Ackie Injury

siz · 06-15-09, 05:55 PM

Today was just awful.. I got a call from my boyfriend at about 1pm and he told me the ackie monitor he got at the expo yesterday had seriously injured itself. It had gotten stuck in a piece or driftwood he had bought there too and when he came home from work for lunch he found it bleeding in there still stuck. He got it out and the wound isn't pretty. There is a small piece of what I assume is muscle sticking sharply out of his back and his body kind of kinks where this is. It's like a little bump..There is a shallow-ish gash running about half an inch down his body starting at his spine where the lump is. He is only about 1.5" or 2" STV so it's a pretty big cut.. The cut is far enough down that it is not over vital organs other than intestine. The gash reveals what I assume is a rib, and also the space between two ribs. The skin which would normally cover that space is kind of doubled up and I am not comfortable pulling it back over the wound myslef...The vet doesn't have an open space til wednesday, they told me to use a weak solution of iodine and a q-tip to carefully clean the crud and blood out of the wound. I then put a little polysporin on it. We brought it to my house (I am home more, my boyfriend works full time) and I transferred it to a much smaller, sterile enclosure. Currently it is in there right now, I put poly on it about 3 hours ago, there is fresh water and I have offered some food. The breeder recommended ground beef so I mashed some up and put pure calcium in it. He licked it and sniffed it a little. He is usually very alert but you can tell he is in pain. He can move his tail but doesn't seem to be able to move his back legs very well, he's mostly dragging himself around and will kind of roll over while doing so. I saw him vomit as well. I am not familiar with monitors and I didn't buy it, I don't know a whole lot about them. Please help!!! I feel so bad for the poor little thing

Is there anything I can do to help him right now?? What is the best thing I can be feeding him right now? Supplementation? I know to keep the temps high but what about humidity? (should be round 55%) Can I mist?
I unfortunaltey have no pics right now as I rushed to my bf's house when he called but I will try to take some. I'm so worried about it.

**Aaron_S** · 06-15-09, 07:47 PM

Sounds like a mighty large wound. I'm not very familiar with what to feed an ailing ackie if he'll eat at all. Your best bet is to do what the breeder suggested or get some info from other breeders as well. You did the right thing with the poly. Did you clean it and set the skin back yet? You could use a q-tip and see if you can "roll" it back.

Since we don't know how the animal did this to himself then there is a chance that maybe the back or legs are broken due to the lack of use. Also could be just severely wounded. I am no vet afterall. I personally think that if it's an adult it could pull through.

siz · 06-15-09, 08:26 PM

It's not an adult, I think it's only about a month old. I did clean it as best I could (theres still some pieces of what I assume is sand or log it was impossible to get at with a q-tip), and I tried but was unable to fully reset the skin I think he must have left some in the log. It's not terribly deep but it is large in relation to his size. I found him on his back earlier but as soon as I put my fingers close enough he pulled himself back over. I gave him some water again and this time he drank twice, so I am still hopefull. I turned him lights off and hopefully he will get to sleep fine (and wake up fine)
It doesn't seem like the back legs are broken but I'm no vet either...seems like paralysation, good chance because it is sort of a spinal wound, but he can still move his tail...I dunno! Thanks Aaron

siz · 06-16-09, 06:33 AM

He made it through the night but he is in a lot of pain, he is less alert today than yesterday but I managed to get him to drink some water...I was advised to feed canned dog food, does anyone have input on this?

Will0W783 · 06-16-09, 07:56 AM

Aw, Jess, that is awful. Poor little fellow. I don't much about ackies, but it sounds like you are doing the right things.

**Aaron_S** · 06-16-09, 08:02 PM

Well canned dog food would contain a lot of protein in it. I don't own a dog so I'm not quite sure on what's in it. I wouldn't think protein at this point would be terrible for him. I also would be placing electrolytes in the water you give him.

siz · 06-17-09, 08:03 AM

I went to class yesterday and I came back and he had died

It was just too much for him..I'm pissed the vet wouldn't take him when it happened....

**Aaron_S** · 06-17-09, 09:40 AM

You need to goto an emergency vet to get immediate attention. Since it was a baby the odds were against you, even with a vet visit. The meds or anything the vet could have done would have been very stressful.

siz · 06-17-09, 10:22 AM

Yeah I know, on RC someone was telling me that they had a friend with a rare monitor species *I forget which one* with an injury, it was a hatchling I think but he said it was still larger than a baby ackie. He said the vet administered too much anisthetic (sp) and it died on the table before they even got down to business.
I was considering euthanasia (a huge desicion for me) but he had passed before I was able to do that. I suppose it's for the best but I feel terrible

Will0W783 · 06-17-09, 01:43 PM

Jess, I'm so sorry for your loss. You did everything you could, but sometimes they can't pull through. Herps are tough to treat. My condolences.