Nigel was the beardie that started it all. I saw an ad in our "Free Pets" section of KSL Classifieds for a small bearded dragon with an arm infection. I called and picked up Nigel a couple days later. Somehow his arm had gotten caught in his screen top and it broke his finger. The finger got infected and the infection spread to his entire arm. By the time I got him, his arm was black and swollen.
I took Nigel to my fabulous herp vet, Dr Doug Folland, on Monday morning. Dr Folland took his fingernail and scraped at part of Nigel's arm. Instantly, a pea-size chunk of dead skin popped off and fell with a plop onto the exam table. Thick, yellow pus started oozing from the whole. Dr Folland put Nigel to sleep and spent 45 minutes scraping out pus, removing dead tissue, and cleaning up the wound.
For 6 weeks, Nigel had daily soaks in betadine, pus removal, and antibiotic shots. Three weeks after his first surgery, he had a second surgery to remove more pus and dead tissue on his hand. He had more antibiotic shots after that. For the first week or two, we weren't sure if we'd be able to save his arm or his finger. My vet was sure that his broken finger would eventually fall off (it still hasn't).
After his last antibiotic shot, I placed Nigel in an AMAZING home where he has been loved and cherished. He grew from 140 grams to over 500 grams in about 6 months. His red color is truly amazing-- I have never seen a beardie so intensely colored before. He is GORGEOUS!
Two months ago, Nigel developed another infection in his arm. Thanks to watching his first surgeries and taking care of him for two months, I was able to remove two pockets of infection myself. The vet gave him another round of antibiotics and he is good as new now. Considering how deeply diseased his arm was, it doesn't surprise me that he still battles infection to this day.
I consider the $600 to be a training course for me on how to take care of injured beardies. I've used that knowledge to take care of all the beardies I've gotten since then.
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| Nigel, before he got sick |
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| You can see how swollen & infected his foot was when I got him. |
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| Nigel was so happy to be held & loved |
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| Shortly after his surgery to remove the infection and dead tissue |
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| His arm looked bad for several weeks, but we were pretty sure we could save it |
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| Enjoying a nice heated corn bag and a snuggly blanket |
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| Kip decided he wanted to enjoy the warm, snuggliness too! |
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| Nigel, on his old skull rock, showing off his new size-- he is even bigger now! |
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| Nigel sunning himself outside at his house, June 2013 |
