Nipped Beardie.

[Rocky]

I've got a bearded dragon Hatchling here with a badly nipped arm. Hanging on a thread. I have moved him away from the others, and was just wondering what the method is from here?

Is it vet worthy or will it heal itself? Should I remove the arm which is hanging by a thread or leave it alone?

Thanks for any helpful replies.

 

[dodgie]

Are you serious?.

 

[Rocky]

Yes.

 

[Rocky]

Dodgie care to elaborate?

 

[ally_pup]

i do not think removing it would be a smart move at all, a vet visit is obviously apparent

 

[Scleropages]

er.

Take the bloody thing to the vet. Maybe feed the others more?????? If they are removing each others arms then there is some serious lack of food going on or the dragon was dodgy to start with ( er dodgy not dodgie).

This might put people off you're for sale add.:shock:

 

[dodgie]

Dodgie care to elaborate?

It's leg is hanging of and you have to ask whether it should be taken to the Vet.

 

[ally_pup]

!!

er.

Take the bloody thing to the vet. Maybe feed the others more?????? If they are removing each others arms then there is some serious lack of food going on or the dragon was dodgy to start with ( er dodgy not dodgie).

This might put people off you're for sale add.:shock:

It is quite obvious from the for sale add the the dragons are in top condition and lack of fodd is not a problem.
It is common for hatchlings to mistake arms, tails etc when feeding.
I suggest a vet visit (not that I have bred beardies before) but have had a few rescued with missing limbs and they always turn out fine (not dodgy)

 

[justbrad]

take the poor little fella to the vet asap! wood you take your own arm off if it was damaged or head to the hospital to get it checked out.....?

 

[Scleropages]

It is quite obvious from the for sale add the the dragons are in top condition and lack of fodd is not a problem.
It is common for hatchlings to mistake arms, tails etc when feeding.
I suggest a vet visit (not that I have bred beardies before) but have had a few rescued with missing limbs and they always turn out fine (not dodgy)

I ment "dodgy" as in sick or weak from birth and the others have attacked it.It is not normal for limbs to be removed from healthy dragons if kept in good conditions.

"!!"

 

[MrSpike]

Bearded dragon's(especially hatchlings) do become aggressive and nip for no apparent reason, though the offenders are usually best kept individually IMO - From personal experience. The issue has nothing to do with a lack of food.

Rocky has done nothing wrong.

As for taking it to the vet, all they will do is charge you a fee for a consultation and give you some advice and maybe some antibiotics. If I was in your situation Rocky I'd get a small set of surgical tweezers snip the dangling bit of the arm off as it is already dead, treat it with betadine and some anti bacterial cream and keep it separate from the other dragons. Putting a small "bandage" on it may help, but I would just keep it on paper towel instead of a sandy or loose substrate. Clean the would daily. It will heal up with in a few weeks and within a few sheds the lizard will have a healed arm...

 

[Rocky]

er.

Take the bloody thing to the vet. Maybe feed the others more?????? If they are removing each others arms then there is some serious lack of food going on or the dragon was dodgy to start with ( er dodgy not dodgie).

This might put people off you're for sale add.:shock:

They have plenty of food, there is woodies and crickets running around all the time, I wouldn't say he was weaker or smaller, he is a fat little bugger. The reason i was askingabout the vet is because I was not sure how serious it is. As i always see adds "Hatchies for sale, some have nipped toes and tails" So was just checking, I'll take him to a vet.

 

[reptilegirl_jordan]

Rocky can u get some pics? the animal should be fine as mrspike said,happerns alot.
I for one know ALL rockys animals are in top condition and i will be buying a dragon off him next week!
cheers

 

[KatshirT]

Rocky, hom many do you have in together?

Maybe try feeding a few woodies/crickets at a time and remove the ones that do eat to leave the others to feed.

I have found that not leaving in a huge number of live food items in with the hatchies and by keeping the amount of hatchies housed together to a minimum (we keep 8-10 in an area 2ft square).

At worst we have had a few toes go walk abouts, often leaving food in with them means that if a insect runs over the foot of another dragon than it's all fair game.

 

[Rocky]

Rocky, hom many do you have in together?

Maybe try feeding a few woodies/crickets at a time and remove the ones that do eat to leave the others to feed.

I have found that not leaving in a huge number of live food items in with the hatchies and by keeping the amount of hatchies housed together to a minimum (we keep 8-10 in an area 2ft square).

At worst we have had a few toes go walk abouts, often leaving food in with them means that if a insect runs over the foot of another dragon than it's all fair game.

There is 10 in the enclosure at the moment, I had a separate feeding tub, where i would remove one or two beardies at a time, but most of them would not eat for some reason, But would feed fine in the enclosure.

 

[=bECS=]

There is 10 in the enclosure at the moment, I had a separate feeding tub, where i would remove one or two beardies at a time, but most of them would not eat for some reason, But would feed fine in the enclosure.

use a small chinese container and feed them seperate in the tub if they wont eat outside of it. try not to leave food running around in the tank as that makes it more likley for injury to occur when 2 are after the same woodie and cricket, and one gets the woodie, the other gets a mouthfull of it its siblings foot/arm/tail etc.

Definitely a no no to leave crix in their enclosure, if they are big enough they will feed on the hatchies while they sleep

How much of the arm has been bitten?
clean up the wounded hatchies arm. If its hanging by a thread, remove the bit thats hanging, clean with diluted betadiene, keep it clean and dry and best if its kept on paper towel

 

[Rocky]

use a small chinese container and feed them seperate in the tub if they wont eat outside of it. try not to leave food running around in the tank as that makes it more likley for injury to occur when 2 are after the same woodie and cricket, and one gets the woodie, the other gets a mouthfull of it its siblings foot/arm/tail etc.

Definitely a no no to leave crix in their enclosure, if they are big enough they will feed on the hatchies while they sleep

How much of the arm has been bitten?
clean up the wounded hatchies arm. If its hanging by a thread, remove the bit thats hanging, clean with diluted betadiene, keep it clean and dry and best if its kept on paper towel

The chinese container is a good idea, I will try that. The crickets remaining are taken out each day a few hours before the lights go out.

The arm is about half bitten off, I will dilute some betadiene and change from newspaper to paper towel, thank you to the helpful replies.

 

[ryanharvey1993]

happens all the time apparently, when I used to keep centrals I went to the breeders house and he had over 200 hatchies (he had a fair few adult ones to breed that amount, after that he sold most of the adults as he said it was way to much work) about 10 babys had stumpy tails, he had differnt sizes in different tubs to try prevent it, lots of food etc. as kane said it just happens. anyway, stumpy ones are cuter, I had one that was given to me for free as a hatcho a few years ago and it was a runt aswell, was so cool! shame he didnt live long (ended up cooking on a really hot day as he was in a smaller enclosure that got to hot and the water evaporated

 

[gravitation]

Vet.

It is quite a common thing to have happen, and that is why hatchlings should be seperated.

 

[Rocky]

Vet.

It is quite a common thing to have happen, and that is why hatchlings should be seperated.

Hard to make 26 enclosures. Haha. The dead part of the arm is gone, and bandaged, he is on Paper towling, and was running around (limping) his encloure chasing woodies earlier. He seems to be in good condition. Will be keeping a close eye on him in the coming days.