I picked up a little one (Navi) from the local pet store today. The label on the tank said "Nip tailed beardies" and that they were quite discounted. So I asked to take a look. The four babies were in pretty difficult shape, and the one I was drawn to personality-wise was quite a bit smaller than her siblings. She has a good notch scraped out of her jaw, most of her tail is gone and one foot was both constricted and swollen with shedding and missing 2 toes. But her colour was beautiful, and she had a lovely docile yet active personality. So I fell in love and brought her home. The first thing I did was gave her a nice bath and removed the shedding from her feet. I am, however, worried about the remaining stump of tail and state of her (very swollen) foot and the cut on her jaw. Is there anything in particular I should do to be treating older wounds? And in terms of her being smaller than the rest were, should I do something special with her feedings/care? Thanks for the input!
Hello, and welcome to the boards! Removing the stuck shed was the right first step. Where you go from here depends on the condition of the wounds. If any of them are still open and appear to be swollen or blackening, or if the damage appears to be spreading, I'd highly recommend getting her to a vet, as this indicates that the site is infected and needs treated accordingly. If the wounds have a simple scratch-like appearance, you can prevent them from becoming infected by flushing them with a 1:10 chlorhexadine or betadine solution. (Chlorhexadine can be ordered online, and betadine is available in most drug stores. Either will work perfectly fine and won't sting the beardie. It's also okay if a little gets into the mouth in the case of the cut jaw.) As for special care, the main difference for now will be making sure her cage is kept particularly clean. I like to keep beardies with open wounds on paper towel substrate and change the towel every day. I also avoid any rough decor such as wood with bark or loose fibers, reptile carpet, or plastic plants, etc. in order to avoid anything from catching on the wound (especially when they start to scab) and causing further irritation. Other than that, care should be normal. Make sure she has proper temperatures and a quality UVB light, is kept well hydrated, and her food is dusted with a calcium supplement 5-7 times a week. Once again, welcome to the boards, and let us know if you have any further questions. Keep us updated on her condition too. I'm sure with some tlc she will be a little champion.
Thank you for a lovely welcome and a helpful reply! The foot is looking much better today already, and she's not holding it under her chest the way she was when I brought her home. I treated the wound on her jaw with betadine last night and the swellng went down quite considerably. None of the wounds are open, but rather scabbing, so that pleases me. She's active, but seems uninterested in eating so far. So I'm going to go pick up some crickets to try rather than mealworms and see if the movement entices her a bit more. I'll post pictures of the little one later, and once again thank you for the help!
I'm glad to hear that you've already seen some improvement! I would keep flushing the wounds (even the scabby ones) with the diluted betadine 2 times a day until they have completely healed over. The lack of appetite is pretty normal for a beardie under stress. Not only has your beardie been beaten up and neglected, she's also been moved to a brand new environment. It can take up to a week or two before beardies feel secure enough to resume normal eating habits. It's also likely that she was being dominated for food previously, which can make them even more averse to eating. Just keep offering food daily, and have some greens with a tiny bit of brightly colored fruit mixed in available at all times. A lot of the baby beardies I've worked with who have been out-competed for food seem to start eating greens before they show interest in hunting again. A word of caution: Mealworms are very hard for bearded dragons to digest, even as adults. I would avoid giving them to your dragon altogether just to avoid potential impaction. Gut loaded crickets and roaches are a much better staple. The only staple worms are soldier fly larvae and silkworms, which can be a little pricey. Here is a great nutrition chart for more detail on the diet: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html Let me know if you have any questions!
That chart is absolutely lovely! I love that it shows how often to feed specific things. Much better than any lists I've been able to find in the past year. And I will scrap the mealies! Thank you! Update number two! She's now settling in quite nicely. She's active, jumps about and watches us walk by. I picked up crickets this morning and she had quite a lovely feed of those, kale and strawberries. The swelling in her foot is almost entirely down and it looks like a real foot again! I am, however, worrying a bit about the jaw. But so far there's no puss, blackening, or any spreading. The wound seems like it was quite deep into the side of her face (now that I can see beyond the shedding that was stuck to it) and I'm still trying to figure out how it got that way. I'm also finding old scarring and gouging in the top of her head, all of which is almost entirely healed over. The other babies in with her look so healthy. It's saddening she got neglected the way she did. I'm very excited however. The progress from yesterday to today is very noticeable. And I hope to have her healing and growing o the size I'm sure she should be quite quickly! Anything else you might recommend health-wise? My current beardie is 9 years old, so it's been quite a long time since I've had a baby in my care, and I was just a kid at the time, so my parents did a lot of the work. So I really appreciate all the advice!
