beardie got a few toes nipped off

[whytwolf]

Hi all

been awhile since i posted...
while at work today the biggest beardie in the tank of 5 (large tank, LOTS to eat, ages of all approximately 5mos - one female in the midst of the other - as an educated guess) got both his feet attacked and the tips of 2 toes on one foot and it looks like tip of one toe on the other foot nipped off.

Have moved the other 3 males (one of them the offender) to a larger enclosure and left the injured one with the smaller female in the same tank.

He's eaten since being attacked and he's not real active (as one would expect) I had my son soak him in a shallow bath for about 20 minutes to get most of the clotted blood off to separate the toes on their own as much as possible (they were sort of stuck together by the blood) when i got home i misted his feet with betadine to kill any bugs and hopefully any threat of infection......

how am i doing so far? does he need to go to the vet or should i just watch him for a few days...... so far he's not real ill as i said he ate his 10 crix this arvo and a few veges...( we separated him from the rest for a few hours while we made the enclosure changes for the rest)

let me know...

cheers and thanks

whytwolf

[serpenttongue]

If you havent already, just keep the dragon on newspaper for a while so no debris gets into the wounds.

[whytwolf]

thanks for that..
they've always been on newspaper. I don't move them to sand until they are around 8mos old or so.

[beknluke]

I think that you're doing great so far mate - beardies are pretty hardy and it takes a lot to get em down.
Just keep an eye on him and see how he goes. Get them all sexed if you can and if you DO have 4 males, (if it wouldn't break your heart to do so) maybe look at just keeping the ones you like the best That or, in my experience (and according to just about all the info you'll find on beardies anywhere), you might have to look at building a few extra tanks and keeping one male in each one...
Good luck - and with beardies, your best indication of how they're feeling is whether or not they're eating, so as long as he doesn't go off his food, I reckon you should be right
Bex

Clotting is natures bandaid if in doubt vet

[whytwolf]

Thanks guys for all your advice

gee i just wrote a WHOLE bunch of really good stuff and after clicking SUBMIT I got a debugging error
anyway long story short

Junior is seeming to be doing fine atm - he's alert and i've rubbed neosporin ointment on his feet (similar to betadine ointment which i will get tomorrow but this will do for now) and i'll just keep watching him. I'm sure he'll be fine, he was such a tiny little bloke when i brought him home and he's turned into this GIANT beardie. He's absolutely awesome and definitely one of my favorites.

it'll probably be another month or so but yes all the boys will be moved into their own individual tanks. the two 10mos old males are each in their own 4x2x2 tank. Three of the smaller males are in the third 4x2x2 tank. The injured one and my female are in a three foot and the two bobbins are in their own tank as well.

I may decide to sell some of them IF i can't find any similar age females. I've been looking for over 6 months now for females (preferable orange or red) and am prepared to pay for the age bracket i'm after (between 6 and 12 months of age)
I'm about 95% sure that all mine bar one is male. So i've got a total of 7 males, one that i'm 75% sure that she's a female and the jury is still out on the other 2 i have as they are only around 3-4 months old. Yes, that's TEN beardies all up

So if anyone has DEFINITE females they are looking to sell in the appropriate age bracket and colour (although i may stop being so choosy)please give me a bell or a pm

Cheers all and thanks again

whytwolf

Unaware neosporin is sold hers

Unaware neosporin is sold here

[whytwolf]

its' not , have to have a scrip for it here.....my mum sends it to me from the states great stuff neosporin ....

Originally Posted by whytwolf

its' not , have to have a scrip for it here.....my mum sends it to me from the states great stuff neosporin ....

Be careful dont over use I am very familiar with it

[beknluke]

Yeah whytwolf, imo you have to be very careful about what you put on your herps in a place where they (or others) can ingest it by licking. Whenever I have had injuries, I have always bathed the area in warm salty water.
Again, I would try to get some positive sexing done. I sexed all of my beardies at a few WEEKS of age and all have proved right so far. Someone who knows what they're looking for should have no trouble with anything in the age brackets you have (mind you, you can't ALWAYS be right so don't be too hard on em if they get one ot two wrong).
Some people have had great success in keeping male beardies together. I on the other hand have not. During breeding season they'll fight, and during the cooler months (I don't hibernate mine at all, just reduce the hours and the temps slightly) the less dominant male stressed, never came out of the hide and ceased eating. So all of my boys get individual tanks and I keep the girls in groups. Then at breeding time, I house the female who I am hoping to breed, in the males tank for a few days and then pop her back in with her mates.
Again though, other people have had great success in housing one male WITH the females...
From reading what you wrote, you still will have a few boys in together?? (I may have read that wrong?) I would still try to separate them if you can.
The problem with the age that you're trying to buy is that it's not a very common age for them to be for sale. Either people sell them off as hatchies -> 3mths ish age, or 18mths +. Why don't you try looking for ones with a similar SVL to your ones rather than age? Ie, you might find that someone has an 18mth old female who has been a slow grower and is the same size as your 10mth old etc etc.
Lastly, the colours that you're looking for. In most cases, you will have to buy them as hatchies and grow them up. And again, if you can get some practise sexing them, you have a pretty good chance of buying all females. Reds are the 'GTP' of the beardie world at the moment for some reason, and unfortunately in most cases, the breeders are not breeding red with red to produce pure reds, but rather reds with orange etc etc. In my case, I have a red female (almost moroon) but I don't have a red male - and can't get one!! So I am stuck trying to breed her with a cream... It's a pain in the bum!
So I think that if you either get hatchies this year and grow em up, or be happy with any colour for now and go for the SVL, you might manage to track some down... (You'll find that more beardies start to flood the market AFTER breeding season - and I don't just mean hatchies)
Good luck hun
Bex

[whytwolf]

Thanks for that Bex..... i still have 3 boys together atm....just trying to get enough funding together for another one or two "banks of three" as it were. I don't like the glass tanks, too hard to keep temps consistent especially in winter.

I'll hold out til i find someone who needs to part with a breeding age female, that's the right colour. I did the "hatchie" thing and that's why i've got so many atm. I'm not great at sexing them until they are about the age they are now. I'll have to have a look around and find a rep vet that could sex them definitely for me.. I think the boys will last another month and in the meantime i'll be getting individual tanks for them. I've got a line on someone who does breed reds and hopefully he'll be able to shoot some my way in the next few months If i can get close to pure reds, i won't care if they are male or female.......

Patience is the key here. Sides, I'll go broke buying EVERY beardie i see I've become quite attached to the little beggers....

Thanks for all your help and advice...

It's always good to get on here and see familiar keystrokes ........

cheers everyone

whytwolf