Topical analgesics?

[SirBeardie]

My eight-year old dragon recently had a bit of stuck shed on his eyelid, and while trying to scratch it loose, it looks like he hooked his nostril with a nail and sliced into it a bit. It must be bugging him because I've noticed lately that he keeps swiping at it and is clearly doing more damage.

I'm regularly wiping it with Betadine and putting a tiny dab of plain antibiotic ointment on the cut, but since he can't seem to leave it alone, I'm worried it won't get the chance it needs to heal. Are there any safe topical pain/itching treatments I can use in conjunction with the antiseptics to keep him from making things worse?

 

[KarrieRee]

My eight-year old dragon recently had a bit of stuck shed on his eyelid, and while trying to scratch it loose, it looks like he hooked his nostril with a nail and sliced into it a bit. It must be bugging him because I've noticed lately that he keeps swiping at it and is clearly doing more damage.

View attachment 65830

I'm regularly wiping it with Betadine and putting a tiny dab of plain antibiotic ointment on the cut, but since he can't seem to leave it alone, I'm worried it won't get the chance it needs to heal. Are there any safe topical pain/itching treatments I can use in conjunction with the antiseptics to keep him from making things worse?

Gonna have our vet tech mod help you and another one on here that can maybe help as well
@Drache613 @AHBD

 

[SirBeardie]

Thanks! Today is actually the first day in about a week where I haven't noticed him bat at his face at all, so maybe my attempts at treatment have been helping. I have an appointment scheduled with his vet, but she's booked solid so that's still two weeks out from now. I don't think this is an emergency because he's otherwise acting completely normal, but if he's experiencing persistent discomfort I would like to do what I can to minimize it.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sorry I didn't see this! Are you using raw unpasteurized honey on his eye? Is his mouth shedding too?

Tracie

 

[SirBeardie]

Hello,

Sorry I didn't see this! Are you using raw unpasteurized honey on his eye? Is his mouth shedding too?

Tracie

Hi Tracie. Sorry for the late reply. The shed around his eye has been gone for a while now. There was a little bit stuck on his eyelid initially and his swiping at it is what caused the nostril injury. There's no other active shedding on his head.

I've been very careful about what I use around his nostril because I don't want to obstruct it or risk him aspirating anything. I have manuka honey but I don't trust my own dexterity enough to risk gumming up his nose with it. I've been spraying 5% betadine onto a cotton swab and gently daubing the wound once or twice a day. It usually stops him from swatting at his face for several hours, but eventually it starts bothering him again.

There's no sign of infection that I can see, so I think it's just the itching of a healing wound. A topical analgesic like lidocaine or hydrocortisone would probably do the trick on a human, but I can't find much to determine their safe use on reptiles.

I've decide I'm just going to put a small gauze and medical tape wrap around the digit that keeps hooking his nostril when he paws at his face. All I need to do is keep him from messing with it while it heals. His vet will be looking at it next week, too, so I'll follow up with any feedback I get from her.