Bruises and small wound treatment

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Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Dratth » Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:11 am

Hey guys, 4 days ago i notice little swelling and bruise on chin of my BTS. I think i know origin of that "wound" - he climbing on exo terra background and then sometimes gets back down or sometimes jump/fall...many times on basking rock (which i already take out from enclosure).

Swelling subsided on second day, right now only bruise is present. There was no blood (atleast not on skin surface), no smell, no discharge and he eats like always. No swelling and redness in mouth or gums. He eating very well and i didnt notice any change in behavior.
2 days ago i notice scale over bruise do not hold like other scales and with little force i can rip it off - which of course i'm not planning. I think it's like with nails - if there is swelling and bruise under nail, sometimes it may fall off.

I am using aqua for injection for cleaning, then betadine solution and after that good portion of hyaluronic acid with sulfadiazine in cream. Then i hold him in my hands for about 15-20mins and after that time i clean it again and put him to enclosure. I do this 2 times per day. He does not show any signs of discomfort or pain even if i apply cream with my finger.

So here's my questions:
1. how long does it take for reptiles to heal small wounds? (i read it's more than in mammals because of slower metabolism but how long is "more" ?:) )
2. how long it can take for hyaluronic acid with sulfadiazine to absorb through scales of BTS?
3. should i offer him softer food like repashy or meat paste until wound heal? (no signs of problem with locusts or superworms so far)

I take him to vet if i see any problem but right now i think i am more worried than him :wink:
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Last edited by Dratth on Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby kingofnobbys » Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:34 am

Photo of injury will help give appropriate advise.
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Dratth » Thu Sep 12, 2019 3:23 am

there is 2 photos of injury...i can try to make better photo today but it is hard with skink in 1 hand and phone in other :D
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby splashy07 » Thu Sep 12, 2019 5:53 am

The reason I discourage climbing, these lizards are very heavy for their size and even a slight fall could cause injury. How long have you had him? I'd suggest a vet check just in case it is something else.
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby kingofnobbys » Thu Sep 12, 2019 6:21 am

Dratth wrote:Hey guys, 4 days ago i notice little swelling and bruise on chin of my BTS. I think i know origin of that "wound" - he climbing on exo terra background and then sometimes gets back down or sometimes jump/fall...many times on basking rock (which i already take out from enclosure).

Swelling subsided on second day, right now only bruise is present. There was no blood (atleast not on skin surface), no smell, no discharge and he eats like always. No swelling and redness in mouth or gums. He eating very well and i didnt notice any change in behavior.
2 days ago i notice scale over bruise do not hold like other scales and with little force i can rip it off - which of course i'm not planning. I think it's like with nails - if there is swelling and bruise under nail, sometimes it may fall off.

I am using aqua for injection for cleaning, then betadine solution and after that good portion of hyaluronic acid with sulfadiazine in cream. Then i hold him in my hands for about 15-20mins and after that time i clean it again and put him to enclosure. I do this 2 times per day. He does not show any signs of discomfort or pain even if i apply cream with my finger.

So here's my questions:
1. how long does it take for reptiles to heal small wounds? (i read it's more than in mammals because of slower metabolism but how long is "more" ?:) )
<<< can take several weeks for a minor injury like on your skink's jaw to heal.
My current water skink had injuries on her back and these took 6 months to completely heal.


2. how long it can take for hyaluronic acid with sulfadiazine to absorb through scales of BTS?
<<< don't know , but skink skin is impervious to most substances.

3. should i offer him softer food like repashy or meat paste until wound heal? (no signs of problem with locusts or superworms so far)
<<< only if he has an jury to the bones in the jaw. If he's handliong locusts and superworms OK , he's probably OK, but if you are in doubt an Xray by a vet wont hurt to get a good idea of the extent of his injuries.

I take him to vet if i see any problem but right now i think i am more worried than him :wink:
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Dratth » Thu Sep 12, 2019 8:00 am

Appretiate help guys thank you.

I have him from april 2019, he is dewormed already.
That's really long time to heal wound, i suppose it isn't necessary to using cream or antibiotics for so long?
Maybe this weekend i go to the vet just to be sure.

Splashy how you discourage climbing? If exo terra didn't have locked screen lid he definitely escape through it. I am glad that i didn't bought 24" height enclosure ;)
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby kingofnobbys » Thu Sep 12, 2019 10:05 am

Dratth wrote:Appretiate help guys thank you.

I have him from april 2019, he is dewormed already.
That's really long time to heal wound, i suppose it isn't necessary to using cream or antibiotics for so long?

<<< If it's a raw open wound ( bloody ) or infected or exuding , yes , at the very least daily application of Betadiene to the injury, or F10 Barrier Antiseptic Ointment ( if you can source a tube).
Unfortunately, under the chin is not a good place to be applying raw unpasteurized honey or manuka honey if you can find it locally ( Product called ACTIVON ) as it will attract insects who will attack the already raw would .


Maybe this weekend i go to the vet just to be sure.

Splashy how you discourage climbing? If exo terra didn't have locked screen lid he definitely escape through it. I am glad that i didn't bought 24" height enclosure ;)
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Janella » Thu Sep 12, 2019 6:47 pm

Awe poor little guy. It sounds like you are handling everything really well. Wounds in skinks can take a little longer. I would say probably 6-8 weeks and a good shed all should be well. As for trying to prevent climbing, I don't put anything in the enclosure that they actually can climb up and get moving up on. I just put stuff they can climb up and over on (logs, rocks, etc). Does that make sense? They are heavily bodied and can fall back on themselves and get hurt. Keep us posted on how it is doing.
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Dratth » Fri Sep 13, 2019 3:42 am

Thank you all for help and advice :thumbs:

I rearranged entire enclosure yesterday and get rid of all stones - frankly only reason why i using stones is for nail triming. Is cork bark efficient too with this? If not, i can add some granite stone somewhere in middle. Btw his nails is very tiny, about 2 milimeters but sharp as razors :wink: .

Janella - what enclosure type you using please? I mean have you glass enclosure without covered sides? I read that is good to cover 3 sides of enclosure, so far i have only background and i would like to do all cork background with sides as i have with my geckos. But then he can climb on sides too. I can change my plans and make background/wallpapper from outside.

Kingofnobbys - yea, that wound is on bad spot, i have problem even with applying cream - 1 head turn and 3/4 of cream is down :). I will apply sulfadiazine with hyaluron acid another week, can't find activon locally and same for F10 Ointment. But i have neomycin + bacitracin if it gets worse.

Can you use something with heparin/heparinoid or with leech extract (not sure if this is proper translation - i mean that "worms" which suck blood in marches - hirudinea subclass) for bruises healing/absorbtion of blood clots in reptiles?
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby kingofnobbys » Fri Sep 13, 2019 4:30 am

Dratth wrote:Thank you all for help and advice :thumbs:

I rearranged entire enclosure yesterday and get rid of all stones - frankly only reason why i using stones is for nail triming. Is cork bark efficient too with this? If not, i can add some granite stone somewhere in middle. Btw his nails is very tiny, about 2 milimeters but sharp as razors :wink: .
<<< I find my bts are very tolerant of having their nails trimmed ( bird nail scissors ) , I simply do the nail trims when they are snuggling and very relaxed.
<<< I've found having a pyramid of 3 concrete pavers works nicely as a basking spot, warm hide and to ware down the nails.


Janella - what enclosure type you using please? I mean have you glass enclosure without covered sides? I read that is good to cover 3 sides of enclosure, so far i have only background and i would like to do all cork background with sides as i have with my geckos. But then he can climb on sides too. I can change my plans and make background/wallpapper from outside.

Kingofnobbys - yea, that wound is on bad spot, i have problem even with applying cream - 1 head turn and 3/4 of cream is down :). I will apply sulfadiazine with hyaluron acid another week, can't find activon locally and same for F10 Ointment. But i have neomycin + bacitracin if it gets worse.

Can you use something with heparin/heparinoid or with leech extract (not sure if this is proper translation - i mean that "worms" which suck blood in marches - hirudinea subclass) for bruises healing/absorbtion of blood clots in reptiles?
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Dratth » Fri Sep 13, 2019 4:58 am

You just put them together or using some kind of glue?
I was afraid that he will drop it on him.
He burrowing under everything i put there, like big water bowl, slate, flat cork bark etc.
Have you picture of it maybe? :wink:
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Janella » Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:17 am

Hi again, so my guys have an all glass front opening enclosure. The dimensions are 4ft by 2ft by 2ft. I have never covered any of the sides. I just provide plenty of substrate to burrow in and 3 hides. I will attach a picture of my Mintaka's set up.

As for nails, I trim my guys nails every few months when they get sharp. I just use human nail clippers. However, if you don't feel comfortable, I would recommend taking him to the vet to have done. You accidentally don't want to clip a toe off!

As for the injury, just keep applying a triple antibiotic ointment and it will heal. Watch for signs of infection and of you are concerned at all then go to the vet. Good luck!
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby splashy07 » Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:30 am

Couldn't have said it better. I also keep all my furnishings low. They can't climb anything higher than three or four inches high. If there are no possibilities there will be no consequences.
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby kingofnobbys » Fri Sep 13, 2019 11:25 am

Dratth wrote:You just put them together or using some kind of glue?
I was afraid that he will drop it on him.

>>>> The pavers I use are 30cm x 30cm x 5cm and quite heavy and rough surfaced , when I had a them as a 3 paver pyramid , neither of my bts even when full grown were able to be move them , I never used glue , just stacked them so there was a space wide enough for the skink crawl under the top paver , and gravity and friction / stiction did the rest.

He burrowing under everything i put there, like big water bowl, slate, flat cork bark etc.
<<< I currently place the bts' water bowls on a 40cm x 40cm x 5cm concrete paver that I simply sit on the bottom of the skinks' tanks and put my mix of course Kritters' Krumble & dry bluegum leaf-litter around, the water dish sits on the paver , again, my bts can not shift the paver, or get under it and have long since stopped trying ( they are about 10 years old).

Have you picture of it maybe? :wink:


I also have low height furnishings, essentially some thick bark that fell of my bluegum ( big enough for the bts to sit on or go under if they choose, and I have a warm zone hide ( doubles as a basking spot = jumbo sized HubbaHut , and another in the cool zone the same size ).
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Dratth » Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:40 am

Sorry for late reply.
Very nice enclosure Janella. Unfortunately, i dont have that kind of space right now. I have only exo terra 18x18x36 but i let him roam in room 2m x 4m 2-3x timer per week.

I'll trow background out and use some kind of wallpapper/background from the outside of enclosure if BTS's have no problem with that. I currently use only 1 cork tube on warm side and 1 cork hide on cool side with some plants in middle but he burrow and make his own hides everywhere.

Good advice with water bowl on some kind of stone from bottom of enclosure, i never tried that but is really obvious if i think of it now :thumbs:

I will be carefull with height of furnishings in future, i thought i give him some work out with higher basking zone, now i learned from it.

I'll try to find some kind of paver/stone in local hardware stores, but i think i can't avoid nail trimming with nail clippers if i want to handle him. His nails is like needles and i dont know if any stone can help right now. I need 2-3 days for healing my arms after one session of handling :)

About that bruise - i dont know if that cream help or if it was only very slight injury but now it is localized only on one scale and is almost white like other scales around. I post photo after shedd which would be 2-3 weeks from now (he always shedding first week in month so far).

Thank you for help guys
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby kingofnobbys » Tue Sep 17, 2019 3:59 am

I use this style https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Small-Pet-D ... 0677.m4598
( mine are a different brand ) bird nail clippers on all my skinks and dragons.

Even my on my 40g eastern water skink ( I have to use a very bright headtorch and a magnifying glass for her nails to be sure I don't take a toe or finger tip off in the process ). She's not a fan of having her toes and fingers touched so it's very time consuming and I need to be very patient and more or less wait for the opportunity when the nail I want to trim presents itself where I can get good shot at it.

The BTs and bearded dragons take the nail trimming in their stride and aren't at all phased by it , with them I never take more than 2mm off the end of each nail and I just give them a long snuggle and let them get relaxed. You only need to take the point off the nail .
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Mizzer » Tue Sep 17, 2019 4:43 am

Are all bearded dragons like that?
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby splashy07 » Tue Sep 17, 2019 5:09 am

No, when I kept them some disapproved and some didn't mind at all.
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby kingofnobbys » Tue Sep 17, 2019 6:52 am

Mizzer wrote:Are all bearded dragons like that?


I've been lucky , all my bearded dragons over the years have been very laid back especially when they start getting bigger ( from about 6 months old ), hatchlings , some let me , some are not fans of the nail trimming process , wont sit still long enough.
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Re: Bruises and small wound treatment

Postby Dratth » Tue Oct 29, 2019 8:19 am

Hey, i am little late with update but even before shed, that wound was nicely healed (but you can still saw some scale deformation), after shed you can not tell there was any wound ever :ohyes:
Thank you all again for help and advice guys :thumbs:

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