Help! Baby beardie loosing toes!

[Drax]

hey all. there's a baby beardie where i work that's lost one toe on his back leg and there are two more that are dead but still stuck on. i've tried soaking him in warm water to try and loosen any skin on the foot up but there didn't seem to be any on there. it just looks like his hind foot just started swelling up a little and then the toes started to die.

he's just started to shed again this afternoon and any advice will be greatly appreciated!

thanx
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[Dr.Oviparous]

did you put the toes under his hide so the beardie toe fairy can get them. mabye he'll leave him a quarter or somthin' [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]

sorry! I couldn't resist. actully just wanted to bump this post, so it could get answered, sounds really serious, and also sounds like the beardie is in a lot of pain. this might be a stupid thought, but I know crickets can munch on them while asleep, could this be the prob..........? -Juggalo
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[motorherp]

It sounds like there is somthing preventing the blood from flowing into the foot, this would usually be old skin left from a prev shed but you said there's none there. As the foot is swelling and there is dead tissue you should probably take him a long to the vets for a quick check an any infection can be cleared up before more toes go! The soaking your doing is a good idea an may help this time if he has had bad sheds in the past. Hope it works out for you [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[BrianB]

Drax,

Is he housed with other beardies? What are the temps and the feeding schedule, and how is the cage setup?

If he's housed with others, then it could be a case of conspecific agression, i.e., hungry beardy mistakes toes for food, or just plain gets p-o'd at the smaller one and bites it.

If he's housed with other dragons, put him in a cage by himself, with a sterile setup. Just paper towel substrate, basking rock and heat and light. Keep the wound cleaned and apply a bit of neosporin to it. If it's biting, then these things do usually heal up without complication, so long as you keep him clean.
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[Dragon]

Could be retained shed, but also if he's not fed well enough he could be eating his own toes! I have heard of this behaviour in hatchling Beardies although I have yet to see it. Imagine feeling peckish and deciding to eat your own bodily appendages!
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[Drax]

hey i guess i could do an update now over two months later. i should state now that i quit the shop for a number of reasons, the prime reason being they wouldn't give me enough hours and free reign to fix the reptile section. well shortly after i posted, the toes fell off and shortly after that the tip of his tail fell off as well again due to old shed cutting off circulation. the little guy is doing good considering the stress he's been through. over the course of his life with the pet store he's had about 6 cagemates: 3 other beardies, 2 sandfish, and 2 collard lizards. one of the other beardies died, the other two got sold (thank god), one of the sandfish i know died and probably the other as well, and the collards are looking quite unhealthy right now. but the beardie in question is doing great he's almost tripled in size from when i first saw him.
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