missing toenail...

[camt44]

hey, i noticed this morning that my little central netted dragon is missing a toenail, and hes got a little bit of blood there, and he doesn't like walking on it... what do i do? do you use betadiene, or tea tree oil, or salt??? thanks heaps

 

[JasonL]

Bitten off by another dragon... no real need for treatment, though the use of Betadine will help stop any infection.

 

[camt44]

cool so betadine is the way to go for those little minor things... thanks

 

[Lollypop]

camt44, am assuming this is the same little fellow in the other post - what substrate have u got that's wearing his toenails down that much? Would be interesting to know.....

 

[camt44]

no, it is a different dragon... the other one just has a missing toenail on one of his feet, but this one has worn all of them right down on one of his feet... they are on sand, but they dig all the time, so i think they had gotten through the sand and down to the wooden floor of the tank (i can here them scratching away at it). would it be an idea putting some sort of barrier down so they can't get to the wooden floor (like a piece of cloth or something?)

 

[Lollypop]

cloth - hmmmm, they might get nails (what they've got left lol) caught in that. Wait til someone comes on with the answer before doing that.

 

[Wild~Touch]

make the sand deeper they like to tunnell

 

[camt44]

its already got like 7 or 8 cm of sand... they just dig non-stop! they have a big rock (it is well secured so it can't fall) which they all hide under to sleep, and they continuosuly dig under it, they have gotten rid of most of the sand underneath it

 

[Wild~Touch]

Is the sand slightly damp ? and doesn't cave in when they are digging ?

They like to live in tunnels it must make them feel more secure

 

[Lollypop]

Ahh, if that's the case, you should ask for a kitchen bucket of sandy loam from a landscape yard. Once moistened & let dry, lizards can make beautiful hides in it without them collapsing. Just try set up one or 2 areas where it's heaped like 30-50cm or the height your cage allows - this might solve the problem? Hope so.

 

[camt44]

thanks for the advice. i just use that washed playsand stuff from bunnings, but it doesn't allow them to do tunnels at all. when i spray it to dampen it it just dries out within a matter of hours and then its back to normal. what's this sandy loam stuff? i'd love to let them dig tunnels and everything, so i was going to make some artificial tunnels out of pvc pipe, but if that sand holds it shape well, then that sounds like the go... thanks again