alexr
Well-Known Member
On Tuesday, we have Spike out of his enclosure (which we do regularly). He loves to sit on my kids laps and often goes to sleep.
Although we are not sure if this was the cause, Spike decided that he had enough and jumped off my sons lap. The problem was Jake was sitting up quite high, and spike fell some distance.
Normally when Spike decides he has had enough we put him back in his enclosure, which we did on this occasion, and Spike seemed fine at the time.
The next day I received a phone call from one very distressed wife, stating that spikes right hind leg looked broken. I know that spike likes to stretch out when basking ? and sometimes at weird angles and assumed that my wife was seeing this and jumping to conclusions.
When I got home from work, I took a look. His leg was limp and he made no attempt to hold on with it when climbing or being held. When he moved it just dragged behind him ? but caused no obvious discomfort ? Even when I carefully touched it. :cry:
First thing in the morning I took another look. When I touched is leg, he flinched, so I am guessing that it was causing some discomfort.
My wife took him to North Shore Veterinary Specialist Centre (Crows Nest, Nsw) to see Dr David Vella (02 9436 4884) as he came highly recommended from various people on this site.
I would like to say how very happy I was with the service that Dr Vella provided. Both my wife and I were very stressed and concerned for Spike, and it was a great relief to know that Spike was in good hands.
Dr Vella provided my wife with step by step photos of a similar procedure that he performed on recently on a water dragon(?), that had a broken leg. He gave us comfort that in captivity even if his leg needed to be removed, Spike could still live a happy life (at this stage it appeared that Spikes pelvis had been fractured) ? provided there were no internal injuries.
Anyway after a long wait, we received news that it was not as bad as first feared. Rather than a fractured pelvis, his fema was broken, and that Spike is expected to make a full recovery!!!!
While Spike leg was being attended to, Dr Vella checked for parasites, bone density and queried us with regards to how we looked after Spike and offered us some advice on a couple of areas of improvement.
I cannot recommend Dr Vella highly enough, and I know that if it wasn?t for the people on this site that recommended him in the first place ? or his expertise, I am sure that Spike would not have anywhere near the chance that he now has at a full recovery.
So what started out as a very stressful mid week drama appears to have ended with some light at the end of the tunnel.
Spike will need to have list broken leg immobilised for about two months, and will require his enclosure modified during this time (sand replaced with news paper and all his climbing equipment removed). He will need the odd check-up, and Dr Vella has provided me with his email address, so if at anytime I have any concerns he can addresses them quickly.
regards
Alex.
Although we are not sure if this was the cause, Spike decided that he had enough and jumped off my sons lap. The problem was Jake was sitting up quite high, and spike fell some distance.
Normally when Spike decides he has had enough we put him back in his enclosure, which we did on this occasion, and Spike seemed fine at the time.
The next day I received a phone call from one very distressed wife, stating that spikes right hind leg looked broken. I know that spike likes to stretch out when basking ? and sometimes at weird angles and assumed that my wife was seeing this and jumping to conclusions.
When I got home from work, I took a look. His leg was limp and he made no attempt to hold on with it when climbing or being held. When he moved it just dragged behind him ? but caused no obvious discomfort ? Even when I carefully touched it. :cry:
First thing in the morning I took another look. When I touched is leg, he flinched, so I am guessing that it was causing some discomfort.
My wife took him to North Shore Veterinary Specialist Centre (Crows Nest, Nsw) to see Dr David Vella (02 9436 4884) as he came highly recommended from various people on this site.
I would like to say how very happy I was with the service that Dr Vella provided. Both my wife and I were very stressed and concerned for Spike, and it was a great relief to know that Spike was in good hands.
Dr Vella provided my wife with step by step photos of a similar procedure that he performed on recently on a water dragon(?), that had a broken leg. He gave us comfort that in captivity even if his leg needed to be removed, Spike could still live a happy life (at this stage it appeared that Spikes pelvis had been fractured) ? provided there were no internal injuries.
Anyway after a long wait, we received news that it was not as bad as first feared. Rather than a fractured pelvis, his fema was broken, and that Spike is expected to make a full recovery!!!!
While Spike leg was being attended to, Dr Vella checked for parasites, bone density and queried us with regards to how we looked after Spike and offered us some advice on a couple of areas of improvement.
I cannot recommend Dr Vella highly enough, and I know that if it wasn?t for the people on this site that recommended him in the first place ? or his expertise, I am sure that Spike would not have anywhere near the chance that he now has at a full recovery.
So what started out as a very stressful mid week drama appears to have ended with some light at the end of the tunnel.
Spike will need to have list broken leg immobilised for about two months, and will require his enclosure modified during this time (sand replaced with news paper and all his climbing equipment removed). He will need the odd check-up, and Dr Vella has provided me with his email address, so if at anytime I have any concerns he can addresses them quickly.
regards
Alex.
