Think its broken?? Help!

[chrispaine]

As many of you may know, cause I talk about it so much on here, I Just got a young argusXflavi cross a few weeks ago. Well he is doing great and soon to be in his new cage. All his temps are good and he eats like crazy but anyway my question is this... One of his front legs seems a little larger in the fore-arm area. It has a small bulge in the area behind his paw/foot or what ever you want to call it. I noticed this a week or two ago but never really looked at it real hard cause I never really had him out of his cage long enough to even think about looking at it. Tonight I looked and its noticeable enough for my girl friend to see it so I know im not crazy and just making it up in my head.
It doesn’t seem to bother him at all, no limp or anything. He will run at full speed at a cricket and like I said before eats like a champ. I guess what my question is, should I let myself stress about it? He is an awesome monitor and just want the best for him. Do you think I should take him to vet? Or would that just be a waste, cause my guess all they are going to say is don’t worry about it since he can walk fine. Can they even take x-ray’s of small herps? OK well I hope at least a few people reply cause im a little worried about him.. THank!
(this is on kingsnake too just I thought about and more people are on this site thanks)

[Alika]

Yes. A suspected break is a major injury, and he needs to see the vet ASAP.

They can and do take x-rays of small reptiles. My Xander had MBD when he was only 6" SVL... diagnosed by an x-ray... and the reason we even went to the vet? He had a broken leg. The vet trip helped unearth a deeper problem, and there is no doubt in my mind that it saved his life.

[chrispaine]

what can then do for him if it is a break??? i wouldnt think they could do much cause he is so small.

[rustytotten]

Could it be MBD? I'm not sure about this type of monitor, but in other lizards MBD can cause bone deformities. I'm no expert, but a vet seems to be your best bet, just to be sure.

[Alika]

It depends on where the break is and how bad it is. With Xander, they taped his leg to his tail.

But, like I said, the break was the smaller of a larger concern... that's how we found out Xander had MBD, and were able to nip it in the bud before it got really bad.

Healthy lizards don't easily break bones. There might be an underlying health issue, which is the biggest reason for visiting the vet.

Aside from that, a broken limb causes pain. Many vets practice pain management. If nothing else, they can give him some pain medication.

The sooner you take him, the better. If he DOES have something broken, you don't want it to set crooked. Not to mention, again, he might be in pain. I know you said he's not acting like it, but in the wild, they would mask an illness so's not to be singled out by a predator.

Take him to the vet.

[chrispaine]

He went to the vet today... He does have a small break. It sucks but i think it might be be from when he jumped out of my hand awhile back when i took him out to clean his cage. The vet said to take out anything he can climb on so that he doesnt jump off of it and it should heal up fine. He did have ne worried because he said awhile back he had some ackies come in with some bumps on their legs, and they turned out to be some kind of fatal sickness ( I forget what it was) and he had them sent way after they passed and everything to find out what it was... anyway he was telling me about all this befor the xray was done and I was a little worried then. As crappy as it might sound at this time I was hopeing for it to be a small fracture. And thats all it was. He said hes young and growing so it should heal up fast. The one thing he didnt say and i forgot to ask was how long do you think I should keep him from climbing? because i know he likes to climb. Well thanks for the info, because you guys are what helped make the call the take him to the bet or not.

[Alika]

I'm glad you took him to the vet. Sounds like he'll be just fine.

When Xander broke his leg, we had to keep him from climbing for three weeks. Considering it takes human bones 12 weeks to heal, three weeks didn't seem like long enough to me, but it worked for him.

[chrispaine]

3 weeks does seem a little short... Ill try a month or two. Thanks again man.

[Alika]

When in doubt, call your vet. He should be able to tell you over the phone.

[Cool Mom]

I had a golden skink recently he had a bump on his front paw pet store says they didn't know what it was. Had him a couple of weeks no problem then we noticed it got red and his whole arm swelled up next he had swelling on side of his jaw could only give him liquidfied food, now they think he had a bacterail infection. Don't let it wait mine died fast.

[gemisnake]

chrispaine-
if you are not too embarrassed to could you call your vet and ask the name of the sickness that those monitors had. I am just really curious and you mentioned that you forgot what it was called. Im glad your guy just has a break, well not glad about the break, but you know what I mean I hope. Thanks and let me know if you find out what disease or illness he was talking about!!!

[chrispaine]

Well, I think im going to call him tomorrow if i get a chance because I have to ask about the sneezing/coughing thing. So as long as i remember I will ask him about what the Ackies had. Do you have Monitors gemisnake?

[abby909]

oh poor thing.