Can you help my bearded dragon Baloo?

Question
QUESTION: I got my bearded dragon about a month ago from a friend who could not keep him anymore and about 2 weeks after I got him my cats crashed through the top of the cage (despite my attempts to make it hard for them to get to him) and he got out and I found him behind the couch in a big ball of dust. He had to have jumped about 4 feet on to the ground. 4 or 5 days later i noticed his leg is swollen and I am so worried about him but i do not have the money to take him to the vet. Im just wondering if you had any advice? He has all proper uvb, heat lamp, under tank heater, gets fed crickets and mealworms and greens and veggies and fruits dusted with calcium powder. he is a baby. Thanks for your time!

ANSWER: Hello Dalia,

Which type & brand of UVB are you using, a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?  Are you using calcium 5 times per week, if he is a baby or juvenile?
What are you measuring the temperatures with, a stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?  What are the temperatures?  I don't recommend the use of undertank heaters with bearded dragons because they don't have heat sensors on their bellies so they can get burned before they realize that they need to move.  
They do much better with overhead heating instead.  As long as the basking temperatures are optimal, they don't need underbelly heating at all.

He probably hurt his leg definitely, if he jumped from that far, poor guy.  Does it appear to be broken or can you tell?  Can he move it or walk on it?  I understand not having enough to get to the vet.  If you would like to try a supplement that helps with pain, & swelling you can take a look on my reptile supply site online.  It is dried silkworm enzyme called Serrapeptase.  It is very safe & can be used daily, for long term use as well with no side effects at all.
Here is my site:
http://www.bug-de-lite.com/

You can also try giving him a warm bath daily, for awhile to help alleviate any pain he may be having.  Hopefully he just bruised his little leg, & didn't break anything.

Maybe you could post a picture of him.

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I will try to upload pictures as soon as possible. Until then I will just describe that it is swollen between his knee and foot and looks to have a small lump underneath the leg with slight bruising underneath the leg (at least it looks like bruising). It has gone down slightly as I have been giving him warm baths and limiting his hunting by feeding him pre killed bugs and hand feeding him for the most part. The basking temps are optimal, and I am using the reptisun combo pack with one uvb lamp (i think 5.0?) and then the heat lamp which is 100 watts. I dust everything with calcium powder daily. The temperatures stay about 75 min with up to 100 during the day. I double up on paper towels over the undertank heater so it stays warm and doesn't get too hot. Is that alright or should i just dispose of it? I will definitely purchase the silkworm medicine! Thanks so much for your help! I will try my best to get pictures and post just so I can have your feedback on whether it is broken. However, he moves perfectly on it, runs around, eats like crazy, shedding normally, pooping normally (2ce a day). He doesnt drag it or anything all he does thats different is when he is on his log he lets it hang off the side like props it up. And the temperature is measured with the circular thermometer that sticks to the side of the tank.

Answer
Hello Dalia,

Oh, poor baby.  Yes, I would like to see pictures as soon as you can get them.  Has the swelling gone down at all recently?  
So the UVB that you are using, is it a coil/compact type of light?  Unfortunately, the compact/coil lights are not very good & really don't put out enough UVB for bearded dragons.  Some are very hazardous to their eyes as well, though some improvements have been made this last year.  
The better choice for a UVB would be the Reptisun 10 fluorescent tube bulb.  You can buy it here for a good price:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-rept
Well, normally I would say to turn off the undertank heater because they can get burned or overheated.  How warm does it get?   I suppose if it is not getting too hot, you can leave it on but you will need to make sure the tank doesn't overheat with too much wattage.  
Since you are using a stick on type of thermometer, the temperatures are not going to be accurate.  It will measure the ambient temperatures & the humidity but not the basking spot.  So you will need to get either a digital probe or a temp gun for better readings.
He needs a basking spot of around 95-110 with a cooler end around 78-82.  The ambient temperatures should not exceed 85.  
Good that you are helping him with his eating, that should help out to limit his activity a little bit.  So he is not limping thus far, that is good.  Maybe the warm baths will help him out as well.
Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie