left(good) arm and it doesn't move but if I do it to her chest near the right(bad) arm it's as if it is just floppy and there..Do you think it could be because of the shed?Could she have dislocated/broken her shoulder?Because when I feel her chest, the left is basically smooth but her right there is a sort of bump there where her shoulder is.

If I can't do anything to help her shed/arm I will obviously take her to the vet...But I really want to see if I can do anything to help for now.

Here are some pictures, the first I have flipped the images to show her left arm on the left and her right on the right.The second is just straight from my phone camera, which I think is flipped the other way.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. That arm looks swollen. What kind of uvb light do you use? Is it compact/coil or tube? What brand? Do you use calcium and vitamins?

 

[kakequinn]

I use a Reptisun 10.0 tube UVB and I do use calcium and vitamins.

The arm is swollen, she doesn't put much pressure on it.The swollen arm is in shed and has been since about feb. 26th, I think before that actually.

[ edit ] Also, I said "stuck shed" I don't know if it's stuck or just not ready to come off...It's just weird this arm hasn't shed yet but the other one that started getting pale at the same time has.Her arm was perfectly fine from what I could tell before today, today I noticed it was swollen and she prefers not putting pressure on it.Yesterday, she was putting pressure on it though, it's weird!

 

[destiny1998]

I can't see the shed but, it shouldn't effect her arm like that. She might be in the early stages of mbd or gout. Thats probably why her arm is swollen and hurts.

 

[Taterbug]

Did you see how she landed when she jumped? It's possible she did hurt her arm, and the shed situation is unrelated. It's also possible the swelling is from the shed, sometimes they get a little puffy before the skin comes off. It's most noticeable when part comes off, like just one toe.

Does she react when you mess with her toes? How is her appetite and behavior? Your best option to get an answer as to what's wrong may be to take her to a vet, they could likely identify what's wrong with a physical exam or radiographs. I'm not certain what they would do, however, once they find out what's wrong.

 

[kakequinn]

The shed isn't coming off, it's just pale and has a grey tint to it like her other arm had.If I'm providing how could it be mbd? I will have to look up what gout is, I'm not sure I know about that.

No, I saw her jump and I got up really fast to see if she was there, she had her arms/legs kind of spread out but other than that I didn't see exactly how she landed.I think I've read somewhere that they can get a little puffy before it comes off and I hope that's what is causing the swelling, but with the whole not using her arm/reacting to when I mess with it has got me worried!She fell within the week some time, so that's why I think that may have something to do with it.

I did just mess with her toes, she didn't react at all.She didn't react with either front foot since I tried to see if she would react with the good arm, the bad arm's toes are stiffer than the others which is from swelling I guess.

Her appetite is still pretty normal, she eats her dubias with no problem and she's never really been a veggie eater, she eats two-three pieces and is done.Behavior wise, she wont use the arm unless she has to(climbing up her log to bask) and I also noticed she had her eyes closed for maybe 2-3 minutes during basking which she has never really done and she was also laying down on the log differently.I did take her out since that worried me a little bit..normally she has her eye closed for 5 seconds then opens it.She normally lays on the log with her left(good) arm tucked to her side, but last night it looked like she was holding on for dear life with that arm and the other was just by her side.

Also, where her arm connects to her chest(basically shoulder area, haha) looks a bit smaller that the other as if it were dislocated I guess?My dad also pointed this out so I knew it was just me looking at her for a long period of time and then thinking something is wrong.

I will definitely be taking her to the vet when I can.In the mean time, I will keep up on soaks and making sure she doesn't jump too much as well as have an extra soft, padded area under her basking log.I'm starting to think maybe it wasn't the best idea for me to try with a baby!

 

[kakequinn]

I did want to say, today she ate a few medium sized dubias as well as some smalls.She hasn't eaten any collards yet but she usually will eat a few pieces from my hand throughout the day.She is also alert right now, not like how she was last night, however last night was about two or so hours before bed time so she may have just been tired and had her eyes closed and laid down while basking.She also did seem to try and use the arm more today while walking...but she was limping because of it.I'm currently reading up on gout too.

Just also wanted to bring this up, I don't know if it has anything to do with anything but still, I'm worried and I think any bit of information is helpful...

I feed her collard greens every day and every once in awhile I also change up between red, yellow and green bell pepper I also gave her a little bit of raw carrot.All of the peppers and carrots can be fed occasionally, according to http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html . She was loves the extra color and most times eats one two tiny pieces of the extra treat for that day...She doesn't get those every day, maybe 3-5 times per week if I have them.

I gave her a tiny carrot slice that was cut into fours(they were all super tiny to make sure she could eat them), I gave her the carrot about two-three days ago?The day I gave it to her she already pooped, the second day her poop was good but had a red/orange in it which I thought was maybe bits of carrots she didn't quite digest.Today, she just pooped and it is the exact same.It looks normal and healthy from what I know(I've really only seen her poop in her cage, Kaiser my older boy poops in the bath basically every day), but looks to have red/orange in it...I would think if it was the one-two maybe three tiny bits of carrots that it wouldn't be there today..?

Here is what it looks like, sorry about the poop

 

[kakequinn]

Sorry about all the replies and long replies...I also wanted to add that I have been giving her water through a syringe for about a week or two, I started this as a way to kind of bond with her and Kaiser a bit more and also because she doesn't like baths too much, so I wanted to make sure she was hydrated as well as if anything were to ever happen and I need to give medication orally, it wouldn't be too much of an issue since they would be use to it.She will drink about 1.0 mL, maybe a little bit less a day.I just tried to give her some and she did her trying-to-lick-it-before-I'm-ready but this time she didn't want to drink after that, so I'm not going to force it.I'll try again later though, as it's only about 10am here.

Also, do you think I should get the things for gout just in case and start it then go to the vet when I can?Or do you think I should just go to the vet to see if it is gout, then get the stuff?I don't want to wait and catch it in time...I've read two older threads on here about beardies with gout, one passed away before they could get the medication recommended by a mod here and the other one stopped replying to the thread, so I'm not sure what happened there...Would it hurt to get at least the black cherry juice and give it along with the daily water?I just want to see if I can treat it like it is gout, so if it is I could have gotten it in time..

 

[Taterbug]

Colored food can show up in the poop, I wouldn't worry to much. That her appetite is normal is a good sign she isn't in too much discomfort.

MDB can come up if part if your diet/husbandry is off. An imbalance of certain vitamins (A and D3) and calcium/phosphorus etc. to me, it sounds more like an injury, though I'm not familiar with gout yet.

I would go to a vet, if it were my dragon. You can start the gout home remedies, I'm not sure what they are, but as long as they are safe (don't medicate with out professional advise etc.) it shouldn't hurt. You can and should discuss your concerns with the vet, and they can help you understand what to look for and pay attention too as well. If it is an injury you don't want it to go untreated either. A broken bone may be need to be set or a dislocation relocated, waiting too long can make it more difficult to treat those as well.

This forum is a great resource with lots of folks with lots of experiences. It can't replace a good reptile vet, and in my experience putting off a vet trip and trying home remedies can lead to higher bills, and slower or no recovery in the long run. It's important to avoid unnecessary treatments, but I still advise an exam by a vet when a herp seems injured or honestly sick.