# Broken arm on Chinese Water Dragon (CWD)



## ruben.rodrigues (Jul 3, 2010)

Hi guys!

This is my first time asking something on the forum but I really need an advice from someone that has had this problem.

I have 2 chinese water dragons and I treat them very carefully but somehow one of them broke his right arm. He didn't seam to be in any pain but I ask my mother to take it to the vet because the time schedule was not compatible with my working schedule.

The vet saw him said that he is going to be fine and the only thing I should do about it is give him vitamins and calcium. I was not very happy with the vet's answer because his arm really looks ugly...the arm is swallowed and the elbow looks double sized compared to the other. I can't even tell if he hasn't a dislocated elbow. I would make a picture but now he's sleeping.

If any of you has had this issue with a reptile, like a CWD an iguana or even a beard, can you tell me if your vet did something about it? Because he keeps bending his arm and I think that it will take a lot longer if I don't wrap his arm with something. And for those of you that have a CWD you know that it is hard to keep them quiet because they have so much energy.

thanks for any advice.


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## Demonsnapper (Dec 18, 2009)

mine broke its back leg took to a vet, cleaned up wound and said thats all i can do. a week later he broke the other back leg, walked like a chicken lol. and took to a difrent vet and said the same but done a better clean of the wounded area. but still left for me to clean ea day 2/3 times a day. sadly he died a few weeks later after the 2nd break.


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## ruben.rodrigues (Jul 3, 2010)

Demonsnapper said:


> mine broke its back leg took to a vet, cleaned up wound and said thats all i can do. a week later he broke the other back leg, walked like a chicken lol. and took to a difrent vet and said the same but done a better clean of the wounded area. but still left for me to clean ea day 2/3 times a day. sadly he died a few weeks later after the 2nd break.


Damn...I am sorry he died. Always suck when that happens. Do you think that it is related with the broken legs? 

I saw somewhere a picture of a iguana with a wrapped arm but it's hard to do that specially in summer when it is hot.

I also saw a thread of another reptile that died a little after a broken arm or leg.

My reptile looks perfectly healthy. I am just concerned because I don't want him to have pain in the future. I forgot to mention that he is about 1 and a half years old.


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## Ophexis (Feb 19, 2010)

Depending on the severity of the break, perhaps you could splint it? 
Never had to face an animal of any description with a broken bone so not sure how this procedure may be suitable or not for reptiles... but I'd imagine as with any break, stabilisation of the limb is paramount to save further damage, ease any pain, and help with recovery.


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## ruben.rodrigues (Jul 3, 2010)

Ophexis said:


> Depending on the severity of the break, perhaps you could splint it?
> Never had to face an animal of any description with a broken bone so not sure how this procedure may be suitable or not for reptiles... but I'd imagine as with any break, stabilisation of the limb is paramount to save further damage, ease any pain, and help with recovery.


thanks for your advice. I will try to splint him but his arm is so tiny that it will be hard but I guess that is my best shot.

I would still like to hear from someone that had this problem and saw his reptile recovering.


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## Demonsnapper (Dec 18, 2009)

i think a splint could work, hope your guy recover.


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

i had a friend whos uncle bred finches and when one broke its leg he splinted it with a matchstick. 
any clue how he broke it. is he getting enough calcium and vits?


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## ruben.rodrigues (Jul 3, 2010)

trw said:


> i had a friend whos uncle bred finches and when one broke its leg he splinted it with a matchstick.
> any clue how he broke it. is he getting enough calcium and vits?


Thanks for your reply. 

During the week is kind of hard to feed them with the vitamins and the calcium because I wake up at 5:30 and arrive home at 8pm. My parents try to feed them but they do not trust anyone else to give them food, so, my parent have to pinch the crickets head and leave them in a water bowl (which takes the powder away). On weekends I feed them properly and actually the one that broke the arm eats fish all the time. He eats better fish than crickets and that is rich in calcium. Anyway, I understand now how important is calcium for them because I have absolutely any clue how he broke a bone.

I will try tomorrow to splint him with a matchstick but I don't think that it will last longer. He is always digging holes in his vivarium even with the broken arm.

It is also funny that every time I try to apply betadine or cream, he slaps my hand with his


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## Ophexis (Feb 19, 2010)

Depending on the size of the water dragon, I may go for something with slightly greater strength than a matchstick - bear in mind a finch has tiny little twigs for legs with not an awful lot of muscle; whilst CWDs have slightly thicker, stronger legs and may easily snap the matchstick if he tries to move the limb.
Maybe tie a few matchsticks together to increase the strength?


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

ruben.rodrigues said:


> Thanks for your reply.
> 
> During the week is kind of hard to feed them with the vitamins and the calcium because I wake up at 5:30 and arrive home at 8pm. My parents try to feed them but they do not trust anyone else to give them food, so, my parent have to pinch the crickets head and leave them in a water bowl (which takes the powder away). On weekends I feed them properly and actually the one that broke the arm eats fish all the time. He eats better fish than crickets and that is rich in calcium. Anyway, I understand now how important is calcium for them because I have absolutely any clue how he broke a bone.
> 
> ...


if you cant start improving his feeding regime then even if you splint his arm successfully, he will continue to have problems in the future. if your parents cant feed them properly, then you will need to start feeding them early when you wake up or late when you get home. also what sort of fish are you feeding? goldfish are not a good food source and do more harm than they do good


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## ruben.rodrigues (Jul 3, 2010)

trw said:


> if you cant start improving his feeding regime then even if you splint his arm successfully, he will continue to have problems in the future. if your parents cant feed them properly, then you will need to start feeding them early when you wake up or late when you get home. also what sort of fish are you feeding? goldfish are not a good food source and do more harm than they do good


The thing is that at 5:30 they are still sleeping and at 8 they are already sleeping. I always take them out of the vivarium for 2-3 hours but the only time they like to eat is at 10-11 am. But I will be more careful now on.

the fish is from exo terra Exo Terra : Products : Canned Foods

also, can you tell me why goldfish causes more harm than good? I always though that the best for them was fish


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## trw (Mar 2, 2009)

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/dwa-species/537180-caiman-diet-warning.html
the same reasons listed her for caimen applies to the water dragon as far as the glodfish are concerned. i dont know much about water dragons, but im sure there will be other types of fish which are good for them.

cant you change the timers on their lights so that they come on earlier and turn off earlier. as long as they get the correct day and night lengths, it doesnt matter what time they are at


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## ruben.rodrigues (Jul 3, 2010)

trw said:


> http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/dwa-species/537180-caiman-diet-warning.html
> the same reasons listed her for caimen applies to the water dragon as far as the glodfish are concerned. i dont know much about water dragons, but im sure there will be other types of fish which are good for them.
> 
> cant you change the timers on their lights so that they come on earlier and turn off earlier. as long as they get the correct day and night lengths, it doesnt matter what time they are at


Thanks again for all!

I will be more careful with the calcium and the vitamins.

Just one more thing completely out of topic. When I bought them, the first at December 2008 and the 2nd at August 2009, they changed their skin (or should I say scales?) every 2-3 months. Now they are not changing so often. I can't even remember the last time but I think it has been some 5 months for both. Is that something to due with the vitamins or is it normal?


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## Ophexis (Feb 19, 2010)

As they get older they will shed less as there is less growing to do : victory:
But a compromised feeding schedule may impede this further.


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## della.g (Nov 5, 2006)

I'm a bit confused. How do you know it's a break? Has it had an x-ray?

Adele


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## ruben.rodrigues (Jul 3, 2010)

della.g said:


> I'm a bit confused. How do you know it's a break? Has it had an x-ray?
> 
> Adele


I know by the way he bends his arm. You can see that the outside bone of his right arm is broken. Also on the elbow you can see that something isn't right.


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## KaneDragon (Feb 20, 2010)

When I bought my water dragon he had a break in his rear leg. Took to the vet and got xray, got anti-biotics and told to just keep an eye on him. 7 months later and he can jump around fine although that leg is slimmer than the rest.
Hope that helps.


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## ruben.rodrigues (Jul 3, 2010)

KaneDragon said:


> When I bought my water dragon he had a break in his rear leg. Took to the vet and got xray, got anti-biotics and told to just keep an eye on him. 7 months later and he can jump around fine although that leg is slimmer than the rest.
> Hope that helps.


Nice to hear that! 

I mobilized his limp already and now he is not bending it anymore. The hardest thing right now is that he doesn't now stop for a second! Always jumping trying to get out of the vivarium and digging holes with his injured arm..


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## reptile_man_08 (Jan 14, 2008)

I've had the exact same problem, what worked was tying the arm to the body via medical tape, rapping it round a few times.Unfortunately she was being treated for infections too, and so even though the arm healed she died.This could be combined with a matchstick/or similar too.


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## ruben.rodrigues (Jul 3, 2010)

reptile_man_08 said:


> I've had the exact same problem, what worked was tying the arm to the body via medical tape, rapping it round a few times.Unfortunately she was being treated for infections too, and so even though the arm healed she died.This could be combined with a matchstick/or similar too.
> image


I am sorry that he died...

Do you think that he died due to the broken arm? I already heard about some 5 people that say that their lizards died after a broken bone.

I wrapped my lizard with hand wraps that I use to fight and with a match stick in the middle. I hope that is enough!


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## reptile_man_08 (Jan 14, 2008)

She died due to having an infection.








Then this popped up...Vet tried to drain it.


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## KaneDragon (Feb 20, 2010)

Sorry to hear that dude


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## ElGerno (Jun 14, 2015)

KaneDragon said:


> Sorry to hear that dude


How did this turn out? I have the same problem.


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