Need some help here

So, I just came home and found that my cinnamon had somehow managed to wedge himself into the little tab thing that supposed to hold up the thermometer. He couldn't have been that way for too too long, I checked on them all this morning before I left for work.

The clip was stuck about 6 inches from his head. I didn't see any signs that his airway was being constricted, he's breathing just fine now his spine does not seem to be damaged (though the skin in a couple spots over it seemed to be very thin) and he is moving around just as much as he always does. The thing that's worrying me is all the swelling, there appears to be a good amount of bruising and some scale damage though nothing that I believe will be permanent. There are no open sores but I just cleaned the area with some clorohexadrine (sp?) to be safe and switched him over to paper towels from aspen.

Is there anything else that you guys think I should be doing? Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing? I'm not able to get him into my vet til Monday, there's an emergency vet that sees reptiles about 2 hours from me but they are ridiculously expensive and if this is something that is either easily treatable or that will work itself out I'd rather save myself the money (they charge about $150 just for any type of basic reptile exam)

Any help would be greatly appreciated as always.

http://www.reptileradio.net/reptiler...8&d=1240603732

http://www.reptileradio.net/reptiler...9&d=1240603732

Here's a pic of what he managed to get himself into if you're not familiar with the accurite thermometers. I didn't get any of him with it on because I was too focused on just getting it off, I wound up having to cut the thing off.
http://www.reptileradio.net/reptiler...0&d=1240607176

If you use these thermometers I'd highly recommend either cutting out the loop on there and rounding the edges or taking it off completely.

Adam, I see Red X's...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

Adam, I see Red X's...

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Dang sorry, I'm trying to link to an attachment from another site. I'm not on my computer. I'll see if I can get the pics uploaded to photobucket.

OK here's the pic of the type of clip that he got stuck in. It's really small and I'm surprised that he even found a way to get into there.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/DSC00805.jpg

Here's the pictures of him you can pretty clearly see the bruising and the broken blood vessels under the scales. I don't think there's going to be any real permanent damage but I am worried about all the swelling.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/DSC00800.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/DSC00802.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/DSC00804.jpg

Okay...

I see what you are talking about.

I would suggest taking him to the vet. You will need an x-ray, and see what part of his body is broken, as it is obvious that there will be some...

The bruising will go away, but... the disfigurement may subside, but never go away. I've never had something that bad before, but I've had animals lodge themselves into things, and come out fine..

So... My suggestion is to take him to the vet and get an idea. Doesn't have to be emergency, but a vet none the less.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

Okay...

I see what you are talking about.

I would suggest taking him to the vet. You will need an x-ray, and see what part of his body is broken, as it is obvious that there will be some...

The bruising will go away, but... the disfigurement may subside, but never go away. I've never had something that bad before, but I've had animals lodge themselves into things, and come out fine..

So... My suggestion is to take him to the vet and get an idea. Doesn't have to be emergency, but a vet none the less.

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Thanks Heather. I've never had anything like this happen before either :D It's one of those things I guess, just goes to show you can never be too careful...... There's one thing that he could use in the whole tub to get into trouble and of course he found it.

I've got to go in next week to get some fecals done on the new babies so I'll have to see if they can get him in for an xray by then. Do you think that the swelling is a sign of a broken bone then?

I haven't had anything happen like that (in my 3 months of herping), but good luck with him. I hope he comes out ok.

Oh mercy! I hope that he's fine! Just a suggestion on those thermometers. I never used the stand, because they were always tipping it over. You can buy some velcro and cut a strip to fit across the back, and simply velcro the thermometer to the inside of the enclosure. It works like a charm!

Please keep us updated on how he's doing - poor fella!

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Oh mercy! I hope that he's fine! Just a suggestion on those thermometers. I never used the stand, because they were always tipping it over. You can buy some velcro and cut a strip to fit across the back, and simply velcro the thermometer to the inside of the enclosure. It works like a charm!

Please keep us updated on how he's doing - poor fella!

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Yeah, I actually use some parachute cord to tie them to the front of the tubs so I can see them. He actualy manged to work it out of the parachute cord and was draggin the whole thing around with him.

K so here's the updated pics. As you can see he's looking good, he's alert, active, periscoping like a mother (always his favorite out of tub activity :D) and the swelling and the majority of the disfiguration has gone away.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...orvin00026.jpg
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...orvin00025.jpg

Periscope up :D

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...orvin00022.jpg

Doesn't seem to have any problems getting around so I think that he should be fine. I've still got him on paper towels, (which he promptly turned into a ball in the corner (he's such a homo he loves redecorating :lol:), but I should be able to see if there is any blood in his urates.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll keep you updated but it looks like he'll be fine now with maybe just some scale damage that should go away with time (hopefully).

As a physical therapist I would recommend the following.......

1. mobilization glides to affected area
2. Ultrasound/soft tissue mobs
3. Ice
4. Elevation
5. BID exercise!

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...maybe this could be a new service I could add to the business? We service humans and ball pythons? lol

jk on the recs above....can see someone reading that seriously.....hope all turns out ok with the bp!