Help please

[Dark_Angel_x322]

Well I feel soo bad. My Chinese water dragon ended up ripping about 3.5 " of his tail off during the night. It looks like it could be more but all i found was the 3.5" piece. I put some triple antibiotic ointment on it (with no help from him) and I plan on making a vet appointment when i get out of class but is there anything else I can do for him? He looks soo miserable. :( Oh & he was about 16 inches snout to tail tip yesterday when i measured him.

Thanks for your help!

[Dark_Angel_x322]

Anyone?

[eyespy]

Just keep him well-hydrated and very clean. The substrate should be paper towels or newspaper, nothing particulate that can irritate the wound or promote the growth of bacteria and fungi.

[dragonden]

Yes other than keeping the cage clean and keeping the wound clean there isn't much you can do. If the wound starts to bleed again apply pressure for no less than 10 minutes (without peeking!). If it's a clean break it will heal on it's own. The tail end will grow a scab, then the end will turn black and rubbery and if you are lucky the tail tip might start to regrow- but this doesn't happen often with agamids. The whole process might take 6 months or more.

Tricia

[Dark_Angel_x322]

Thanks! His tank now has a paper towel bottom but how long should i keep him on that since it doesn't hold the humidity well? also since there isn't much to do for it would you still recommend a vet visit or is that kind of a waste? And does triple antibiotic ointment once a day sound good?

[Skink Keeper]

I'm not positive but i would say keep him on paper towel until the tail scabs, that way no substrate can get in the wound and irritate it. I don't think u would need to take him to the vet,and I'm not sure about the ointment. once again im not possitive about any of this but i tried to help.

[eyespy]

I stay with paper until there is that new rubbery flesh, particulate substrates can pull scabs loose before they are ready.

You can always put a tall vase in the cage with a low wattage aquarium heater to keep humidity up while you are using the paper towels. Or put a humidifier near the cage if you don't need low humidity for nearby animals.

As long as no infection develops, there's probably not much a vet can do. The ointment isn't a bad idea to prevent infection.

[Dark_Angel_x322]

Thanks soo much. Joker actually seems to enjoy the paper towel bottom... :confused: go figure... I have one more question though... what substrate do you think is best for a water dragon? I usually use mulch but thats kind of a pain and crickets like to hide under it... so any other ideas?

Here are some pics of his tail...

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-10/416631/Joker0902.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-10/416631/Joker0904.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-10/416631/Joker0903.jpg

Thanks again!

[dragonden]

I think soil is one of the best substrates to use- it holds some moisture so it helps increase cage humidity, it provides a soft landing spot for jumping dragons, and it also provides an appropriate egg laying area for gravid females. Some people don't like to use soil because it can be messy but I found that if it was just slightly moist (not wet, not even damp) it compacted and held it's place on the ground easily enough.

Crickets will lay eggs in the soil too! You should try to not have too many loose crickets in the cage if possible, they will bite the dragon while it's sleeping if they are hungry. You can use empty egg carton, or empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls in the corners of your cage to help catch the crickets as they like to hide in that stuff, and if you pick it up gently enough you can often collect quite a few to return to your cricket container that way.

Tricia