Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My only WC male capra seems to have suffered a broken leg. I don't know how it happened, but I was feeding him today and saw that his leg was laying limp there and right above the knee was a swollen knot and he wasn't using the leg at all. It appears to be broken however I am not completely sure, it may just be swollen and something there is bothering him to the point where he won't use the leg. His last shed seemed to go fine, so I don't think it is stuck shed cutting off the circulation. I did however catch him and Link displaying (at the time though I thought he was a one of the females so I left them alone but later realized he had been the only wc male I have) so I have now seperated the large tank into 2 seperate tanks with the male with the broken leg and the gravid female on one side and Link and the 4 other females on the other side as a precaution. I am planning to talk to my vet tomorrow to see what he can do about the leg and hopefully I can get him fixed up soon, I don't want to leave him as a tripod.

I just thought I would post what happened and see if anyone has an idea other than just a bad judgement on a jump that caused this to happen. Also if anyone has had an MHD with a broken limb I was curious what you were able to do about it. So now I have to worry about the male and getting him to the vet and I also have to keep an eye on that female and make sure she lays her eggs cause she is getting to be the size of a pear with lumps. She only ate a little bit yesterday and refused nightcrawlers and mealworms today so I am thinking she is going on her hunger strike until she lays so hopefully we are in the final stretch and I will have eggs soon. Time to go to my nearest fish store and get a nice styrafoam box to keep the eggs and a bowl of water in.

Wish the male luck at the vet!
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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

I had read an article about stimulating non-productive males into sexual interest by putting them in with another male. The article said that sometimes this would stimulate the hormones that would get him into the breeding mood. So....I put both D2 and Tuck in with the ladies and introduced my tiger, Darrell. Well, Darrell started his head bobbing and flared dewlap immediately. He chased a couple of females around and then turned his interest toward D2 whom he proceeded to attack. He grabbed him by the back of the neck at which point I decided to intervene, it isn't that important to get them breeding! However I did leave Tuck and D2 together for a while in hopes that they would figure things out on their own. When I saw D2 hiding I separated them and will see what happens from here.

So, my point is that it is very possible that Link saw the WC male as a threat and attacked. If he bit his leg he could have caused an injury that is perhaps abscessed. I am not sure if they could break a limb but do know that they can cause nasty cuts as my first WC females bore some pretty good bites that broke the skin after she and Darrell had been mating.

I agree that the vet checkup is in order and hope that things aren't too bad. I seem to recall someone way back early on in this forum had dealt with a broken leg that their vet splinted. Realistically, even if the leg had to be removed I am betting he would get along fine after an adjustment period and being a tripod shouldn't affect him as far as breeding.

My best wishes for your little guy. Let us know what you find out.

Marcia

I tried a new vet this time and was pretty impressed with him. He saw the dragon and immediately said "that's a mountain horned dragon isn't it?" Then he mentioned the article that Marcia wrote and said that is the only good article he was ever able to find on this species. he said he had 1 of them come in before and knew nothing about it so he researched everything he could about them and seems to be quite knowledgeable now. The only bad part about the visit was the bill. $30 just to walk into the office, $15 for the wrap on the leg, and $17.50 for a calcium shot.

He mentioned the dragon looked really healthy and that the leg could have broken in one of 3 ways...1) he got his leg caught in the wire mesh of the screen, which was ruled out since I have no screen on the tank. 2) he had a bad jump or fell from a decent height right onto the leg, or 3) there was a fight between him and another dragon so I told him about Link just getting amorous and that I seperated him and we both agree that is probably the cause. He said he has tried splints with some other similar reptiles with the problem of the splint digging into their skin. So he opted to wrap the back leg down taped to his tail, having the tail basically be the splint. He then gave him a calcium shot and said to come back in 2 weeks to take of the cast (the problem is, I can't afford at all another visit especially if it is $30 to see him so I may have to remove the wrap myself and see how he is using it. If he still isn't using it I am gonna try and borrow some money from my parents to get the leg amputated).

All in all, I was impressed with the vet, but not the prices. The male seems to be doing ok now that he is back home, but hasn't moved a whole lot yet. I will keep everyone posted on his improvements.
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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

Hope all goes quickly and well
and the vet I like is about that expensive, but the one i could not STAND was MORE expensive
but then again, my daughter is required to pay all her own vet bills herself (or pay me back) so its not intollerable
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

it is a break, but I think that is probably better than an abscess. I wonder about the 2-week time for removing the cast though. In humans it takes 6-8 weeks for a bone to heal. I am sure that the reptiles metabolism is different than ours so that time would not be applicable but is 2 weeks really long enough? If it doesn't heal and you have to go with amputation I would think that being an actual surgery that it would cost even more.

I would suggest that you call the vet and ask if the follow-up will be as much as the first visit. When I was seeing a vet for a prolapsed cloaca she charged less on subsequent visits and only charged for the actual meds, not the time. It's sort of like when you go to a Dr. If you have surgery your post op is included in the cost of the surgery, etc.

If the second visit will be $30 or more see if they will allow you to make payments. I know that school is costly and with you living in your own apartment funds must really be tight but if the leg can be saved it would be much better for the dragon, less stress, and probably lower cost in the long run than amputation.

I guess that if the vet suggested that if it wasn't better in 2 weeks and that amputation would be the next step then your plan to remove the cast and watch him yourself would be safe enough.

At any rate, sorry you have to deal with this at all. I just found out over the last 3 weeks that the males will in fact fight, not just bluff. I had always suspected that they would need to be kept separate but I believe that we have conclusive proof now.

Good luck and keep us posted on his progress.

Marcia

He told me that each visit will be $30 just to walk in and I don't even have $100 in my bank account to last me the rest of the month. My plan is to make sure he is eating plenty of nightcrawlers and any other food that gets put in his enclosure is coated in calcium. All the Vet wanted to do was give him a calcium shot (which he already gave one) so I am hoping I can do with what I have here. I really want him to heal, and if I did have the money I would have no problem taking him back anytime the vet wanted, but I have to eat and pay bills first.

Anyways, I will keep getting him as much calcium as possible and Iw ill check on him in 2 weeks. If he still isn't using his leg I will put the cast back on another week just to see if it helps. I will keep you informed.
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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

Elizabeth, what vet do you use? I am remotely close to your area.,i suppose. But, the only good one around her ein philly is Dr. Denish,and I know him very well because he comes into our store once a week to give all the animals and okay to sell,and to check them out,give meds,etc. Only thing is,he is a $50 visit fee. OUCH! Id liek to go get my guys checked out, and eventhough he is a very smart man and knows what hes doing,and is so nice,that is ridiculous to me. Let me know!

Sommerton Animal Hospital out near Wiskey Tango
call me if you need directions
This guy just called us (a week after the appointment, and said he was able to find parasites in both stool specimines, but they only needed Pancure, and its just $4 to treat BOTH animals
Do you still have my Number?
I also wanted to ask you about petsitters in our area
we need one with the pets we have now
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

wow,thats awesome. Once i start driving Ill need to go there. Ill actually do petsitting,I've done it thousands and thousands of times before.So if you ever need help,im there. I don't have your number or email, but mine is spydergirl4594@yahoo.com if ya wanna get in touch with me. Say hi to everyone for me.
~Sheryl