URGENT, my dragon needs help!

[jemstar1031]

We have a young dragon, George. My son went to get George out of his tank and was shocked to see that George "ate" one of his hands off. Currently my husband and son are at the animal hospital with George waiting to see a Doctor. Why would George do this? How do we treat it? How do we prevent it from happening again? George is approx 10in, in a 40 gal tank, is fed calcium dusted crickets and fresh fruits and veggies daily, is warmed by a mercury uva/uvb light and is loved by an 11 year old boy. Please help us....

 

[Claudiusx]

Was George the only one in the tank?

Were you feeding George enough?

-Brandon

 

[jemstar1031]

Yes, George is the only one in his tank. He is fed crickets daily. We feed him as many as he will eat. We never leave crickets in the tank overnight. He is given fresh fruits and veggies daily. He always has "left overs" that we end up throwing away. I assume he is getting enough food. The water in his tank is also changed daily. He was out first thing this morning and was acting normal. My son put him back into his tank before he went hiking and went to get George out again when he got home. That is when we found George injured.

 

[Claudiusx]

How old is George?

Its very strange that a dragon would eat its own hand. I have never heard of that happening before.

-Brandon

 

[jemstar1031]

I'm not sure how old he is... We bought him the first part of June... He was about 6 inches then. We assume he ate his hand, we didn't actually see him doing it. His hand is mangled and missing all of his fingers. We found one nail in his tank and blood on his carpet (and it is the reptile carpet in his tank).

 

[jemstar1031]

Brandon- do you have any advice on how to treat George or how to prevent this? Do you think that George will be able to make it through this? Do I need to prepare my son for the worse?

 

[Claudiusx]

No, George should definitely be able to heal up from this.

We should see what happens at the vet first.

-Brandon

 

[jemstar1031]

Just heard from my husband... The vet is convinced that George got his nail(s) caught in the reptile carpet and chewed his hand to free himself. She found one of George's nails in his mouth. She put him in an antibacterial bath and cleaned him up. George has been sent home with an oral medicine, antibacterial cream and a antibacterial soak. She wants to see him weekly for the next month to make sure he is healing and that there is no signs of infection. The vet said that the reptile carpet should be removed from his tank and to lay down paper towel. Should we put sand down once he is healed? I have read that sand isn't good for the beardies...

 

[Claudiusx]

Don't put sand.

Papertowels or even newspaper will be good.

-Brandon

 

[jemstar1031]

Thanks Brandon for your replies.

Jaime

 

[Claudiusx]

Hope he heals up nice!

-Brandon

 

[jemstar1031]

Thanks, me too!
George is a deeply loved and spoiled dragon! We would hate to lose him.

Jaime

 

[MissT]

Poor George. That seems like a reasonable explanation although, it's very rare for them to get caught in the reptile carpet. I agree, just use the papertowels for now. Once he has healed, you could switch to slate tile or shelf liner as those make good substrates too. Hopefully, he heals up really quickly! I'm glad you got to him quickly and got him straight to the vet!
Please keep us posted on the little guy!

 

[jemstar1031]

Thank you for the substrate suggestions! As you may have already figured out, George is our first beardie. We are always looking for advice I will definately keep you posted on George's recovery. He is currently resting in his tank...

 

[Jiffy]

Poor George. I hope he does ok.
And they definitely can recover and live normal lives missing a limb. I have 2 beardies that when I got them were missing a leg, and they are both great, and get along fine, just as fine as my other 2 with all 4 legs.