Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi i picked up my first BD and when i looked at his foot he was missing the tip of his toe. is there anything i can do to help him or heal it?

Watch it carefully, and tell me if i am wrong but i think neosporan is ok to put on it to keep the infection down, correct me if i am wrong someone.

No, that is correct. If the wound is fresh, that is. There's a chnce it may be a nip that is already healed. So check it out closely, and you probably should contact the person you got him from to see when this happened.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)

0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

the nip has to be new cuz i contacted the man today and i remember that i checked them out pretty damn good before i bought them. i got some extra strength neosporan so hopefully that will be good. also i noticed he dont eat much. could it be just apart of his personality or can it be that he is under too much stress cuz when i first got him he ate good and he is housed with another one that is his size i'll wait a couple days then try to see if i can take him to the vet or exchanged him. please let me know what you think thank you bye.

Well first, I think your other beardie is the one that nipped his toe. That's pretty common when housing young beardies together.

Second, I don't think you should house two beardies together at all. Even though some greedy pet stores and breeders will have you believe beardies like each other's company (so they can sell you more), do some reading back in this forum and you will see why so many experienced breeders and keepers believe that housing beardies together, especially from a young age, is a bad idea. Unless you luck out and they are both females that get along great (and you're already seeing dominance problems), you're gonna have to seperate them before the hit sexual maturity. Unless you want stress, injuries, or lots of babies.
The jist of it is...

male / male = fighting and injuries. beardies are territorial and a male will not allow another male in it's territory without a good fight, that often results in one's death.

male / female = breeding. If your beardies are young, allowing the male to mate with the female before she is about 1.5 years old and full grown can cause many health issues. Also, if your beardies are siblings you simply cannot allow this to happen AT ALL. Inbreeding is a terrible thing in the already delicate bearded dragon gene pool right now. You also have to think about if you're even prepared for the huge responsibility of raising dozens of hatchlings to maturity and finding them all good homes. It can be quite a strain on your time and your wallet.

female / female = this is the only pairing that can work, but still isn't without problems. If they are both the same size you may be ok, but there is still a chance they will have dominance issues resulting in tail/toe nips, etc, and you may end up seperating them anyways.

The bottom line is this, anytime you have two beardies you need to be prepared to give them each their own enclosure. They aren't social reptiles that would choose to live in each other's presence in the wild, and forcing them to do so in captivity can lead to more problems than it's worth. I advise you either get your other beardie another enclosure, or return it to the store. If you put them back together you could be asking for more problems down the road than just a little toe nip.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)

0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Not only what Kephy said, but all new beardies should be quarantined for at least 90 days and have 2-3 clean fecals before being introduced to each other. I would get a fecal done for BOTH animals now that they have been introduced as if the new one had parasites, it is a good chance that they both have them now.

I just realized I may have misread your post. Did you say he was housed with another beardie when you got him, but now he's alone? If so, ignore my other post. It's a knee-jerk reaction I have when I see someone mention housing beardies together.

If that's the case, and he's your only beardie now, why not just keep him? Nothing wrong with a little toe nip, it won't keep him from his normal activities. Also he may just not be eating much now because of the stress of a new home. That's pretty normal. If he is healthy otherwise you should see him eat more and more as the days go on.

If you do have him with another beardie right now, go on and read my other post.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)

0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)