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Need expert advice

F

Franksgtps

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I have just added a 3.5ft savannah monitor to my collection and when I got it had a scab that took up it's whole rear heel. Now half half the scab has fallen off and it is pretty deep open wound. For now I have put 2 water proof bandages on it and they are holding up. What sort of anti-biotics and bandages, ect... do I need. I have had herps for over ten years and unfortionately I know that this is common which really tweeks me :firedevil but I just never had to deal with it. So please any advice will be taken.

Thanks,

Ken
 
What exactly is common about this wound and if it is so common why do you not know how to treat it?

Did you misword what you meant above?

Put the monitor on newspaper, put some antibiotic ointment on it and let it dry out. If the bandages are water proof the wound is not getting aeriated and that can cause necrosis.

Let it scab over and it should be fine so long as it doesn't start to weep or smell bad.

Can you post pics of the wound?
 
Agree with Wes, It needs to air out to heal properly.

I would be careful as to which ointment you use, for some specifically say "do not use on open wounds". If you have a Vet, you may concider a Batryl injection, depending on the severity of the wound.

Do you know of how this happened? It is not too common that I know of. Was it from digging? Was it a burn? As suggested, newspaper would be a better substrate for it right now, and unprinted would be even better yet.

Any pics of the wound?

Ciao,
Rick
 
It is a burn scab and unfortunately burns among reptile are common with people out there using heat rocks, not paying attention to setup, etc.... So no I did not missword what I was trying to say. The reason I do not know how to treat it is because I have never purchased an animal with scaring or scabbing. I appreciate the advice and will treat this girl immediately.
Ken
 
Depends, if its a healthy monitor living on a proper substrate such as dirt.

I dont do anything but check its progress. These animals have immune systems many times stronger than our own, they regrow the entire end sections of toes that get bit or torn off in a few week s with new claws most times.
It almost sounds like it was kept on a hard surface like gravel, stone, glass, rocks, etc with no way of getting away from it and getting usable substrates, also Ive seen this on monitors and other lizards kept on wood chips, they either hold too much moisture, or too little, here in lies a problem, the animal is stressed because it has no way of accessing a substrate it can use which causes stress, too much moisture causes stress, hard surfaces, the injury is a husbandry issue, usually when an abcess appears it turns into a scab, a deep looking scab, it may fall out and reappear again or turn into a thick multilayered scar that just screams "abcess make changes", Ive seen this on a few monitors that were put on dirt, deep digable dirt, it healed and disappeared in a few weeks, amazing what a good immune system can do.
 
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