immediate help

beanersmysav · 08-25-04, 04:55 PM

Before I post let me say I'm sure I deserve to be flammed for this and I will take and handle any bad remarks you must make towards me, but please don't post negative without a positive solution or with some words to help with this situation. Also Note I consulted the vet before posting here.

Today when I went to the city I bought some childrens play sand and when I got home was in the midst of putting it in Sierra's cage. So naturally I had her and Beardsly in the same cage together like I have multiple times before. Well this time when I went downstairs she must have done something he didn't agree with because he certainly wasn't hungry, he ate 16 crickets before he decided he didn't want any more and his salad (mustard/collard greens, snap peas, and bell peppers) was readily available to him and he loves it very much. Well he must have lashed out at her and caught her whole head in his mouth. She had a slight flesh wound on the top of her head looks more like she shedding, but on the bottom lip he got her pretty good. It at first just seemed to be a bit of blood which dried within minutes, and she just kept licking at it, but eventually she opened her mouth wide when i gave her some fresh water to clean the wound, and her mouth let out a gut wrenching crack which almost (sadly enough) put me to tears because I've never had anything go wrong with any of my lizards, just a few scares of what might have been illnesses which werent.

Anyways I called the vet and he said there's nothing that can be done, just to make sure she's got the UVB on, and to make sure she's eating and drinking. Well so far she's drank quite a bit but she's yet to eat. Her lips isn't swollen or anything and it's cracked just twice, but still I want to make sure this will just heal and make sure there's nothing else I can do in the mean time, but if there is I'd like to know immediatly.

Needless to say they will not meet again unless I decide to breed them in the very distant future, but right now the only thing I'm concerned about is making sure Sierra gets through this as quick and as painless as possible.

Again I'm sorry if this mistake i made was careless putting a male and female together that have been together for most of their lives with me, I won't do it again and I'm already beating myself up terrible for it just want the best for her

drewlowe · 08-25-04, 06:09 PM

You've made your mistake and learned from it, so there is no need to flame you.

If your really worried about the cracking of the jaw then i would go to a herp vet and get it checked out, just incase. If you have a good herp vet they should be able to help if there is a fracture in her jaw.

I myself had a baby leopard gecko (maybe 1 week old) break it's leg. My vet was able to "set" it with medical tape and it healed up perfectly. We all know how little baby leos are, So anything is possible.

If you decied it's not worth a vet trip, personaly i would put her on paper towels until the wound was completly healed, so there are no infections. i would also put some neosporin without pain relief on the wounds until it was healed up. Just remember to keep her and the cage clean during this time.

Other than that there's not much you can do except wait and keep the wound area as clean as possible. Hope everything goes well

Jamie

beanersmysav · 08-25-04, 10:38 PM

thanks, I did call my vet and she told me that there was nothing they could do for the jaw area but that I should keep her under then UV alot more and make sure she continues to eat and drink.

Would neosporin be safe to put in the mouth or even near it on the lips?

tHeGiNo · 08-25-04, 11:49 PM

First off, for now take her out of the cage with any sand or substrate - put her in something much more sterile (ie. aquarium with papertowel substrate and a water bowl). Don't worry, this is only while her wounds heal. Apply polysporing to the wounds, and she should be ok. If I were you, I would just take her into the vet and have them properly clean the wounds for you - it wont cost much and is extra insurance.

beanersmysav · 08-26-04, 12:10 AM

Will do, thanks for the help as usual. What should I do if she does not eat? I gave her some fresh greens and some tiny tiny crickets even smaller than the ones i usually give her 3 day olds he said they were but i cant tell a crickets age but I'd believe it, also gave her a few tiny worms just to see if she'd eat anything. The worms are still there, it looks like she ate only a cricket or 2 and the greens may have been touched but if so very little not like she usually eats them.

However she is very active still and it hasn't slowed her down, but she licks her lips quite often.

tHeGiNo · 08-26-04, 12:19 AM

I was actually going to recommend to maybe, for the time being, feed her worms only as they are likely a lot cleaner then crickets.

beanersmysav · 08-26-04, 10:34 AM

Alright thats not a problem she prefers worms to crickets anyways although I'd like to break her of that as soon as she heals. Would the veggies still be good? Their very clean and I always wash them before serving, and their problem much easier to chew.

beanersmysav · 08-28-04, 07:27 PM

I'd like to report that just after a few days of being in a sterile environment she's healed incredibly in the short period of time, i think moving her basking spot even closer to the uvb helped, could be wrong but thats what the vet said to do and amazingly it worked relatively quick. Plan on keeping her in this sterile environment for a few more weeks however (paper towels, water dish, basking spot only)

concept3 · 08-31-04, 11:31 AM

good to hear she is recovering fine

beanersmysav · 08-31-04, 11:45 AM

thanks

shes also eating like a fiend think thats because of her new tank i aquired for $15 ive been getting some insane tank buys :-d