Deep bite wound on leg

[BettaDragon]

One of my leos got a deep bite wound on her back leg from a very aggressive female. I immediatly separated her and started putting neosporin on it but I'm worried it might not be enough. I'm in a situation where I can't get to vet any time soon. I have a percription medication for infected cuts for people called Bactroban. I'm nervous about using it because I'm not sure if it's gecko safe. Has anyone ever tried this medication? I'm very nervous because she's my favorite and I have very little experience because I just keep them as pets.

 

[paulnj]

Keep the wound and enclosure clean and put neosporin on for a few days and watch it for signs of improvement.

 

[BettaDragon]

The wound is mostly closed up but the skin in between the two cuts of the bite mark is starting to look grayish. It improved greatly in a couple days so things are starting to look good. It's a bit weird that the other female attacked her so badly. They've lived together for about two years and really only ever fought when one decided to crawl over the other and there were never any cuts after the fighting. The other female is now also isolated and probably will be from now on.

 

[paulnj]

Keep it clean and it SHOULD be fine, but do you have an image?

You may have an ovulating female? I have a female that did the same thing when she started to ovulate. Weird because the small one beat up the much larger one!

 

[Inland Geckos]

pms lol

 

[BettaDragon]

I'll try to get a pic tomorrow if I can find my camera. My cam's been MIA since the last convention. I'm not sure if the aggressive female was ovulating. She's always been kinda aggressive but only when provoked first. My other female had a habit of jumping on her when climbing off cage furniture and most likely did something like that to deserve being bitten. She's just never been bit so hard that she's had a deep cut.

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

any spat that happens more than once tends to show that they can and probably will get into a "huge fight" later, not much you can do to prevent that now, you have seperated them, keep them seperate.

The gray skin is what concerns me, it is probably dead skin, just keep it clean as Paul said, The leg, the cage, etc. She may need to see the vet!

Ive been very luck and never had females do that to each other but you never know what will happen with multiples in a cage and always need to watch them closely and seperate them at the first sign of a problem.

 

[BettaDragon]

I'm aggravated at the moment because her wound just got worse. She just shed and ripped the wound open more while shedding. I'm going to see if I can get her to a vet soon. Luckily it hasn't got infected. I keep the tank spotless and put neosporin on it every night.

 

[paulnj]

yikes...

pics?

 

[BettaDragon]

I did take pics but I left the camera at my mom's apartment. I'll see if I can hitch a ride over there tonight. Though in good news, the smaller scratches from the attack all healed up pretty quickly. There's one on her back but it's shallow and it's healing really well. The leg is still pretty bad though. I almost wanted to yell at her last night for ripping it open more. It was healing so nicely.

 

[BettaDragon]

Finally got the pic uploaded.

 

[paulnj]

wow that does appear to be pretty deep.

I don't know if a vet is needed, but it definately can't hurt. It's doesn't look infected so that's a great sign. You are doing good at keeping it clean , so i should keep healing for you.. imho.

Reptiles are very resilient in my experience and heal quite well. Maybe just keep her very moist when she goes into the next shed and help her in that area.

 

[Leopardbreeder]

Wow that is right into the muscle! I would agree with everything paul said. If you don't see skin starting to grow back within a week or so, I would see the vet.

 

[BettaDragon]

I put a bowl of water near heating vent in my room and I'm getting a humidifier as well. I just moved into a new apartment and it's pretty dry here. I took out her normal humidity hide because I didn't want the peat moss getting into the cut. I have a moist paper towel in now as a temporary replacement. Is there anything else I can use because now I'm worried that's not enough humidity for her.

 

[paulnj]

Well change that paper towel daily and keep the cage clean. There is no need to raise the humidity in the room itself, only in the hide.

Watch her for signs of shedding and when she starts gently help het in that area.

 

[BettaDragon]

The skin is really healing up good. The bite isn't nearly as deep as it was. It's still deep and scabbed around that "flap" of skin but it's looking loads better now. They really do heal quickly.

 

[paulnj]

I had a rescued bluetailed monitor about 12 years ago. he had a burn on 1/4 of his body(read head to tail tip) from high powered heat bulbs. Sure he got a few visits to the vet for the severity of his injuries, but he healed incredibly fast with mostly bacitracin, and antibiotics to fight the infection he had when I got him.

 

[BettaDragon]

I'm just shocked by the speed at which they heal. I heal no where near as fast as them. I wish I did. I have a collagen defect that makes me heal slow.