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my 7 month old water monitor broke her toe doing god knows what. it looks like one of her toes is bent backward and stuck like this. i know this kind of thing happens i was just wondering if there was a way to put the toe back into its original position without losing the toe. my girlfriend whos dealt with reptiles her whole life says theres nothing i can do but i just wanted to put the question out there to see if someone has had success with such a thing. any input is appreciated. thanks.

Is it disjointed or a broken bone?

i cant say for sure. its bent back and looks pretty broken so while id like to think its disjointed im pretty sure its broken. has anyone put a broken or disjoint toe back into place successfuly without losing the toe.

In reptiles, no. In humans, every week (orthopedics ). If it is dislocated, you pull outwards and then drop it back in place (reducing a dislocation). You would then splint a human, but the splint on a reptile can become a tourniquet and is dangerous. Seek a vet asap because a fractured bone will heal quickly in a healthy monitor. It needs to be xrayed to know if it's dislocated or broken.

Dead toes is common with poor substrate, including indoor/outdoor carpet and reptile products made from that or similar to that.

Its a common belief that its sheds that constricts the bloodflow, the toe dies, and pops strait up(remember, I said very very common) I do not think sheds have anything to do with it. I think when substrates provide very dry conditions, the bloodflow stops to the tiny extremities. Toe loss and tail tip loss are commonly lost.

Tail tip up to the whole tail is also a common sign of extreme stress, again shunting bloodflow with resulting loss.

Whether these two are related, I cannot say.

Since 91, I have averaged over two hundred monitors(mostly growing babies) Of many kinds and I have never see a broken toe. Consider, their toes can bend in any direction, they are not solid jointed like human digits. They spring back from over extenstion.

I have to admit, I have only had a couple of toe losses from dry cages. But then I have used natural(not manmade) substrates the entire time. Ok, I tried store bought stuff for very short periods and quickly tossed them.

But I have seen it a million times with other keepers monitors. Cheers

thanks FR thats a lot of really useful information. i think your right in that shed isnt the problem because i always make sure her toes are completely shed so it must be the substrate. i will increase moisture to the substrate and hopefully that will prevent this from happening again. i have a 3ft black throat that this never happened to but they must be more used to a drier substate (being from africa). thanks again FR.

Please consider, Africa has the same dirt as Alaska and Australia, or indo, dang the whole world has all the same types of dirt.

Consider, the Sahara the congo and tanzinia(sp), are all in africa and they have different soil types and conditions, or not.

You can do the same things to albigs, you just have to try harder, to get their toes to fall off.

What I hope to get across is, learn the real reason for things, not say, african dirt. Because african dirt is meaningless. You can consider that some species are more tolerant to dehydration then others, but that different is very tiny. Cheers

dont really get you, i was simply realizing that the albig is more tolerant. ummm i liked your first reply it had information i hadnt thought of due to less experience. second one was a little off tangent. wasnt refering to "type" of dirt. thanks though i sort of got your message, reason for this thread was to see if anyone themselves put a broken or disjointed toe back in place. this thread needs no more response.

The reason is, the toe must me disjointed to be rejointed. You do not know if that is the case. Neither do I.

Experience tells me, they do not disjoint their toes. But their toes commonly die and pop up(like you discribed) Which is caused by many types of stress, again as described. That means, theres a strong possibility your wrong.

Besides, you should not be asking that, man up dude, push the toe back down, if its what i said, it will fall off. If its dispointed, you can simply put it back. You should have done that immediately, not wait for someone to agree with you.

What do you think will happen in any case, the toes going to fall off???? Yea, it may, so what. The damage is already done. Or do you think the toes a trigger and pushing it down will cause the monitor to blow up???

All in all, you are failing as a keeper, and as someone trying to learn. From your last responce, all you want is agreement. Instead, you have to STILL make your own decision. MAKE it and move on. Cheers

got you bro your a stickler for every word sorry i dont word [bleep] the way you like it. still i needed no more response in case you missed that.that means it over , or the end. but thanks for saying im failing as a keeper, i like your positivity.

Maybe you are failing as a keeper, since that is the part you choose to focus on, instead of the comments about your monitors toe.

"What do you think will happen in any case, the toes going to fall off???? Yea, it may, so what. The damage is already done. Or do you think the toes a trigger and pushing it down will cause the monitor to blow up??? "

you have to admit it, that was funny. i laughed out loud (lol) for the first time on the computer in a while.

And they say I am not funny. I am always laughing. In fact, far too much. Oh know, someones at the door and they have a long sleeved white coat for me. I have to leave the computer now, hahahahahahahaha thanks