Stiff immobile back toes?

[Pyewackit]

I aquired a beardie on Sunday, from the same man that we got the Sav. monitor from a couple months ago. We saw this little guy (or girl) when we got the sav., but didn't buy him. The guy actually gave this beardie to us free of charge 0.o He is missing his left front leg apparantly due to deformation. There is no scaring and only part of the humeras (upper arm bone) is present. He moves it, but it is too short to use as a limb.

While looking at him we noticed that most of his little back toes are stiff and immobile. They almost look like they are becoming distorted. They are covered by what can only be described as 'stone' because of it's texture and stiffness. It appears to be some kind of growth to me.

I'm holding him now and it looks like he's only got 4 toes on his right back leg and 5 on the left. On the right side the middle toes (2 & 3 of total 4) are stuck together while on the left 2, 3 & 4 (of 5) are stuck. He seems to be missing his little toe on the right side as well, hence only 4. This can't be normal! He has 5 front fingers that seem healthy. One little back toe, which is stuck to the others seems to be bending irregularly. Do beardies suffer some some kind of foot deterioration or could this just be the deformation?

He is active and is eating and drinking. I'll be calling around for a good vet tomorrow to find out who can treat him. I just wanted to see what you all might think. I am really worried about him. This is the second animal I have gotten from the seller at this particular reptile show and both have been damaged in some way. Grendel, the sav., had a bad rub spot on the back of his head that is still healing. No vets here wants to see him because of his size and they don't have a muzzle for him. Now the beardie with a missing front leg and messed up toes. This beardie also had a brother or sister with him the first time we went to the show. The seller was calling them lefty and righty because each was missing the opposite front leg. Not all of this guys animals seem this bad off though.. his snakes seem very healthy.

The story we got previously concerning the beardies was that he ordered them from some guy. The guy met the seller somewhere for the exchange, but said his car had broken down and he'd had to borrow a friends thus he needed to hurry. The seller didn't take a look at the merchandise before the transaction and found out when he got home. I'm just not sure if I can trust this anymore. Any suggestions?

I have his business card and am considering calling him and asking some questions. I feel like he just gave the beardie to us because he's unhealthy and didn't want the further trouble of caring for him. What do you all think I should do?

Attached is a quick diagram to help clarify.

 

[Karen Hulvey]

He is missing his left front leg apparantly due to deformation. There is no scaring and only part of the humeras (upper arm bone) is present. He moves it, but it is too short to use as a limb.

It may very well be from some kind of deformity but I'll bet that it was caused by someone who kept too many babies together when this one was young and didn't feed them properly and the others nipped his leg off. I've seen nipped toes, nipped tails and nipped feet to completely missing legs all from the above.

In several of the cases it was because they were only feeding the baby beardies Rep-Cal pellet food and nothing else, no greens, no crickets. As babies beardies really need the crickets and greens but some people believe that Rep-Cal is the way to go and they let the babies suffer because of it.

While looking at him we noticed that most of his little back toes are stiff and immobile. They almost look like they are becoming distorted. They are covered by what can only be described as 'stone' because of it's texture and stiffness. It appears to be some kind of growth to me.

It sounds like he could have several stuck on sheds. You could try soaking him in some lukewarm water for about a half an hour to see if that loosens up the skin. It could also be burns. Without seeing pictures of the animal, it's all just speculation, though.

Once you get his problems taken care of, I bet he makes a wonderful pet. I bought a lot of what one seller called "scratch and dent" beardies at a show once. He called them that because they were missing part or all of their tails, legs, toes, feet, etc. Again it was because this person was trying to get these animals to eat only Rep-Cal pelleted food so he could advertise: "Look mom, no crickets needed" BS and they were trying to eat each other because they were so hungry. I bet that's what happened to yours beardie and with some TLC he will be just fine.

Oh and BTW I do feed Rep-Cal just not as an only diet.

 

[Pyewackit]

Reply

I will be providing pictures as soon as possible. It doesn't appear that his leg was bitten off because there is no scar tissue what-so-ever. The skin over the 'nub' is smooth like it is on his belly. As for the missing toe, there is no scar tissue there either. It doesn't even seem to have a spot to have been able to grow. There's no upraised area and his ankle doesn't bulge over wear it should be, like there should be another joint there.

Thank you for the reply. We bought him a dozen crickets; a shallower, smaller water dish (so he doesn't drown himself), and some Juvie pellets. I mixed those with a combination of green pepper, lettuce, cabbage, white bread, and so on. He seems only to have eaten the crickets though. Those he Really went after. It was adorable. That little stub was just moving all over the place while he was chasing them. He's quick for a tri-pod heh


I found a vet that'll see him. For all of 48.15 for a physical and anything after that is extra. She's the only vet around that'll see herpies.

 

[Karen Hulvey]

None of the little guys I bought that were missing toes, feet, entire limbs and part or all of their tails had what I would call scar tissue either. Just smooth, perfectly healed skin.

How big is this beardie? I feed babies crickets every day along with offering a salad with Rep-Cal on top. I've noticed that it takes them about 4-6 weeks after hatching before they really start to eat the salad. If your little guy isn't eating his greens, I'd feed him crickets every day. I dust my crickets with Miner-All every other feeding and I gutload the crickets with pieces of the veggies that I feed my other animals (birds, tortoise, etc.)

Hahaha, "herpies" Sounds like a disease to me.
It's good you found a vet to take your beardie to. My local small animal vet isn't very good with anything but . . . dogs & cats. She's been giving out tons of bad advice when it comes to reptiles. Advice like: "Snakes need UVB light. A black lightbulb is the only bulb that puts out UVB." That is a direct quote from her and when I busted out laughing (hey I thought she was kidding, really!) she got mad at me.

Now if I have to take a reptile to the vet, I drive almost 2 hours to a real, honest to God, reptile vet. I hope you have better luck with your vet.

Good luck with your dragon.

 

[Pyewackit]

Reply

Sorry it has been such a long time. I've been really busy.

I took the little guy to the vet. Turns out he is more than 50% under weight (and he'd gained since I got him!) He's brought thousands if not millions of little buddies with him (parasites) and he lost the toes I mentioned. They were totally dead and the vet just broke em off!

94 dollars later I have a beardie missing one front leg and 4 toes. Yay!? <sigh> He's getting soaked in a solution for 20-30 minutes every day now. The vet told me to crush up tums and dust his food with it and now he had a bigger better cage. A 10 gallon with a rock (natural not heating), a small log, his watering hole, and of course his very own sun lol he is doing better. I am being very watchful to see if any of his other toes start going. He's got another appointment here not too long from now. And I measured my Savannah... 2 ft 8 inches. He's growing an inch or more every month or something!

They have been named Beowulf and Grendel. Grendel is the beardie because of his leg and Beowulf is the sav. Fearless lonely hunter kinda type heh

 

[Rebel Dragons]

Instead of crushing up tums. I would suggest you purchase calcium powder made specifically for reptiles. Be sure the brand you buy Vitamin D3.

Here is a link for ya, perhaps you be able to get a good idea of whats out there and shop around.

Calcium Powder

 

[Beardie]

Repti-cal makes a great calcium powder with D3 in it and you can get it at most pet stores that sell reptiles. You do need to upgrade the size of your tank though. A 10 gallon is not big enough to allow your dragon to get completely out of the hot (110 degrees) side of the tank so that it may cool down (cool side 80 degrees). Dust with calcium powder (not Tums) 1 meal every day. Crickets should be no longer then the space between the eyes (30 to 60 a day!) Don't forget to offer finely chopped greens daily.
Thank you for taking this beardie in. It sounds like the person you got it from wasn't doing a very good job.

Linda McBride
JewelsDragons.com